Deutz-Allis 5215 Engine Vibration

[LFEngineering]

I've had my Deutz-Allis 5215 HST for a month or so now and I've put on a few hours. During this time I've noticed what I would consider "excessive, but not extreme" vibration below 800 RPM and Above 1800 RPM. While I wish I had payed more attention in the beginning I do not recall it having this vibration when I picked up the tractor or mowing with it for the first time.

Side note I'm manufacturing engineer that troubleshoots industrial equipment & automation so I've tangled with some equipment in my day. That being said I'm ALWAYS open ears to the experiences of others, especially with tractors that I'm not super familiar with.

Observations / Initial troubleshooting :
Overall the engine itself does not feel like it's vibrating too bad.
I have temporarily removed the fan belt thus eliminating the fan and water pump as the source of the vibration
It vibrates with or without the clutch depressed
It vibrates in every gear including neutral
It vibrates regardless of PTO engaged or disengaged
Crank pulley seems to be clocked properly
Engine & chassis mounts are tight, no loose hardware

Potential Causes:
1.) It's normal & I'm overreacting
2.) Something on the clutch plate broke and is out of balance
3.) It's something I have not thought of yet

Plan going forward:
I'm going to try to access the bell housing. Unfortunately I don't see any access / inspection covers so I may try to sneak a bore scope in the starter hole. If not I may endup splitting the tractor to take a peek.

Thoughts?

 

[LFEngineering]

The Split:
I followed the 25 "simple" steps in the service manual and split the tractor between the engine and clutch housing. Whole thing took 2.5 hours, most of which was digging the engine crane out of the shed. I discovered the clutch and pressure plate littered with grass, mouse debris and god knows what else. While it's foreign material I don't think it was enough to throw it out of balance. Regardless I will clean up the area and move on to the next layer of testing.


Next Steps:
I plan on test running the engine (without disk & pressure plate) while the tractor is split. This will confirm or eliminate the vibration in the engine as all the other parts have been removed.
I've also chosen to reuse the factory clutch disk as it cleaned up well and meets the service requirements outlined in the manual. I will however be purchasing a new pressure plate because cleaning up the old was isn't work $60 bucks.

 

[LFEngineering]

I picked up a clutch from Hamilton Bobs on ebay and was excited to install it this past weekend. That was until I came home to find the box damaged and empty. USPS was kind enough to leave a note saying it was empty upon delivery. Thankfully Hamilton Bobs stepped up and sent me another one ASAP. Wish all my customer service inquires went that well.

Since the factory clutch tool is unavailable I machined one myself. I'll provide a detail drawing at some point.

The frustrating part of the disassembly / reassembly instructions was told me to scribe the pressure plate and flywheel and reinstall them in the same orientation. Well, what if your installing a new pressure plate? The pressure plate is weighted in 2 areas. At first I thought this was just balance weights, but they are the same on both the new and old pressure plates. What if the original pressure plate was installed incorrectly? In any case I decided to try it in all 3 clocked positions and test run the motor. I found one position to have the least amount of vibration and installed it there.

Teardown / Install Note. While it looks like you can't get the top 2 nuts off without taking the entire dash & pedal assembly apart YOU CAN. It takes a little patients, but a 17mm wrench can be used to loosen both nuts without removing any of the surrounding parts.

I rejoined the front & back half of the tractor and began filtering the trans fluid last night. The siphon tube is only .25 ID so it's going to take awhile.

 

[dannoGT]

Thanks for posting pictures and describing issues this is great!

 

[hawkeye08]

I picked up a vibration in my Kubota over the last year or so. I don't put alot of hours on it, so not positive when it showed up. I need to remember to do some troubleshooting while the FEL is off so I can get to things easier.. hopefully you find out what is causing yours, thanks for sharing details of your work in progress.

 

[Leejohn]

I switched engine in one of them for a guy and it has a real quiet and smooth hydrostatic. About the best I have drove. Been trying to buy it from him and just well not do it. The engine that went in it was out of MF and was 20hp. Keep that in mine, it is the same engine only hp is more.

 

[LFEngineering]

Clutch Tool Drawing

Should fit
Hinomoto 172 & 174
Deutz-Allis 5215
Massy Ferguson 1010

 

[LFEngineering]

Now that it's back up and running there is slightly less vibration, but not perfect. Must be the way it is. Good piece of mind to have been in there to inspect and clean everything.