# Ford 4500 transmission woes



## loopman (May 8, 2018)

Hi everyone, 

Just after opinions on a transmission issue I am having with an old Ford 4500 industrial (loader/backhoe). It has the "Power Reversing Transmission" where you selct a gear and then operate via a foward/reverse lever on the dash - no clutch.

Machine was operating well, then stood for about 4 months, when I moved it out of the shed it backed up very sluggishly for about 30' and then stopped completely - no amount of coaxing will get it to move in either direction now. 

I have changed transmission oil, changed transmission filter, made sure disconnect lever on final drive is engaged but nothing. Looking through an inspection port underneath I can see the torque converter spinning so it doesn't appear to be a broken flex plate/connection issue. 

What seems to be the issue as far as I can see is that when I remove the bolt from the oil pressure test port in that same panel underneath, I only see small spurts/dribbles of fluid coming out - so I am assuming the transmission hydraulic pump has failed? Is it normal for this to just fail, i.e. no prior warnings via slow operation when it was last used? Could it be anything else do you think (does this model have an accessible pickup screen/filter)? Looking at pictures it looks like the tractor has to be split to get to the pump, so I'd be interested to hear any thoughts about this problem you may have to avoid this procedure! 

Thank you. 
Brian


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy Brian, welcome to the tractor forum.

Quote: " when I remove the bolt from the oil pressure test port in that same panel underneath, I only see small spurts/dribbles of fluid coming out - so I am assuming the transmission hydraulic pump has failed?" 

The pump is obviously not working. May be that an internal connection has failed, causing the pump to suck air. Add more oil to the transmission (over full) and see if it starts working.


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## loopman (May 8, 2018)

sixbales said:


> Howdy Brian, welcome to the tractor forum.
> 
> Quote: The pump is obviously not working. May be that an internal connection has failed, causing the pump to suck air. Add more oil to the transmission (over full) and see if it starts working.


Certainly worth a try, thanks for the idea.


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## loopman (May 8, 2018)

Filled the transmission up to the brim and still no luck, so looks like I will need to split the tractor and have a look at the transmission pump.


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