John Deere 450D HLR Pressure issues

[Thescottsman]

Good morning, I have a 450D that is giving me fits. to give a background we purchased this dozer from an older gentleman it was in excellent shape and super strong would push all it had then some. after some time it developed a leak in the transmission (front seal) we removed the engine and replaced the oil seal and the tube as the tube had a little wear, upon reassembling my father was examining the front cover of the transmission and removed the " plunger " to make sure every was nice and clean before reassembly, when he pulled the plunger up a ball flew out , no one we have talked to knows how to install it some say it sits in the bottom under the plunger , some say it goes thru the side of the cover which is impossible as the cover has no opening on the side, i finally reassembled it with the spring and ball inserted from the backside of the cover while installing the plunger and it appears correct as it sits perfectly in the groove of the plunger . the factory shop manual makes no mention where this ball goes or what it does we found it in the parts list, however after firing it up we have never been able to build any transmission oil pressure with the ball inserted sitting in the groove of the plunger and the max shims i can get in the oil pressure adjustment I'm getting 15 psi. with the ball at the bottom "underneath the plunger most ever got was 50 psi. We have followed the clutch adjustment procedure to the T and still nothing, and its getting old pulling this engine out over and over trying to figure it out. any help would be appreciated also the roll pin for the clutch valve is all intact and fine so I'm at a loss .

[Jim B]

Good morning and welcome to the Boards.

The ball in the front cover of a H-L-R has been a topic of discussion here before. I don't know how much of the info in the thread I have linked below will apply in your case, however there might be something to help. It seems the same cover could be used on the 450B through the 450E from looking at the parts catalogs. The straight 450 shows a different arrangement for the front cover, in its catalog, as sealing was required for the PTO shifter which was used with those, where the shifter was apparently an option starting with the 450B.

Have you contacted your JD dealer service department to see if they have an official answer (or service bulletin)? If you do and get a good answer, please post the result to aid others in the future that may encounter this.

Mystery Ball in HLR Front Cover