Hey guys, I have a cat it18f. I have plowed with this loader for the last 7 years without a hitch other than water pump, alt, and did center pins and rear brakes in an off season. Last week I lost 3rd and 4th gear. Finished the day plowing for 4 hours with 2nd gear then tried 3rd and 4th again as I went back to park the machine and 3rd and 4th worked fine. Drove it 4 miles back to our shop fine. Next day had no 3rd and 4th again and changed fluid and filters with no change in performance and fluid looked really good. Tried messing with it a little bit and seems to partially engaged into 3rd and after about 5 min of trying back and forth, 3rd gear slammed in and worked, then wouldn't engage again. Seems to somewhat come and go, but not wanting to go into 3rd and 4th more than it wants to go in. I have contacted the cat dealer near me and have been waiting almost 2 weeks for them to come but they called today and said Thursday. If I'm preparing for the worst, does anyone know what trans I actually have? All I can see is a ZF 4 speed. I'm trying to get a jump on rebuilt trans prices just to be prepared. Thanks, Thomas
I believe the machine has an electric shift component on the column if it is like the IT12. Those can go bad. I've also had those machines with an open cab get damage on the harness going back to the transmission. The usual location was at the back of the cab platform by the ROPS post. I am assuming you are plowing snow with all the usual kinds of corrosion sources like salt.
Post a Serial Number first of all. That gets you a correct electrical schematic Like John C I think you would be well-advised to troubleshoot the electrics of the shifter control first, especially if the oil you drained wasn't black and didn't smell burned. Question for you. You're missing 3F & 4F. Are you also missing 3R..? If you are that might send the diagnostic process in a different direction.
I will post serial number in a little bit when I get back to our shop. I also do not have 3r. But again it seems intermittent or at least will finally just engage. I didn't want to mess around with it too much and make anything worse before I got to diagnose it. Also, I did put a new "shifter" (forward/ reverse lever with the twist gear selector) on this machine 2 years ago. That was 1,000 bucks itself. Hopefully they last more than 2 years! Lol.
3F, 4F, and 3R all depend on engagement of the same #6 solenoid. That's why I asked about 3R. It is my considered opinion that there is likely an electrical fault somewhere in the harness feeding the #6 solenoid, or that the coil of said solenoid is starting to break down and will eventually fail completely. Right now my money is on a wiring fault.
I did find in a manual I had that #6 solenoid was shared between 3rd and 4th. I ohm'd that solenoid and found it to be OK and I had 23 volts to that solenoid when 3rd was selected on the shifter. I forget the value when i ohm'd it but it wasn't like it was 0.
Try interchanging the complete solenoid valves (not just the coil) #5 & #6. See if the issue moves and affects 2F & 2R.
I had thought of that but the cab brace is right in the way and it'll be a pain, but I'll give it a shot if you're suggesting it. I was convinced my trans was in need of replacement so I didn't know if I should even bother with swapping valves. Cleveland Brothers won't be here until Friday or Monday now so I'll give this a shot tomorrow. Thanks!
If the problem moves with the solenoid valve and affects 2F/2R then you will know to buy a complete new assembly. For all I know the issue could be in the valve part rather than in the coil, hence the recommendation to swap the complete valve. If the fault stays where it is I would suspect a wiring fault. Again need a Serial Number to get you an electrical schematic. If you've already ohm'd a solenoid then checking continuity in wiring shouldn't be too hard. Unless there is a damaged harness somewhere the favourite would be condensation/corrosion in one of the major harness connectors.
Machine serial number or trans serial number?
Machine Serial Number please. That is the last 8 digits of the PIN plate, they will be either 5EJxxxxx or 6ZFxxxxx.
6zf00420 is what my tag says