"Old wrote:

Were you able to hold the lock plate and get the pin to drop into the next hole/s?

Ok forgive me for not knowing, but I'm not exactly sure what you mean by holding the lock plate.

Basically what I tried was I took a screwdriver and pulled the pin away from the collar, then I would gently push down, clockwise, and either push till I heard a click, or sometimes I had to take the screwdriver out and push down with my finger.

There isn't a whole lot of space in there though, and I have huge hands, so it was pretty difficult trying to hold a flashlight and do everything else, hence I thought I would ask here again haha

The lock plate is the plate that has all the holes that the adjustment pin drops in to. If the clutch is not holding you will have to hold the lock plate from turning while you rotate the spider assembly to the next position where the pin will drop in.

"Old wrote:

The lock plate is the plate that has all the holes that the adjustment pin drops in to. If the clutch is not holding you will have to hold the lock plate from turning while you rotate the spider assembly to the next position where the pin will drop in.

Ok thanks very much for the explanation.

Any tips on how a guy would ever hold that? Like bend something up to be able to reach in and hold that, and at the same time pull that pin and turn the collar?

Seems damn near impossible for a guy like me with big paws!

when your cluch is well adjusted you should have a snap on cluch lever and if your big motor is't turning when angaged the cluch, the pinion on shaft must be disconnect from or your cluch discs are complet worm

Don't know about the E's. But on the 3t 4t etc you pull the lock button and lift to tighten the clutch. If pinion is in gear and hi low in gear only the adjusting ring will turn. Clockwise and anti clockwise can be confusing depending on which way you are facing .In this case 4t 3t clockwise is from the rear looking forward. I guess E's are the same. ...

Thanks guys, it might be a few days till i get back out there again, and ill report back if I have any luck or more questions.

OK, so i got out to the dozer today. What I had tried today was engaging the lever a little bit, pulling out the adjustment pin and spinning it clockwise. I did this once, and worked well, but I couldnt have my helper pull on the starting engagement lever a whole lot, otherwise the spider mechanism inside would not turn. I also adjusted the linkage for the lever to try and get it so I wouldnt have to pull a whole lot to get the pup motor clutch to engage.

I started the pup and tried to engage it, and its still not turning the main engine over.

So my thoughts are that the pony motor clutch must be somewhat engaging, corrrect? I mean i pull out the lever, and the spider mechanism holds in place so i cant spin it by hand.

Now, do I maybe have it too tight? I hear no distict "click" when I pull out on the engagement lever, so Im thinking its still not set 100 percent right, but would it not still work if it was too tight?

Is my next step pulling the pup motor out?

I should also add, I watched a video on a d4? pony motor modification last night on youtube, just so I could see kinda how things worked. My internet is slow as hell during the day here so I cant post the video, but Im assuming it is the same basic workings as a d7e pup motor clutch setup.

Since you've adjusted the pony clutch and are sure that you managed to pull the plunger out and move the spider to a new hole, but you still aren't getting power from the pony to the main flywheel, I'd try this.

Keep the clutch adjustment cover off, so you can look in there and see what's happening. With that cover off, and being careful not to burn yourself on the exhaust or get tangled up in things, position yourself so you can see inside. Have a helper start the pony. If the clutch and pony pinion are disengaged, you should see the pony clutch spinning in there. If I recall things correctly, I don't think you can see the flywheel at all, but if you happen to be able to see the edge of it, it should be spinning, too.

Once you establish that you can see that stuff spinning in there, have your helper push and hold the engagement lever down. (This is right for a D8 14A. I don't have any experience with a D7E, but I think the lever works the same way). At any rate, have your helper do what is necessary to disengage the pony clutch and apply the clutch brake. With the situation of the levers being right over the adjustment hole, it might be a little difficult to see what is going on, but you should still be able to see in there to some degree. With the clutch disengaged and the clutch brake applied, what you should see is the pony clutch spider stopped. If you can see any of the flywheel, you should still see it spinning in there.

Assuming you get to this point and see what you are supposed to see, next have your helper engage the pony clutch (On a D8 14A, you would pull the pinion lever quickly all the way up. It should stay there, but some tractors seem to need it held up). With the pinion clutch lever in the engaged position, you should again see the pony clutch spider spinning, also the flywheel, if you can see any of it.

I doubt you'll have a problem with the clutch disengaged and clutch brake engaged. I'm sure you'll notice the spider stopped in there, while the flywheel is spinning away. The results of the last observation, though, will tell you whether you have a clutch adjustment problem or the problem is downstream (transmission or pinion). If, on the third observation, you see the pony clutch spider spinning away, then you know that your clutch is transmitting at least enough power to spin the transmission input shaft. If you transmission input shaft is spinning, but your main isn't, the disconnect is somewhere between the two.

The downstream possibilities are:

Transmission is in neutral. Solution: Shift high-low lever to high or low.
Transmission is broken. Solution: Need to diagnose. Oil Slick recently had his D7 17A transmission shift forks just fall apart. The shifter wasn't doing anything and the transmission couldn't be shifted into low or high.
Pinion isn't engaging. Solution: Repair pinion.

If your clutch spiders spin with the clutch engaged, you need to look downstream. Take one of the transmission covers off and see what's happening in there. I don't know if there is a way to look at the pinion, but inspecting that and establishing whether or not it is spinning would probably be helpful, if possible.

On the other hand, if your clutch spiders don't spin when your helper engages the pinion clutch using the lever, your problem must be the clutch itself. Either it needs to be adjusted tighter, it is worn out, or it needs other repair. My experience is that unless the adjusting ring is wound way back, the pony clutches will grab at least a little bit when the clutch lever is held in the engaged position. If your third observation confirms that the pony clutch won't transmit power and spin the transmission input shaft, you need to diagnose and repair that problem before anything else will matter.

Since you aren't seeing any effect no matter what you do with the pony clutch lever, my bet is that the problem is somewhere downstream. An observation through that adjusting window will let you know one way or another, anyway.

An observation through that window by operating the lever with the pony shut off will also help you determine whether or not you have the clutch too tight or too loose. With the pony off, have your helper move the pony engagement lever from disengaged with the clutch brake on, to engaged. You should be able to watch the links and collar move as the lever is moved. If the clutch is adjusted properly, with the clutch disengaged, you'll see the collar out away from the clutch, with the links loose and at an angle between the collar and dogs.

When the lever is moved to the engaged position, you'll see the collar move toward the clutch, the links will become tight and approach alignment with the face of the clutch. As the lever is moved to the fully engaged position, you should see the collar snap up against the clutch and the links will be tight, the dogs will be tight against the clutch and the links will be parallel with the face of the clutch.

If the clutch is adjusted way too loose, the collar may not snap against the clutch and the links may not be tight. In this situation, the helper will run out of lever movement before the clutch gets tight.

If the clutch is adjusted way too tight, the collar may not be able to snap against the clutch and the links may not be tight as well. In this situation, however, the helper shouldn't be able to move the lever all the way to the end of its travel. Because the clutch is too tight, there won't be enough mechanical advantage to move the lever all the way and snap the clutch over center.

If you find either of these situations, adjust accordingly, if the clutch is too tight, back it off a bit until you get the right engagement snap, if it is too loose, tighten it up.

Good luck,

Pete.