Hydra Power mystery

[rrlund]

Question first,is it possible to scuff up the clutches in a hydra power by running it dry so it will work when it didn't before?

Here's the story. I've had that 1600 for 12 years and the hydra power has never been right. More often than not it would run in underdrive even though the rod was down in direct. Now and then it would shift up for a minute or two,then right back down. I'd changed the fluid and filter,used Dexron,all the usual stuff.

I've got the duals and loader on it pushing corn silage up in the bunker,didn't cross my mind to check the fluid before I started. Late yesterday it started making a heck of a whine,sounded just like an 88 transmission whine. I parked it on the level,nothing on the dip stick. Auto parts store was closed,I went to the convienience store and all they had was some Mercon/Dexron combo replacement fluid. I was reluctant,but it was use that or quit til Monday,so I got 4 quarts,put them in and the darned thing works perfect. I can be pushing up the pile,pull the knob and it shifts right down like nobodys business. Get to the top,I can push it in while I'm backing down,works great.

I'm stumped as to why all of a sudden it works better that it ever has for me.
 

[OliverNate]

I don"t have first hand experiance with hydra-power units but sometimes when an automatic trans has burnt fluid the crap thats in it is what still makes the trans grip
 

[J. Schwiebert]

We had a customer that had a 1650 gas and he called in and said the tractor would shift to low even though the unit was in direct drive. Come to find out he had a leaking line and he had not noticed in. When the oil would drain out of the clutch it would fall into the sump and then the pump would pick it up and it would shift to direct drive till the pump could not pick up more oil. A new line and oil solved the problem for him. I would say your unit has been doing the same thing.
 

[B A Star]

rrlund:
   Are you "coasting" back down the silage pile with the clutch down and the transmission still in the forward gear you used to get up the pile?  If so the lube pump is running backwards and sucking all the fluid out of the line and away from the input shaft and gears.  I have seen failures by doing this.
 

[rrlund]

No,I'm not coasting back down. When it wasn't right it would go in to free wheeling like you would expect in underdrive,but since it "fixed itself" it's holding in direct. Darndest thing I've ever seen is all I can say. It used to be slow and slipped in to direct slowly when it even went in at all,now it goes in with a distinct thud.
 

[Mitch Poindexter]

If I send you a 3sp that is doing exactly the same thing in over, can you reproduce your results?
 

[OLarry from MD]

Heres a wild guess the presure relief stuck with some stuff from the overheated oil and now it makes more preasure.Years ago i had one that wanted to shift to direct all the time as soon as i started the engine.I ended up removeing the relief spring and it still did it.Ended up finding the return plugged by thick goo on the bottem of the unit.
 

[Don-Wi]

Had a similar thing happen to the multi-power in our 165. It hadn't worked in high for years, and then a few months after plumbing in a filter on the return side of the hydraulics for the loader (I made it so it shares sumps with the transmission) it started to work. It's now been working for a year.

I don't get it, but I'll keep running it. It shifts with a distinct jerk like it's always been working.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 

[rrlund]

I can drain it and run up and down the silo. Seemed to work for me. I'm starting to wonder if we all need to switch from Dexron to that Mercon/Dexron combo. Mine acts just exactly like something had been plugged all those years and all of a sudden popped loose.
 

[Don-Wi]

That was all we ran in ours until i had the 16's rebuilt (wasn't slipping, but did leak) and they filled it with AGCO's perma-tran. Been running that type of fluid in both the 16 and 18 ever since. The 18 we drained what we could of the ATF, then filled it with hytran and changed the filter. Think I've changed it 2x now since the switch.

1600 is just coming due for a change.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 

[rrlund]

I changed my 1850 to hytran,but if I had it to do over,I wouldn't. It hesitates now going in to underdrive where it didn't before.