4300 Range Shift Repair

[mjncad]

Roy, I'm particularly interest as I have a 4200 JD. Selecting the range I want can be aggravating at times.

Mine has always been that way too, especially finding 'B' range.

I am more concerned about the force necessary to push my PTO lever....
that one is hard, despite the fix I went through.

Yep, the PTO lever could be smoother operating too.

 

[arrabil]

Thats unfortunate that the gear range can't be adjusted. Its not that I can't find N between A and B. Its that I can find N past C! And then its tricky to get back out of N and into A. Its like the whole thing is shifted forwards an inch. Does it sound like maybe the lever handle itself could be bent and causing me trouble?

Yep, the PTO lever could be smoother operating too.

I leave the Mid-PTO knob engaged cause I've had to hammer it to the on position with two feet of snow on the ground. Seems like a stupid design that can't be greased well enough to overcome the length and angles of the linkages.

 

[dfkrug]

Its that I can find N past C! And then its tricky to get back out of N and into A. Its like the whole thing is shifted forwards an inch. Does it sound like maybe the lever handle itself could be bent and causing me trouble?

In JP's #4 post above, you can see a lever stop in one direction, and the
tie rod does have threads. So, technically, you can adjust the tie rod
for length. It seems to me that bending the shifter lever against the
stop, or in the other direction should not change the gear engagment
unless you run up against the plastic finish bezel. Since there is no stop
when you go to C, I guess you could push the shifter forks past the
last detent. That does not sound good.

 

[arrabil]

I do have a stop/detent at C. But I can also find another N after it. If the rod end is screwed out too much that would explain having a second N and having trouble getting back into A. Probably need to turn the rod end to make the linkage a quarter inch shorter.

And yeah, duh, bending the lever will have nothing to do with the engagement inside.

 

[dfkrug]

I went and tested my range shifter last night and I can feel the hard
stop at A very well, but the limit at C is much softer. No neutral past
C for sure.

 

[stuart]

jpinca; That was a great post. I have saved it future consideration but, I hope I never need to replace the shifter on my 4300 HST.
To that end; and w/o getting into the question of force and lack of lubrication as being the major cause of this problem; Could you please give me some idea (a photo would be ideal) of exactly WHERE I should lubricate the shift shaft. Thanks.

 

[jpinca]

I didn't lube the replacement at all, I just wiped everything down with a clean cloth. The shaft I used is chrome plated and provides for very little friction with the case.

I suppose you could use a dry film lubricant, but I didn't have any and decided retaining dirt was a worse consequence than the lube benefit.

The only points where I could see friction being a problem are at the lever pivot and the bellcrank to case junction. Those have a big contact area with high to moderate pressure. YMMV

 

[kennyd]

jpinca; That was a great post. I have saved it future consideration but, I hope I never need to replace the shifter on my 4300 HST.
To that end; and w/o getting into the question of force and lack of lubrication as being the major cause of this problem; Could you please give me some idea (a photo would be ideal) of exactly WHERE I should lubricate the shift shaft. Thanks.

Fluid Film works GREAT for all the linkages, it does not contain any solvents so it last's a very long time. Keep the area where the shaft enters the case lubed to help prevent corrosion.

 

[stuart]

Thanks for the info on fluid film. What do I have to remove in order to get at the are that needs to be lubed?

 

[RoyJackson]

Thanks for the info on fluid film. What do I have to remove in order to get at the are that needs to be lubed?

Nothing...just lie down in front of the left rear wheel and you can access the linkages for the shifter (if a reverser transmission) and range levers quite easily. Pulling the left rear tire off would make it easier...but that's a lot of work (especially if the tire is filled).
Use the little straw in the nozzle to provide better directional control.

 

[stuart]

ROY: I have an HST. Thank you I will give it a shot. Guess it cannot hurt. BUT I will also shift very softly with the problem and difficulty of repair in mind.

 

[mjncad]

ROY: I have an HST. ... BUT I will also shift very softly with the problem and difficulty of repair in mind.

That's what I do with my HST 4200.

 

[RoyJackson]

ROY: I have an HST. Thank you I will give it a shot. Guess it cannot hurt. BUT I will also shift very softly with the problem and difficulty of repair in mind.

Hope it works for you...
One should never have to force any levers...a bit of patience and some finesse should do the job.
I probably have a bit of an advantage since some of the trucks I drove as a kid/young adult were non-synchro transmissions.

 

[paulcapasso]

Hello Everyone!
Well Today, mine finally snapped. I'm glad this documentation is here to help me. Roy I will be in touch if I have any questions. Pictures will be attached during replacement.

 

[Leroy excavator]

My range shift shaft is broken as is common with this model. This was a rental and the rental yard tried, unsuccessfully, to lock out high range with a strap across the shifter:

and then again with a bolt:

Neither seems to have worked and when the shaft gave way, it looks like the whole shifter linkage was tossed.

I bought all the parts online from JD Parts and it was pretty easy and the prices weren't too bad. Not good, but better than I feared.

Instead of using the stock shaft (which might break again), I bought a piece of chrome plated 5/8" shaft stock from McMaster-Carr along with a couple of different types of shaft seals. I'll cut it to length and drill the two pin holes.

Anyway, first course of action was to clean the tractor some so that I could see how it came apart.

Part of this was from my infamous stuck a few weeks ago, but not all of it by a long shot.

The rockshaft cover was barely visible under all the years of crud.

But after a little elbow grease and a water hose, I could see what was what and how all of this might come apart.

Well, there's the part that caused this exercise

The cover came off pretty easy. I ended up removing the SCV first to get better access to the pressure line, but it could probably be done without removing by using the proper wrenches. I don't have flare wrenches this big; I just had some adjustable that were too bulky to fit. Doing it over, I would remove the pressure line from the implement pump. The line hanging over the top of the cover just makes maneuvering the cover a little too awkward. The cover isn't especially heavy, but it isn't balanced and you have to remember that the lift arms rotate freely.

There's the shaft we're going to replace

Let's drain the oil and make sure the sump isn't full of clutch parts or something else

The shift mechanism seems to be painted.

Looking around some more

What is that?! It sure looks important.... Turns out it's from the PTO clutch release- one of four fingers. It looks like the pin just fell out as the mounts aren't broken and it looks reusable- good thing as you can't buy just the fingers, you have buy the whole hub. It seems a miracle it didn't pass through some gears. Heck, I must be pretty lucky.

Well, maybe not

The PTO brake hub is broken and will need to be replaced. It is a $110 part, but it looks like I won't have to split the tractor to replace, just remove the PTO cover and slide it out the back.
This rental was used primarily with the tiller, so the PTO has been used/abused a lot. I'm not sure why the PTO brake isn't rigidly mounted. It can rotate 1/4 turn before it contacts the PTO bearing plate and stops the PTO shaft- hammering the part every time. It seems like this is needlessly hard on parts, especially an aluminum casting.

The range shift will have to wait until next week when I have all the parts to button things up.


<More to come...>

Thanks for these pics mine just broke this shaft!

 

[shock]

I sure wish the pictures were available for this write-up. Would help me a ton to understand what I'm looking at in my Shift Fork repair. Any way to get these pictures back?

 

[kennyd]

The OP would have to upload them to the forum, and he hasn't been online since Oct 20, 2019.

 

[shock]

Thank for the response...I guess they are lost forever at this point..