d4 steering clutch groaning

I have mine on blocks and was testing the steering clutches last night and exactly the same occured to me. The LHS worked smoothly, the RHS groaned and did not want to release the sprocket when the brake was applied. The levers also feel different, the RHS easier to pull back than the LHS. I figure the RHS lever need tightening to release the clutch pack more. I will try this and see what difference it makes.

If the throwout bearings on the clutch packs weren't replaced when those packs were apart and worked on, I'd suspect old worn and dry/dirty bearings causing those noises. You might take the covers off the rear of the tranny, remove the clutch compartment drain plugs and squirt oil on those bearings.

Also, under the cover you take off to adjust the clutches, there are needle bearings sitting vertically in the trunnions that tend to dry out and get rust/dust into 'em. A liberal application of loose juice followed by oil while working the levers usually frees 'em up a bit. Unfortunately the great Yellow Father didn't see fit to add any way to lubricate 'em other than what's described. Any time I remove the cover for any reason, I give those bearings a squirt of oil.

[quote="ol Grump"]If the throwout bearings on the clutch packs weren't replaced when those packs were apart and worked on, I'd suspect old worn and dry/dirty bearings causing those noises. You might take the covers off the rear of the tranny, remove the clutch compartment drain plugs and squirt oil on those bearings.

Also, under the cover you take off to adjust the clutches, there are needle bearings sitting vertically in the trunnions that tend to dry out and get rust/dust into 'em. A liberal application of loose juice followed by oil while working the levers usually frees 'em up a bit. Unfortunately the great Yellow Father didn't see fit to add any way to lubricate 'em other than what's described. Any time I remove the cover for any reason, I give those bearings a squirt of oil.[/quote]

Yes a good idea. That design is not the best: the rollers set into the arm and pin causing rough turning and loose play. My D2 parts were so bad that I bored out the arm and made some bronze bushings to ride on the new pins, I thought the plane bearing was better suited for the oscillating action of that assembly.

I checked mine last night and sure enought the RHS adjustment was way out even though I set it to the specs when it was installed. It was hell loose and I guess the clutch pack or some other componant like the push rod and seat was not fully settled in until it was actualy loaded up. I just hope the grease hoses were'nt caught up in there somewhere!!

Both levers feel the same now and I expect the RHS clutch will work just fine the next time I have a spare hour or so to start it😊

no, the throwout bearings were replaced and are whisper quiet.
i took up all the adjustment yesterday until all the linkages were tight to see
if the clutch pack was not disengaging properly, same result. the clutch still groaned when disengeged.
you can feel the groaning vibrations through the lever as well.
the other thing i can do is measure the amount of throw each clutch pack has and see if there is a difference.
both clutch packs are the same width which rules out my fear of having put too many plates on one side and not enough on the other.
i went through my assembly photos to check.

probably already been suugested and checked, but what about the brake band? perhaps it is sitting wrongly and grabbing. Check the adjuster underneath and make sure there is clearance all round.

hi inter,

i took your advice re adjusted the brake bands to check if they were the culprits by having a mate on the tractor depress the brakes pedals, wind the adjuster bolt in till it touched and then backed it out 1.5 turns.
both levers and brake pedals have the same amount of play as eachother, and the steering clutch throwout bearings look like they are both being moved out the same distance.

i walked behind the dozer while a mate was turning form left to right and confirmed that both brake drums are locking up as they should.
the ERRRRRRRRRRR sound is quite loud, and is well and truly audible above the roar of the dozer.
if you put the dozer in gear and start rolling foward, then pull in both steering clutches, the dozer quickly rolls to a stop, though the RHS steering clutch
is moaning like one of the hilton offspring that had their weekly allowance cut down to 5 figures.

under normal pushing the dozer operates fine, though i swear i can almost feel a vibration through the seat under heavy load like the steering clutches were slipping.
i put markers on both clutch drums to check this and both were not thankfully.
there is also no other indication that this would be the case, so the only spot i can assume vibration is coming from the gearbox.
i do however think that the RHS steering clutch is a tiny bit hotter then the LHS.

seems its a dangerous thing listening too closely to a 60yo machine.
i really would love to get the rhs steering clutch problem sorted though, as i am holding off on putting the rippers on until i can.

any other ideas fellas ? surely somebody out there has heard of a dozer with a noisy steering clutch.

as an experiment i am going to adjust every last bit of play out of the rhs steering cltuch and pull the lever in and see what happens.

Hey Callan,

The noise you are mentioning is more common than you think. I have heard and experienced the groan on many of dozers. I don't know why some bark at you and others don't, but a lot do. I personally don't get alarmed when I hear, or like you say, feel the groan in the Cat.-glen

My advice is ask Joe to swing past to have a look if you can't nail it, what that 70 year old Cat Skinner doesn't know about working on older Cats isn't worth knowing, and sometimes laying out $60 for a expert like him for a hours labour is cheap in my humble opinion, a lot cheaper than maybe blowing a back end.
regards
Mike