Cat12F something going on in the control box

yours is still old enough to have mechanical blade mechs isnt it. cuase that doesnt sound good at all. maybe something happening with the dog clutches or has the shafts or pivots partially seized that could happen in such cold temps metals do shrink in cold temps.

[quote="trainzkid88 post=233074 userid=11838"]yours is still old enough to have mechanical blade mechs isnt it. cuase that doesnt sound good at all. maybe something happening with the dog clutches or has the shafts or pivots partially seized that could happen in such cold temps metals do shrink in cold temps.
 [/quote]
Yep. Mechanical blade lift and etc. And yep. Doesn't sound good. Will get her good and warm before trying anything again. But last year I had her out in equally cold weather with no issues.

Make certain the "wop" noise is not coming from some shot "U" joints on the short shaft that come off the engine. Easy to see and check on most models.

Good to see you and Hanna again onfoot, I just got my Cat No.12 8T Motor Grader (A.K.A. AT UM) running with the temps dropping to 000*D for Damn Cold. A guy on another forum said to warm up the pony then the diesel and at very low temps the line to the oil gauge (4'-5') gets pressurized but if the oil suddenly drops the oil gauge may take up to several minuets to respond to the drop in pressure. Sounds like he has been there once before. Anyway he suggested to run the diesel oil pressure up and disengage the pinion and watch the pressure drop back down then reengage the pinion to confirm the pressure is accurate. I decided to put an oil gauge in the diesel engine directly into block/head in the starting station area.
I did notice as the temp drops not just the control box in the cab gets cold but also all the lubes in the bull gears, gear boxes and u-joints gets very thick too. (my trany must have 90w in it.LOL). The increasing resistance to the control mechanism puts a lot of pressure on the shear pins. Ice/water can be in the lubes increasing the resistance while decreasing the lubricating properties of the lubricants. I had a bull gear full of ICE on my Adams 311 Motor Grader once. I was lucky I inspected the gears before I had engaged the circle otherwise I would imagine it would have broken shear pins in the control box or broke weak u-joints.
good luck

 [attachment=65414]R U UP.jpg[/attachment]
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Trainzkid88 got me thinking. The specs for the control housing oil call for 30W. At -18C/0F, 30W can be rather thick, making me wonder if the dog clutches were not disengaging fully because of congealed lube. I am thinking of putting a heater in the cab and getting the control housing good and warm and seeing if the symptoms disappear. If they do, I wonder about switching out to 5W30 synthetic for the control box. That would not have been an option in 1968.

Thoughts?

Good to see you and Hanna again onfoot, I just got my Cat No.12 8T Motor Grader (A.K.A. AT UM) running with the temps dropping to 000*D for Damn Cold. A guy on another forum said to warm up the pony then the diesel and at very low temps the line to the oil gauge (4'-5') gets pressurized but if the oil suddenly drops the oil gauge may take up to several minuets to respond to the drop in pressure. Sounds like he has been there once before. Anyway he suggested to run the diesel oil pressure up and disengage the pinion and watch the pressure drop back down then reengage the pinion to confirm the pressure is accurate. I decided to put an oil gauge in the diesel engine directly into block/head in the starting station area.
I did notice as the temp drops not just the control box in the cab gets cold but also all the lubes in the bull gears, gear boxes and u-joints gets very thick too. (my trany must have 90w in it.LOL). The increasing resistance to the control mechanism puts a lot of pressure on the shear pins. Ice/water can be in the lubes increasing the resistance while decreasing the lubricating properties of the lubricants. I had a bull gear full of ICE on my Adams 311 Motor Grader once. I was lucky I inspected the gears before I had engaged the circle otherwise I would imagine it would have broken shear pins in the control box or broke weak u-joints.
good luck

 [attachment=65414]R U UP.jpg[/attachment]
 [attachment=65412]Img_2976b.jpg[/attachment]
 [attachment=65413]Img_2979a.jpg[/attachment]

yes multi grade oils are much better than monograde. and you could try a synthetic as they cope with harsh conditions a bit better. the old recommendations are based on what was available back then.

and american companies seem to have a love affair with sae 30 oils when much better exists today.

i just had a look online and found out about a product called redline shockproof gear oil its a synthetic and is thin like light engine oil but works like 75w140 gear oil.
made specifically for dog clutch transmission in racing applications. they have 3 grades superlight, light and heavy available in the quart or gallon. from all good performance and racing suppliers. might be just the stuff.