IH3444 Hydraulic Problem

[aintworkinright]

Any one out there who can help with my IH3444 hydraulic problem?

 

[Bob]

Likely, NOT, until you finally tell us what the issue is.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

An appropriate reply- I used to own one!

 

[aintworkinright]

(quoted from post at 04:32:55 11/24/15) An appropriate reply- I used to own one!

Sorry for the short post and delayed reply, but I'm not only dealing with aging Tonka toys but my 96 year old Mom. Just got back from a 4 hour drive gluing her situation back together for a while and preparing her thanksgiving dinner. Maintaining and sustaining these treasures is a noble and satisfying enterprise.

Back to the IH3444 hydraulic issue: Over the last few cycles, there have been increasingly longer delays between the moving of the levers and the response of the implements. This tractor has two pumps, one straight driven forward from the crankshaft and one side mounted on the engine. It has a shuttle valve that directs the hydraulics from either the backhoe or the loader/steering.

During this transition from working great and not working at all, it's gradually taken longer to work and there was clearly air in the system that used to bleed out after a filter change.

If any of you out the on this forum can point me in the right direction, I'll be eternally grateful.

Rick

 

[Bob Bancroft]

It's been years. I will try to recall what I can. The selector valve directs the oil flow from the smaller pump on the side of the engine to either the power steering, or the hoe valve. In particular it seems like the auxiliary flow effected the swing most of all. The only issue we had with ours was the smaller side mounted pump blowing up, twice! Both times it was replaced, and we went back to work. Never found any cause. I don't recall ever cleaning a sump screen. That would be where I would start looking.

 

[aintworkinright]

(quoted from post at 15:10:11 11/30/15) It's been years. I will try to recall what I can. The selector valve directs the oil flow from the smaller pump on the side of the engine to either the power steering, or the hoe valve. In particular it seems like the auxiliary flow effected the swing most of all. The only issue we had with ours was the smaller side mounted pump blowing up, twice! Both times it was replaced, and we went back to work. Never found any cause. I don't recall ever cleaning a sump screen. That would be where I would start looking.

Thanks, Bob. I'm still learning how to navigate this forum so hope this gets posted as a reply:

The Main problem is that I don't have any accurate maintenance manuals to tell me what's what, where it is let alone how to fix it. Bought a Jensales IH3444 Service manual from YT and the only value was one fold out page of the 2424 system which may or may not be similar.

I changed the only filter I know of last year and have barely run it 10 hours since. HyTran is no longer available so I've been using 303 at the advice of 'experts'.

 

[aintworkinright]

(reply to post at 21:03:39 11/30/15)

That seemed to work ok, but my edit option still aint workin right so have to add another reply:

Forgot to mention that I pulled the lid on the transmission and cleaned thoroughly when changed the filter. Found no screens or filters.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

If you follow the suction tube into the trans. housing to where it draws oil, I assume it should have had a screen. If there is none, maybe your main pump has drawn too much crap through it? Or is the filter in the suction line? I can't remember.
It seems like that rear end was very full of oil to have enough to run the hoe. Fuller than a regular tractor, I think. Ours would bubble oil up out of the breather/filler right next to the gearshift. I had to make an extended breather. I don't know how the previous owners got away with it. It showed no signs of running over when we got it. Maybe they didn't keep it full!

 

[aintworkinright]

(reply to post at 08:45:54 12/01/15)

The entire reservoir is in the manual tranny housing and everything shares the same fluid. Pulled the filter today and it looked fine but will install a new one tomorrow after priming its lines and a backhoe line cap. The fluid did look a little milky for reasons I don't know.

Even if there should be a pickup screen in the reservoir, I'm assuming it still goes to the filter before the pumps. My fear is that these pumps may have been running without fluid. Good used IH parts ain't so easy to find these days. But that doesn't really make sense either because the front driven pump is below the reservoir and last I checked, gravity still works.

 

[aintworkinright]

(reply to post at 19:45:46 12/01/15)

Thank goodness the early 60s Case 450 dozer takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. Rented a 4 foot vibratory sheepsfoot to do the main compaction and am running the 73 Dodge 4WD to haul and deliver the 1 1/2 drain rock with that crank out mat system I bought on late night tv which turned out to be a great invention that I highly recommend.

Thanks to my good friend Paulino, a new helper will be showing up tomorrow to help with the manual labor and secure the edges of the new roads with the J tamper.

This is the onset of the rainy season here in Forestville, California so it's now all about moving solid material to the edges and compacting.

For further inspiration, please refer to Bob Dylan's song: It takes rocks and gravel baby to make a solid road.

 

[aintworkinright]

(reply to post at 19:47:14 12/04/15)

With a new filter in hand, I yanked the old one and rigged a 1/2" pvc/funnel primer down the pipe from the filter housing to the big forward pump. After the first prime of 1/2 gal to overflow, I installed a new filter and cycled several times with no joy. Second prime took about 3/8 gal before full. This time after a few cycles it came back to life, but took many more to bleed out enough air to press back into service tomorrow.

It was dark by then, so will check the fluid level in the morning and reevaluate the situation. There still may be a leak somewhere to be addressed later, but at least I now know how to git 'er running in a pinch. This can't be good for the pumps, but they're still strong.

Thanks, Bob.

 

[aintworkinright]

(reply to post at 19:52:36 12/06/15)

Got the IH3444 hydraulics working this morning, still having to cycle the bucket a lot to bleed out the yet to be determined problem, and it functioned full strength for a while. Loaded 6 bucket loads of 1 1/2 drain rock into the newly serviceable 1963ish GMC 4000 dump truck after Mitch and I fixed the brakes.

So I then transferred three bucket loads of drain rock down to the project which is way more squishy than planned thanks to way more rain than forcast. That enough to pave the way for the GMC dump run, but the IH3444 started acting goofy again while backing up the hill. White smoke from the exhaust, red hot sparks emanating from the juncture of the manifold to the muffler.

It takes rocks and gravel to make a solid road.

 

[aintworkinright]

(reply to post at 22:43:49 12/07/15)

And then it stopped working in the middle of what I thought was just another reprime. This is serious business so have made many calls and have engaged a few guys and the latest strategy is to pull the filler pipe that also holds the vent and pump the case up with pressurized air and look for leaks with a soap filled spray bottle. An air leak into suction line is the only scenario that makes sense to my analog diesel powered brain.