440IC 831 Project

[jimmydiesel]

I brought this 831 home in August of 2024. It was running just enough to get it loaded. The steering clutches and brakes were working on both sides. The bucket had been replaced with a forklift frame that had a 63 blade mounted to it. The bucket boom would slowly raise but would then go down almost as fast as it had gone up. I have a bucket that I plan to install and use the blade on a different project.



When I got it home the first job was to fix the lift bleed off. The first lift cylinder that was pulled apart told the story.



The seal cup on the left is new. The other 2 are from the second cylinder pulled apart.



The bucket cylinders weren’t worn as badly but needed to be resealed also.

[jimmydiesel]

Next up was to get the crawler to run better. I pulled the spark plugs. It had new NGK plugs that were wrong for this engine one was very fouled fuel/oil. I replaced them with Autolight 612 plugs. This helped a lot.




Next was to check the timing. The timing was 7 degrees more advanced than what it should be. I couldn’t get the timing adjusted correctly because the distributor was hitting the oil filter.





The distributor was hitting the oil filter because the oil pump was “clocked” wrong. The slot in the distributor drive needs to be parallel to the frame - 9 and 3 o’clock it is at 1 and 7 o’clock.



I didn’t get a picture after I reclocked it but found this picture on the net. I think from Lavoy. This is what it should look like.

[jimmydiesel]

When I pulled the oil pan to remove the oil pump I found a 1/2” of sludge in the pan. Installed a new thermostat just in case the engine had been running cold and contributing to the slude build up.

[jimmydiesel]

I cleaned and reinstalled the oil pan, new oil and filter. New points and condenser. Was able to get the timing set correctly. Adjusted the valves, they were all within a couple thousands.
Engine ran better but not great. Cleaned out the carburetor and put a kit in it. Cleaned out the fuel tank and put on a new fuel filter. Engine seems to be running very good now. Will need to push some dirt to know for sure.
Before the carburetor work the engine was running rich. I had 2 TSX 777 carburetors and was using the best parts of the 2 to make one. When I put It back on it still ran rich with the needle valve turned all the way in. After comparing the 2 main jets I saw that one was longer than the other but had the same length of needle valve. I put the shorter main jet in and put the carburetor back on and it adjusted like it should




Changed ALL the fluids, greased the rollers and sprockets with corn head grease and the rest of the machine with nlgi #2 grease.
Put new friction disks in the throttle control, there was nothing left of the originals.
When I picked this crawler up the clutch and brake pedal linkage / shaft were stuck together. I sprayed the linkage by the clutch pedal with penetrant a few times a day for a week, no change. Next I drove the left track up on a 6x6 block to give the shaft a downward slant.
Mixed up some ATF and acetone, applied that on and off for a few weeks. Finally got the 2 pedals to unlock from each other but only with a lot of force. So I went underneath and drilled a 3/16 hole in the clutch pedal hub to the shaft. That allowed me to force ATF / acetone into the shaft and bushing. The pedals started to loosen up after 1 application. After 3 shots of ATF the pedals were working like they should.

[gus]

Nice write up. Good job getting things in order!

A question I've always had about the brake/clutch shaft binding or rusting. What isn't there a grease fitting in there? I know cold weather could cause a problem. I think that could be worked around with light oil in a grease gun.

[jimmydiesel]

Thanks Gus
I have been trying to make these write ups something that will be entertaining and helpful.
I agree that there needs to be a way to lube the brake shaft and clutch hub.
When I wasn’t having any luck getting it freed up I went to a spare reverser housing I had and removed the pedals and cross shaft.
From that the idea to drill into the clutch hub came about. I was going to drill from the top and put in a grease zerk. Limited access from the top to drill sent me underneath to drill the hole. I started with a 3/16 hole, the tip of the squeeze bottle I had the ATF in just fit and pressurized the hole and got oil where it needed to be. When the weather gets warmer I plan to thread it and plug it. Over the weekend I will get some more pictures — might help others with this problem.

[jimmydiesel]

Pushing ATF into the clutch pedal hub thru a 3/16” hole drilled from the bottom.

[gus]

Curious, is that the only easy direction direction to drill? I have a 420 that's been sitting for at least 15 years. Not expecting anything good. I will have it all apart and thinking that is one of the hardest things to fix if it's rusted badly.

[jimmydiesel]

Gus
From the bottom was the easiest. I tried drilling the hole from the top but the access and angle was making it hard to get the hole started so I went underneath. When I squeezed the bottle of oil it was coming out all the way around. Not sure how different the 420 clutch linkage is to the 440.



If you have the crawler apart far enough access is easy. This is a spare 440 reverser housing.

[jimmydiesel]

When I was disassembling one of the bucket cylinders the large nut that holds the piston on the rod didn’t want to loosen. I started with a 3/4 drive ratchet, no luck. Put a 2’ pipe on the ratchet, no luck. Added a long pry bar to that and with a total of 9 feet of leverage the nut came loose. Another win/victory.

[gus]

Had something like that on the excavator mulcher head. But it was a big Allen wrench which eventually failed. Ended up welding 3/4" nut on it. The heat from the welding actually did it. It came out easily.

[jimmydiesel]

This nut was a nylon self locking nut that I planed to reuse so heat wasn’t an option. The other side came loose easier.

[jimmydiesel]

The cutting edge on this model 63 72” blade needed replaced. The edge # u10013 ud appears to be NLA.

[jimmydiesel]

I measured some other JD blades and checked the specifications and thought I had found a cutting edge that 6 of the 8 mounting holes would line up. I could then drill out the other 2 holes and make it work. Unfortunately I got my research info mixed up and the edge I ordered only had the 2 outside holes that lined up. So I needed to drill and counter sink 6 holes.
This shows the new edge mounted with the 2 outside bolts and the other 6 drilled and countersunk.

[jimmydiesel]

2 plow bolts for the outside holes and 6 bolts with the heads cut off to weld into the countersunk holes.