Early 2006 M5040 Transmission Shift Issues

spigadgetman · Mar 14, 2009

I have searched everywhere to no avail. Here is my issue. I bought one of the first M5040痴 in 2006 which showed up at my dealer. It has been an excellent tractor for my needs around the farm. My M5040 is 4WD and it is manual/clutch shift syncro and not hydraulic syncro. About 4 weeks ago and over about 7-10 days I noticed stiffness in shifting into forward gear. I had to sometimes shift into reverse and then back to forward to get it into forward gear. A couple times it moved to forward but when I let the clutch out it would grind. If I pushed the clutch and jiggled the forward shifter it went into gear on the second attempt. I would not in any way say that I had to use any extreme force or pressure to finally get it in gear. Over the week it happened more frequently until it finally would never go into forward gear. Reverse continued to work, even in all 8 gears. Of course it is older than two years and out of warranty but it only has about 90 hours on the clock. The tractor is now at the dealer, they have split the tractor and they were going into the transmission yesterday but I have not heard anything. The dealer did say that there were two different forks on the M5040 shifter and the earlier ones were changed. I am sure being one of the first deliveries it was the oldest version fork. While the dealer did expect it to be the fork there is a possibility that it could be the syncro gear. I have not seen any related posts or problems. Does anyone know if there was a Service Bulletin related to this? Any other ideas or comments? I will be going by the dealer on Monday and I am not sure what to hope for or what this will end up costing me. I hope to also find a way to contact the regional sales and marketing manager of Kubota Tractor USA.

Blksim · Mar 14, 2009

If it's a shuttle shift could be nothing more than linkage problem. The linkage from the shuttle lever to the housing is just a cable. I broke mine and had to replace it.

spigadgetman · Mar 15, 2009

Thanks, I only wish this would have been the issue. I did remove the steering post cover and check the cable from shifter down to the transmission. I did lube linkages and I did check the cable adjustment as referenced by the Service Manual. Other than those three things the big ole Service Manual does not have anything else short of going into the Transmission.

spigadgetman · Mar 16, 2009

Well, it the Syncro Gear, good news 2 more months in 3 year powertrain warranty.

jwillett · Mar 16, 2009

Hate to see that but glad the warranty is still there for you. I bet everone around your place is getting a work out with no tractor around, a good way to loose weight. LOL

Jim

slowzuki · Mar 17, 2009

I see something ever more interesting right behind your tractor, a cabbed M series split without removing the cab. That is great to know.

spigadgetman · Mar 17, 2009

Yes it is. They split in in the exact same way with the only exception it has the cab and it did remain fully attached. This one had a hydrolic shuttle with a transmission problem and they are working on them as a pair.