HD5B Starter removal

I finally got it out but what a pain. First I had to drop the pan that attaches to the side frames. This was a big deal as the pan was so full of dirt the dirt covered about half the starter. Add moisture and a temperature of 20 degrees and you get a block of frozen dirt. After I got the pan bolts out the pan didn’t drop. I had to pry it from the frozen dirt. Then I had to chisel away the frozen dirt to get to the starter and starter bolts, not fun. The dirt was a perfect mold of the pan. Frozen around all the cables and hoses. The next issue was getting the bolts out. The bolt heads were all 12 point and all a different size. Normally that wouldn’t bother me but when you’re 6’-4” and have to enter weave my body with the frame of the blade it gets challenging getting in and out. Anyway I got it out and putting back in should be a whole lot easier.

Welcome to the world of bulldozer repairs... a lot of the repairs are far from enjoyable. I'm sure your starter is an MT40 and if you put in a good one you'll likely never have to work on it again. I had one of these starters on a Detroit 8V92, I don't know how long it had been in there before I bought the truck but I had the truck for 17 years... my "bread 'n butter truck" and often started it many times a day. I never had to pull the starter in all that time and then I sold the truck... there's a quality Delco starter for you. It is important to have good cables, connections and batteries so that it's not having to be starved for current. Please let us know when your machine is all back together again.

DMiller wrote: Be grateful were space saver head bolts, the originals would have been 15/16" hex and a royal bear to get a wrench on.

Wow, that would have been a pain.

Coke-in-MN wrote: M42 replacement - a wobble head socket and long extension - been there many times before i replaced the starter with new type with solonoid . I seem to remember bolt heads being 3/4" (1/2" bolts) and those new style bolts that look star shaped only being used on much later applications in heavy truck use.   Seems if this is first time you have had belly pan off then changing oil has not been a regular occurance as when the small trap door on belly pan is removed the dirt level is easily noticed .   Then I pressure washed my machine a couple times a month or more often and removed the excess dirt that accumulated .

Taking off my belly pan this spring. its packed under there for sure. The access plate for the oil changes was clear so no problem changing oil on my 16. Just ran out of time this year to dump the pan. Anyone have any pics to show of when you did your particular tractor please share. I now we would all like to see them.

CAL(KS) wrote: best way.  pull onto something solid.  use a floor jack and pump up tight, remove bolts and get out of the way lol belly pan that is

   

Exactly what my plan is Cal.

Need to rehab the one on my 7G, been nose mangled a few too many times and difficult to get back up as does not align well anymore.

Thank you for shsrythe great belly pan pics.