d47u flywheel clutch adjustment

I own a D-4 7U and I live in Sedro Woolley, Washington. I know exactly what you are going through with rain leaking into the stearing clutches. Been there, done that. My next fix from where you are at is to put the drain plugs back in to the rear housings and fill it with diesel so that the stearing clutches can soak, As I remember, I had well over 25 gallons of diesel before the stearing clutches started to get wet. The adjusting ring on the main clutch tightens in a clockwise direction. Screw it in until your clutch lever takes two hands to force it over center. To properly tighten the bolt on the adjusting ring, it is best to go underneath the Cat and use your socket, extention, and breaker bar to tighten it properly. If you don't tighten from below, it will most likely slip loose while you are using it and then you just have to adjust it all over again. I have a skid plate on the bottom of my D4 and I had to torch a hole in it so that I could tighten from below. Some models have a larger access from above so that you don't have to get out and get under. After your stearing clutches have soaked for a few days, drain the diesel, with the stearing levers tied back, go out there and drop the blade while in low gear and see if the stearing clutches will break loose. I tried riding my brakes to heat up the stearing clutches but that just burned out my brake lining. 😞 I eventually had to pull my stearing clutches out and I took them into NC Machinery and had them rebuild them for me. It cost more than I paid for the Cat to have them rebuilt. I have since built a dry shed to store my D4 7U in. I don't let it get rained on any more, and I am keeping my stearing clutches dry. The D4 7U is a kick to operate and it is not all that big so storage isn't that much of an issue either. It is also a real work horse for it's size.

Frank:
The Diesel fuel trick is well worth a try to free up you steering clutches. You will problably have to let them soak for several hours maybe even a day or two. After the soaking job if they fail to free up you most likely will wind up pulling them out and having them rebuilt. General Gear out of Boise ID / tractorparts.com is a good parts scource. You mite want to consider giving your local cat dealership mechanic a call. Another thing to consider if you get them working is to drill a small hole through the housing plug's and put a small cotter key through the hole so it can keep the hole free of dirt, that way the water can get out. Its always best if you can keep the machine sheded or covered up from the elements. Be preapred to spend some money if you go the rebuild route, but once done the tractor should give you years of trouble free service if you keep the water out.
Good Luck
Woody

Alright guys, I have figured out the adjusting collar on my d47u flywheel clutch, but I'm still having a problem. I can get at the adjusting collar from underneath the cat. There is a about 6" square access cover. Much easier. {I don't have a skidplate.}{There is also a access cover on the top, just real hard to get at the collar from it.} I was not the last one to run the cat. I checked, and the problem is that the flywheel clutch lever has no overcenter feel. This seemed to happen all of a sudden after not being run for awhile. Like something might be sticking. That is why it was hard to steer, you had to hold the main clutch and run the steering clutches. I may have the steering clutches broken loose enough, but it was too hard to tell running 3 levers with 2 hands.
You have to hold it, but the clutch was engaging and disengaging O.K..
I adjusted the collar all the way loose, and lost travel on the clutch lever. I adjusted it pretty tight, and also lost travel on the lever. I found a narrow range {just snug, tightening up the collar clockwise} that gave me the most travel of the lever. I still did not have much of a overcenter. Total travel of the lever is only 3" to 5 ". It feels like there should be about 3" more. I adjusted the lever linkage inside the case {the push rod that comes off the bellcrank inside the case} to give me more lever travel, and it seems to have gotten a little better, but nowhere near a "snap" into an overcenter position.
What part of the mechanism provides the over center? Is it the lever linkage or the clutch assembly? I did find a spring that was unhooked that I hooked back up. {inside the case, it seemed to pull the lever towards clutch disengaged. the overcenter being what should keep it engaged.} I broke the rod the clutch lever pushes {outside the case}{been welded before} and will make a new one with a little more threads for adjustment, but I don't think that will do it. It really seems like the adjusting collar is not sliding back and forth enough. But I lubed it, and gave the lever a good pull {broke the rod} and it is real solid. {It does slide, I just don't know if I am getting full travel.} The collar adjusted fairly easily once I figured out what to try to turn. {not frozen.} Also, the range that I got the best lever travel when I adjusted the collar was real small, the collar can only be turned in full turns, so you can still access the nut and bolt that lock it in place.
I will try running it in a day or two, but I don't think it is right yet. Any ideas? By the way, I'm not sure if this should have been a fresh post. If so let me know.
Thanks for your help, and any more ideas!
Frank

The snap over center is in the clutch mechanism, not the linkage. Probably have some wear on pivots and cams in the clutch.

I expect you might be able to adjust at less than 1 complete turn each time by pulling the docompression and put the transmission in neutral and use the engine fan to roll the clutch back to where you can get to the clamp bolt again after you adjust it. Or just bar the clutch back up.

One whole turn may be just too much.

Sounds to me like classic case of worn out clutch linkage plus wear of the over-center clutch mechanism.
The 9f126 shaft that Muzz mentions is very soft steel and major wear has a lot of influence on linkage travel. (Replacements have to be fabricated, no longer available from Cat)
The clevis on the lever outside of the case has no bearing on the over-center action. Just changes the angle of the lever.
The clevis inside the case only adjusts the transmission brake engagement and has no bearing on the over-center action. (unless it's way out of adjustment)

Along with the shaft and bushing wear, the various clevis pins and pin holes need to have minimum slop to deliver the required travel.