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Mike, I don't know if the 450C is the same as the orignal 450 that I own, but if it is, the slave cylinders are mounted on top of the brake assys and are found by removing the foot-plate directly in front of the seat. Likewise you can simply follow the hydraulic line out of the master cylinder up to the transmission clutch cylinder and then over to the brake slave cylinder. As far as diagnosing the brake, I'll assume you have lifted the bar between the brake pedals and are pressing just the left brake. Does it build up pressure? If the master cylinder has fluid and it does not build pressure then you either need to bleed air out of the system, or rebuild the master cylinder. Check for fluid leaks. These will be in the brake lines or possibly around the slave cylinder. If you are loosing fluid and it is not comming out the lines or slave cylinder, then it's probably leaking in the clutch cylinder. Assuming you get good pedal pressure, and the left clutch is disengaging, poor braking action would suggest that oil has gotten into the brake housing or possibly the brake assy is sticking and won't actuate. On the bottom of the brake housing there should be a drain hole. There should be a large cotter pin in this hole. The cotter pin's job is to bounce around and keep the drain hole from getting plugged. Look for oil here. If you need to reline the brake or open up the brake housing drop me an email and maybe I can be of some help. I just rebuilt both brakes on my 450 crawler. On my machine the left brake was stuck "on" causing the left track to drag and eventually overheating the brake. Both brake assys were full of dirt and goo. By the way the brakes are not bands. Each brake has two spinning disks that are sandwiched together against fixed disks. Marlowe does make a good point in that the brakes on the 450s are not usually used. I would respectfully argue that they are necessary for holding the machine still on an incline when you can not drop the bucket. They are also useful if you need to make an especially tight turn in close quarters. Best of luck,
John
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