Ford 420 Torque Convertor Transmission Issue

I have a Ford 420 industrial with the torque convertor transmission that I am having trouble with. Move the shuttle lever to forward everything works great, move it to reverse and nothing or it barely rolls backward. If you give it 20 or 30 seconds it will finally engage in reverse and go just fine. Any ideas?

(quoted from post at 20:44:42 09/06/20) I have a Ford 420 industrial with the torque convertor transmission that I am having trouble with. Move the shuttle lever to forward everything works great, move it to reverse and nothing or it barely rolls backward. If you give it 20 or 30 seconds it will finally engage in reverse and go just fine. Any ideas?

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That's a classic sign of worn linkage. Slam the shifter into reverse. Does it engages sooner. Post back. The offending pin is small and cheap but not easy to get to.

(quoted from post at 21:50:47 09/06/20)

(quoted from post at 20:44:42 09/06/20) I have a Ford 420 industrial with the torque convertor transmission that I am having trouble with. Move the shuttle lever to forward everything works great, move it to reverse and nothing or it barely rolls backward. If you give it 20 or 30 seconds it will finally engage in reverse and go just fine. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

That's a classic sign of worn linkage. Slam the shifter into reverse. Does it engages sooner. Post back. The offending pin is small and cheap but not easy to get to.

Click to expand...

I tried it this morning and really slammed the lever in reverse and I could feel something seemed to let loose and it went right in reverse. I moved it back through neutral and forward a few times and back to reverse and it seemed to engage better.

Go to Messicks.com and select online parts. Choose New Holland. Check Construction and enter 420 for the parts diagram you're looking for. Go to Transmission and select Page 07A01. Look at part no. 23. Most likely that pin is the source of much of your trouble. It's not identified any longer but is a Clevis Pin, 1/4" diameter x 5/8" long. To replace, go in through the inspection plate in the bottom of the bell housing or pull the steering box and go in through the top. Inspect the rest of the linkage also. Your Control Valve shaft may be worn but not enough to be a problem. Sometimes the Control Valve arm has damage if the pin has been replaced with something wrong. They can be repaired as they're expensive to replace. The bearings are cheap if you source them online and not from CNH. The rod ends on the linkage rods are pretty cheap also as long as you don't buy them from CNH. A few repairs and she'll go another 5000 hours. Hope that helps.

Thank you for the detailed response. I really appreciate your help. This will give me a direction to go in. Sounds like a good reason to build me a shop with a concrete floor and a roll up door for this project.

(quoted from post at 19:36:24 09/07/20) Thank you for the detailed response. I really appreciate your help. This will give me a direction to go in. Sounds like a good reason to build me a shop with a concrete floor and a roll up door for this project.

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Back in the day, a Ford guy would reach up through the bottom and pull and replace the pin. All in the blind. You might give it a try laying in the dirt. I've done it laying in gravel before. Get the right clevis pin and cotter pin and give it a try. Dirt will probably be more comfortable. A working skip loader is pretty handy when building a shop.