HELP! PTO won't disengage...2000 Freightliner Century Class

Air or mechanical engage? Get you butt under the truck and look at the lever and disengage the PTO....did it move? No? Move it by hand and be done. Fix why not like air cylinder or cable.

Lever moves but still engaged? Throw in clucth for all actions....work? No? PTO has problem. You said it's new , take it off and get another one, this one has problems. Some units have square drive and some have hex stud for lever mount, make sure lever is turning this rod.....

It's a real simple operation....wassup with your wrench ? He don't know this? Be sure to tell him to drain the tranny before he takes PTO off and tell driver to use clutch every time in the future. mmmm just in case.

Later

 

ck not proper gasket PTO 2 trans its easy 2 add 1 gasket drain into clean 5 gal. bucket pump back in after adding 1 gasket gear clearance amust 2 work

 

Exactly what chalupa said!
Your "mechanic" really needs to be posting here, describing the steps he has taken to see why/what is not letting the PTO disengage, none of which is described in your initial post. Simply put, it is either the related linkage parts (air/mechanical/cable) not allowing it to disengage, or the Chelsea PTO box itself (from engage/disengage lever inward) not disengaging due to internal problem. Wait... now I'm just repeating what chalupa said.

Edit: Didn't see baha's post until now. He makes a good point & common clearance problem/remedy, which can also be detected by trying to move the PTO arm manually.

 

without knowing more im thinking the backlash may not be set properly causing it to stick.

 

Agin its simple ops, gear slides back and forth by lever / piston actuation and meshes with gear to drive shaft. Shaft or lever not moving or PTO not shimmed correctly etc.

Get some more data from hub like method used to engage....and maybe get new wrench.....

JMO

 

Hope they can get it troubleshooted & the problem fixed. Hopefully a simple repair, at minimal costs. Sounds like you both deserve a BIG break.
Your mechanic should know, but if he/they remove the air linkage connection to the PTO engage/disengage lever (under truck, on PTO case) that will isolate the problem into 2 main sections for troubleshooting (air "shift" linkage parts solely vs PTO box solely), as I stated before. This narrows down where the problem lies.
Please keep us posted on what they find, as I'm very curious to what is causing it to hang up.

 

The PTO is disengaged by a spring when the air pressure is removed. The air control in the cab may not be turning off the air pressure. That would explain why both the old and new PTO have the same problem. Have your husband remove the air line from the PTO. If the spring is functioning correctly that would be the easiest way to disengage it.

 

My guess, since the PTO has the same problem after the PTO was replaced, then the problem is in the switch. An important part of the switch is dumping the air pressure in the line when off, which is often overlooked. The switch may stop air from going to the PTO, meaning it may seem OK if it's unhooked, (blows air when on and stops when off), but if it cannot release the pressure in the line, the PTO will not come out. Do you hear the air release when it's switched off?

If the switch and air lines are OK, then you'll have to drain the trans. Pull the shifter housing off and operate it manually, check for proper lash. If it will not move, then it's in the PTO. If it works good manually and lash is good, then the problem is in the shifter housing.

As others have already said, it is a very simple thing. You need a new mechanic. If you find that the PTO was shimmed wrong, be sure to point out that if they put on a new Chelsea PTO, it came with a very detailed operation and installation manual.