1965 David Brown 880UE Implematic/Livedrive Refurbishing

[Chris from Ontario]

I just found this thread too. As the owner of a '73 885 diesel I'm interested in your project.

 

[aczlan]

I just found this thread too. As the owner of a '73 885 diesel I'm interested in your project.

Very nice, I am running into some issues with the hydraulic pump in the transmission, it does not appear to be pumping hydraulic fluid which means that the 3 point is not going up.
Gotta see if I can find some more info on where to look for troubleshooting information.

Aaron Z

 

[Chris from Ontario]

On mine there's a lever on the left side just below seat height that controls the flow to the front loader, the 3PH and the rear remotes. You can only select one of them to work at a time.
The 3PH lever is on the right side just below seat level.

 

[aczlan]

On mine there's a lever on the left side just below seat height that controls the flow to the front loader, the 3PH and the rear remotes. You can only select one of them to work at a time.
The 3PH lever is on the right side just below seat level.

Mine has the 3 way valve so you can select between the 3 point, the dump trailer connection and what could be used for rear remotes. I dont have any flow to the 3 way valve from what I can tell.

Aaron Z

 

[aczlan]

Took things apart today and found that I wasn't getting hydraulic fluid onto the PTO gears (should come out of the pipe in the bottom right corner of the gearbox in the picture below):


So, I took the PTO housing off (drain hydraulic fluid out of the transmission, unbolt the housing), took the pump out and removed the valve from off of the pump:

I found a bunch of the old nasty milky thick hydraulic fluid in the pump and it looked like the suction tube was full of the same, so I back flushed the suction tube then set the suction end of the pump in a container of hydraulic fluid and turn the gear by hand to flush the crud out of the pump.
I also took apart and cleaned the valve that bolts to the top of the pump, it had a bunch of crud in it and the valves may not have an opening properly.
Now I need to get a new o ring for the suction strainer as the one that is on there is stretched and doesn't fit properly, then I can put the suction strainer back on, put the cover plate back on the bottom of the transmission and reinstall the hydraulic fluid. If all goes well I'll run it for a few hours and then change it out for fresh fluid.
It appears that there used to be a automatic lock to let you lock the three-point hitch all the way up, but some parts of it are bent, broken or missing.

you can sort of see in the picture the bent piece, it should look like this:

On mine, part E is bent and parts C and F are missing.


Aaron Z

 

[ptsg]

Lots of work ahead but it'll be in perfect shape in the end.

Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:

 

[aczlan]

Put the last 2 gallons of hydraulic fluid in tonight and started it up, still not pumping. Seems to need to be primed? Debating on taking off the 3 way valve and sticking a shop vac on the pressure line while cranking to see if I can suck the fluid into the pump that way.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

Aaron Z

 

[aczlan]

Ended up over at the David Brown Tractor Forum ( 1965 David Brown 88UE Implematic, how to prime transmission hydraulic pump? - David Brown Tractor Forum ) and after removing the PTO housing and re-installing it (twice), I stuck an inspection camera in while the tractor was running and found that the pump gear wasn't meshing with the drive gear:

I took it apart again and spent some time scratching my head as the part numbers on the gears all matched the parts breakdowns, there wasn't any other way to put the gears and there was no reason I could see why it shouldn't work.
Then tomryall said "If you had the pump apart would it be possible you put it back together wrong , maybe the drive gear and idler in the pump should be reversed, just a thought I haven't had one of these off in years"
I have not had it apart (largely because the bolts have Whitworth heads and require special sockets to remove), but there is a good chance that the previous owner had it apart.
I looked at a picture of my pump:

And then I looked at a replacement pump online:

Low and behold, whoever had the pump apart last time put it together backward, the shaft that the drive gear attaches to should be on the right side (looking at the pump from the rear when installed), but on this pump, that is on the left.
In case that isn't clear, the gear center should be where the green circle (right) is, not where the red (left) circle is:

So, I ordered a set of Whitworth sockets, they should be here tomorrow. Then I can take the pump apart, verify wear and flip it around to how it should be and put everything back together again.

Aaron Z

 

[aczlan]

After much ado, everything is back together (again) and the 3 point goes up and down when you tell it to. Still working on the "stopping where you tell it to" part, but that will come eventually.
Wired in a new oil pressure and temp gauges (both NOS electric Sun gauges, probbaly from the 80's), working on rewiring the whole tractor, replacing the key switch, adding thermostart (so that it can start without spending half an hour with the block heater plugged in).

Aaron Z

 

[Chris from Ontario]

After much ado, everything is back together (again) and the 3 point goes up and down when you tell it to. Still working on the "stopping where you tell it to" part, but that will come eventually.
Wired in a new oil pressure and temp gauges (both NOS electric Sun gauges, probbaly from the 80's), working on rewiring the whole tractor, replacing the key switch, adding thermostart (so that it can start without spending half an hour with the block heater plugged in).

Aaron Z

Good to hear progress Aaron.