I have a John Deere 310D tractor/loader/backhoe. I bought it used at auction-- the hour meter showed 2300 hours but I suspect it had more hours than that.After dealing with a leaking injector pump shaft seal nd the resulting "engine makes oil" issue, it has been a great machine for me; I've put 350 hours on it in the 4 years I've had it. It has easily paid back the purchase price many times over. But ever since I bought it, the torque converter has seemed "weak". Shifting the reverser from forward to reverse gives a nice soft feel, but probably too soft. The machine will just barely climb a 15 percent grade in third gear and full throttle. It will spin all 4 tires in first gear, if you put the bucket up against a dirt bank and advance the throttle, but won't do this in second gear. One more experienced operator commented that the converter felt weak to him as well -- too much slip in the driveline compared to the machines he was used to operating. My machine does pretty much everything I need it to, so there's no urgent need to "fix" anything. But I'm curious -- how "tight" should the converter on these machines feel? The one on mine feels MUCH softer than modern-day cars with automatic transmissions, and I don't know if that's correct or not. And why is a construction machine torque converter considered a "wear item"? (judging from the availability of aftermarket replacements). What parts within them can wear out in this fashion? With only a fluid connection between the pump, turbine, and stator, I can't think of what could cause "slip" to increase over time, other than internal mechnical damage to the blades. The reverser fluid is clean, the level is correct, and there's no obvious sign that the reverser is what is slipping. But maybe I'm off base in my assessment..
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