Seems to lack the power it had.

rockwall · February 05, 2014, 09:45:04 AM

I had ice/water in the blower of my clark 664 skidder. We took it off and replaced it with a rebuilt blower. We had taken the injectors out to try to turn seized up motor over by hand. It turned out a failed manifold gasket had let water get into blower and freeze. So we put injectors back in, set the rack and set the governer.The fellow who helped me is a trained diesel mechanic. The motor starts right up, there is a little white smoke when it first turning over and then once it is running, no smoke. The motor sounds good and strong and I was able to haul some wood with it but it just doesn't seem to have the pulling power it did have. It seems slow. The transmission fluid level is where it should be.With no load I tried going up a small incline in high(not even in travel gear) and it couldn't make it over the rise, had to shift to low and then made it slowly.Any suggestions?

sawguy21 · February 05, 2014, 09:48:27 AM

Is the engine bogging down under load or is the transmission slipping?

treeslayer2003 · February 05, 2014, 11:04:24 AM

rockwall, if no smoke then no miss. I think its not tuned right, I had that with a clark. the converter stall is up around 1900 so if the engine is cut back at all it will make you think somthings wrong with the trans. not all guys are great on those engines, it should turn at least 2800 no load and maintain 21-22 in a hard pull. I got lucky n found an older guy that knows how to set um. it is more complicated than people think.

rockwall · February 05, 2014, 11:10:27 AM

I would say it isn't bogging down, it sounds and acts strong and I don't know if the tranny is slipping. It just seems rather than step right out it just creeps along. It seems it should be a little quicker moving along.

rockwall · February 05, 2014, 11:13:22 AM

Thanks Treeslayer I suspected it was the motor not getting totally up to power.

treeslayer2003 · February 05, 2014, 11:21:02 AM

easy test; run her up against a tree in low with the foot board out n watch the shaft, if it stops before it spins the tires then that's what mine did. I rebuilt the converter and it did no good. having it tuned made all the difference.
ha, it will spin um in high now!

rockwall · February 05, 2014, 12:22:58 PM

Thanks again, can't wait to try it!

lumberjack48 · February 05, 2014, 02:18:34 PM

I had a 3-53 do this, ran perfect, no smoke, but no power, it had all the power in the world the day before. So i had the mechanic come out, he put new injectors and tuned it up. It sounded real good, but i could tell by lessoning to it when it left the landing, there was no bark to it. It didn't have anymore power then it did before the tuneup.

The mechanic took the injectors back out and gave it a compression check.The compression was low, some how the compression rings rolled over. He did a in-frame overhaul, at that time it cost me 840.00, i lost two days.

I found out about a yr later, my brother had broke a radiator hose. Instead of shutting it down they ran it out to the landing. Family is to much fun.

coxy · February 05, 2014, 04:28:54 PM

if the motor was seized then it my have a stuck ring or two do a compression test any ways

rockwall · February 07, 2014, 09:30:33 AM

It was a little below zero here this morning so I went out and directed the space heater onto the motor, left it on for about a half hour. I got out my can of ether ready to give it a little shot but when I just hit the button she fired right up like it was a summer day. I let it warm up to temp and put the blade against a tree, gave it a little pedal and the shaft stopped rotating, not even close to spinning a tire.

treeslayer2003 · February 07, 2014, 04:27:25 PM

bro, you need to find a Detroit man. she is not right.

rockwall · February 07, 2014, 05:36:25 PM

The fellow who set it up is coming back, I think he knows his detroits and with a little tweaking she'll be back pulling like a banshee! I'll keep you posted.

loggah · February 07, 2014, 07:11:49 PM

Ive had a few issues with Detroit engines which lacked power when everything seemed fine . In one engine that lacked power it ended up with the exhaust manifold and ports half plugged with carbon!! had to burn the manifold out with a torch and chisel the carbon out of the ports in the head. If these engines cant scavenge clean air into the cylinders they wont run right. The other issue i had was a 4-53 that wouldn't rev up to speed and no power .I believe the engine had taken in water at one time because when i tore it down it had 4 bent connecting rods !!!!! they were sprung enough to shorten the stroke just a bit resulting in less compression and basically lacking power. Any time you have one of these heads off you want to check out the rollers and the camshaft, most every time i found flats on the rollers and worn camshaft lobes. Don

lumberjack48 · February 10, 2014, 11:07:12 AM

You can have all the power in the world, if the torque converter isn't up to par, this is what it feels like, motor has no power.

My S8 IH, Funk Power Shift acted up, you had to step on the throttle hard to get it to move. With a big load the wife would pull a head a little, then put it in reverse and back into the drag full throttle, when it hit the butt end of the drag she shoved it in forward, the black smoke would roll out of the exhaust pipe. She had to do this to lock the converter up. I never thought nothing of it, i had never ran a power shift. Then the torque converter went out, they wanted 8 k for a new one. I found a used one for 3 k, it was -20 when we put it in on the job. After we got it all back together, put it in forward, the skidder moved at a dead idle, 3-53 Detroit, it was a complete differant skidder to run. It would pull two cds of Aspen from a dead start, put in forward and step on the throttle and she'd walk away with it. It also burned about half the fuel.

rockwall · February 14, 2014, 06:03:58 AM

So mechanic came back and we took the throttle linkage off, checked out inside the governer, everything was moving freely, then we took valve cover off and timed the injectors, they were off a little. Then we reset the rack and again everything seems to be moving freely. It starts easy, idles great, sounds good, no smoke, no skipping but when you ask it to bark she just comes up to a point but won't bark outloud. If I had to guess I would say it will turn about 1800 or so. I've tried to find a tach but haven't had any luck yet. The mechanic has an older mechanic we can call, hopefully he has a trick up his sleeve. Boy, am I learning a lot but I'd really like to cut some wood. It's not too cold , frozen ground and not long till mud season.

treeslayer2003 · February 14, 2014, 10:34:49 AM

I would say y'all don't have the injector racks opening quit all the way....it is a fine adjustment and a tiny bit makes a big difference. you really need a guy more expeirianced with Detroit. i'm not knockin yer guy, just I seen this before.

rockwall · February 14, 2014, 12:51:58 PM

Good to hear treeslayer, I've got a real professional coming out tomorrow. His first question was, when was the last time it had a complete tune up? I think I'm on the right track now.

rockwall · February 15, 2014, 01:29:36 PM

Mechanic came out and checked the exhaust valves, timed the injectors and set the rack, now she has some BARK!! I am so glad to have it acting normal again. The other fellow tried but just wasn't able to get it right but the older, more experienced mechanic worked his magic. Time to cut some wood! Thanks for everyone's help.

nhlogga · February 15, 2014, 06:13:37 PM

Sounds like the problem Ie have with my Clark 664C. No power up hill empty. Won't climb over a 8" tall stump going up hill. Blower gears stripped out 4 years ago. Someday I will fix it if I ever save up enough $. Transmission was supposedly rebuilt. Engine is a reman with an estimated less than 5k hrs on it.

treeslayer2003 · February 15, 2014, 10:07:26 PM

good deal rock, what ever he charged was worth it......and you learned something important about a Detroit.........they got to be right. glad you got it right.

rockwall · February 16, 2014, 06:45:05 AM

I am so happy, he was able to get it right. Oh, is she snappy now, feels like a totally different machine. He was here for almost two hours and charged me $50 so I paid him and gave him a big tip.

barbender · February 16, 2014, 07:55:41 AM

Quote from: rockwall on February 16, 2014, 06:45:05 AM
I am so happy, he was able to get it right. Oh, is she snappy now, feels like a totally different machine. He was here for almost two hours and charged me $50 so I paid him and gave him a big tip.

8) 8) It's good to find a real Detroit man, they are becoming a relic of a bygone era. LJ48, I would have liked to watch your wife run that skidder, she sounded like she had some technique. And stay out of her way!! ;D