International 2500 Loader Backhoe

[PineRiverPat]

Hello all. Got a question about this antique, International 2500 Loader Backhoe. I got it, didn’t run, broken distributor shaft gear and crank gear. Replaced them. It does run again. So I changed oil and filters, hydraulic filters and added about 10 gal of fluid. I can get the machine to move forward and backward, but no action with the hoe. Not sure if it’s a synchro or hydro tranny. How do I tell? And some information says to add tranny fluid behind operators seat and some say the plug under operators seat. I do see 3 plugs, one behind the seat, see photo, one under the seat, and one actually in front of the seat, see photos I added in front of the seat and do see a little on the dip stick. Is the plug behind the seat going to the same place? It seems when I drained all the fluids there was a drain plug under the tranny and another further toward the hoe near the rear differential. The books I have do not explain any of this very well. I can add pictures. Hope I explained this well enough to understand. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. I added some pictures, plug behind the seat and the one actually in front of the seat.

 

[JimB2]

Hello, no expert on the IH 2500 TBL tractor but lots of experience on the IH 574 Ag tractors that is the tractor part of the 2500 that has been modified by the IH Industrial Group. That flat plate unit the seat is where the 3 Pt hitch went on the Ag version and yes putting Hydraulic oil in the plug under the seat will go into the rear chamber of the Trans/Diff Hydraulic oil reservoir. This is where the main hydraulic pump gets it supply from. There is three different chambers but there is a small hydraulic pump in the bottom of one chamber to keep the Hydraulic oil distributed equally amongst the chambers.
Does your 2500 have an additional hydraulic pump and filter(s) under the right foot plate?
Re drain plug, should have been three, there is one under the right axle housing into the Diff housing.

Re transmission, looking at the photo of the dash and shift levers, your 2500 has the 4 speed Synco trans with the Fast Rev Option (FWD-REV lever on the left side of the steering wheel). On the AG model the "L" handle shift lever would have Hi-Lo to front and Rev to rear but on tractors with Fast Rev Option the "L" handle only had Hi-Lo.

Re no action with the hoe, so power steering works? Does loader work? On some of those IH Industrial tractors there was a valve to switch the hydraulic flow from the loader to the hoe and possibly to the stabilizers? Many variations to these TBL tractors as there were built to customer's requirements. So search for Hydraulic Shut Off or Diverter Valves that control the Hydraulic oil flow to hoe valves.

 

[PineRiverPat]

JimB2:

I apologize for my delay here getting back to you, I was gone for a bit with family.

Thank you kindly for your response and help, VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!! First, to answer your questions. This guy does have the Forward-Reverse lever on the dash, and it works. It does have the 4 speed transmission lever on the left of the seat, and also the High-Low lever next to that. They all seem to work. And also the power steering works.
And, it does have the filter canister under the right foot board, so I have to imagine it has that extra pump ?? I do not recall 3 drain plugs, so I will have to look again, and if there is a plug under the right axle housing I will see if I can open it and drain it. And I believe I added fluid only to the pug in front of the seat. I will add a little more to the one under the seat and some to the plug behind the seat and see if it will come up on the dip stick. Maybe (hopefully) it will be the solution to the hoe operating.
I don't know if the loader operates, I have not yet put it back on the tractor. I removed it to split the tractor to get into the motor to change the cam shaft.
I do not know of any diverter valve on here for the hydraulic flow to switch it from the loader to the hoe, and I don't see anything in the operators manual about it, but the manuals I have are not the best. I will certainly look it over some more. There is a little foot pedal lever behind my right foot. I'll have to re-inspect that guy to see what it was for.
This poor guy has been some work, and learning process. I don't believe it was taking care of very well through it's life. Seems like some of the things were held together with the bailer wire and duct tape. I am hoping the hoe will work as that's the main reason I bought this guy. I am hoping to be able to do some digging with it this summer, and then perhaps I can pass it on to someone else that could get some use out of it.
I did not know this guy was similar to the IH 574 tractors. That is also great to know. I will do some research on these and see what is familiar that I can save to my files.
I want to thank you again, people like you are not thanked enough for the your knowledge and time you spend helping people like me, especially when we have no where else to go for this kind of information on these old tractors. Tremendously appreciated. I hope your spring time is going well for you.

 

[used red MN]

I am not sure of how much help I can be to you, I would ask does the loader part work? If not does the power steering work?
First you have to establish if you have the hydraulic fluid level correct. If the loader is not working you’re going to have to find out why the system is not building pressure.
Here is a link to the manufacturers parts catalog that has basically diagrams of the systems. Maybe this will be helpful to you. If you can determine that the system is pumping fluid then all I can tell you is any valve or part that has the following words in its description could be suspect, diverter, divider, flow control, unloader(ing) relief or pilot control. Suspect meaning it may have spools(valves)in it that are to slide freely in a bore but are instead stuck or intermittently sticking.
Here is a link to the manufacturers parts catalog.
CNHI IH 2500A parts catalog
When you open it a request will pop up to select a dealer. I would suggest you X out of the option to select a dealer. When you do that you can only price items that are in stock at that dealer. From that link you can view all the parts sections of your tractor.
Here is a link to a dealer’s modified version of the catalog.
Messicks IH 2500A parts catalog
When you open it scroll down a bit to “Select a diagram” The Categories there are equivalent to the Functional Groups in the CNHI catalog and the (Subsections)Diagrams are also the same. Their version will show you part numbers that the have been taken out of the CNHI manufacturer’s catalog and it shows prices of available parts. The thing about it is the CNHI one has “preview” diagrams which is helpful when you don’t know exactly what the name is of the parts you are trying to find. So in a way you can use the two together.

 

[PineRiverPat]

I am not sure of how much help I can be to you, I would ask does the loader part work? If not does the power steering work?
First you have to establish if you have the hydraulic fluid level correct. If the loader is not working you’re going to have to find out why the system is not building pressure.
Here is a link to the manufacturers parts catalog that has basically diagrams of the systems. Maybe this will be helpful to you. If you can determine that the system is pumping fluid then all I can tell you is any valve or part that has the following words in its description could be suspect, diverter, divider, flow control, unloader(ing) relief or pilot control. Suspect meaning it may have spools(valves)in it that are to slide freely in a bore but are instead stuck or intermittently sticking.
Here is a link to the manufacturers parts catalog.
CNHI IH 2500A parts catalog
When you open it a request will pop up to select a dealer. I would suggest you X out of the option to select a dealer. When you do that you can only price items that are in stock at that dealer. From that link you can view all the parts sections of your tractor.
Here is a link to a dealer’s modified version of the catalog.
Messicks IH 2500A parts catalog
When you open it scroll down a bit to “Select a diagram” The Categories there are equivalent to the Functional Groups in the CNHI catalog and the (Subsections)Diagrams are also the same. Their version will show you part numbers that the have been taken out of the CNHI manufacturer’s catalog and it shows prices of available parts. The thing about it is the CNHI one has “preview” diagrams which is helpful when you don’t know exactly what the name is of the parts you are trying to find. So in a way you can use the two together.

Used Red MN: You also are a tremendous help. Any and all information for me is great. These links are great, thank you. I will look into them and if I can copy anything to my files I will be greatly appreciative. As you ask, I do not know if the loader works at this point. I removed it from the tractor so as to be able to get to the motor better, and have not yet re-installed it. The power steering does work fine. The tractor will move forward and backward in any gear and in the high or low position. So all of that so far seems to work fine. I know that it is low on hydraulic fluid, so I will be adding a little more to the system, I just did not want to over fill anything, and I was not sure of the other 2 plugs on the top of the transmission or rear end.
I will try to keep an updated note on here as I progress with this guy. It may take a week or 2 yet. I want to thank you again for this information, it is truly a big help. Have a great weekend.