IH 2400 A/454 Clutch is Stuck

[Rocket Sci]

Hello all. I mentioned this in my other post but i thought it best to start a new topic so it can get more attention and help others in future when searching.

This is the 2400 A version of the IH 454 and i understand there are several models that have the same parts/Features.

So the clutch got stuck after a few months of just sitting without use. That is weird that it would stick because i have owned it for over 30 years and i used to travel a lot and it stayed idle and it never stuck like that before. When it was stuck in a swamp for 2 months (several years ago)  it never stuck then. So i am wondering, why now?

Here is what i have done so far. Based on Info from HydroTec, i pulled the inspection plate off and looked in. I had my wife work the pedal. I can see that the throwout bearing and forks are all there and working. I also saw the pressure plates pull away from the clutch [plate. That tells me the clutch is stuck to the flywheel.

I attached my 6 foot boxblade to the tractor and was doing some grading with the clutch pushed all way down and propped there with a board. I snagged a large root of a tree and it just sat there and dug 2 large holes. This was all done with tractor in the lowest gear possible.

Then , with the clutch still down and the tractor in the highest gear possible i hook my 4x4 truck to it and pulled it around. At first the wheels just skidded and then it started rolling and i THOUGHT it had broken loose, but, it was the motor turning over. So it is still stuck.

If anyone has any other ideas it would be much appreciated.

BTW, i have sprayed Brake Cleaner, Kroil oil and WD 40 in there and none of it helped.

[snoshoe]

An open area, low 4th or high 1st, 2/3 throttle, clutch pedal down, brakes locked together. Repeatedly stomp on the brakes. If it doesn't come loose. Split the tractor and fix it.

[Rocket Sci]

57 minutes ago, snoshoe said:

An open area, low 4th or high 1st, 2/3 throttle, clutch pedal down, brakes locked together. Repeatedly stomp on the brakes. If it doesn't come loose. Split the tractor and fix it.

Ok i will try that. i have never seen a clutch stuck that bad. It is like the clutch plate is welded to the flywheel. The starter went out today and its in shop being rebuilt. Get it back tomorrow and try your way. Hope that works.

[HydroTek]

454 would have the metallic clutch disk -- those usually will not "stick"

2300 possible could have an organic lining on the clutch disk -- those will stick with moisture 

[Rocket Sci]

11 hours ago, HydroTek said:

454 would have the metallic clutch disk -- those usually will not "stick"

2300 possible could have an organic lining on the clutch disk -- those will stick with moisture 

Yes, total mystery to me. Grew up on a farm and had plenty of tractor issues but never had clutch stick like this. I will put the starter back on today and do as snoshoe suggested and if that does not work i may just sell it. Tired of messing with it.

[hippy5488]

must be 2400 thing. years ago a friend had me work on his. i took the hood off and some other stuff so i could wash the layers off dirt and grease off it. it sat for a month till he got the money to fix it. the clutch stuck in that time frame. had to split it disc was glued to flywheel really good.

[Matt Kirsch]

Clutch could have failed. It may not be stuck at all. 

Since all your best efforts have not broken the clutch loose, the next logical step would be to split the tractor and find out what's really going on. You may find one or more broken pressure plate fingers, or a lining that has broken loose from the disc and wedged itself causing the problem.

I had a similar issue with my Super H. Not even really sure what the problem was. Clutch wouldn't release. Tried all the usual tricks, no dice. Had to pull the clutch and ended up replacing with new. Didn't really see anything wrong, but it would not release.

[Rocket Sci]

I want to thank you all for your input. I did check it all out and all seemed to be doing what it should except the clutch plate is stuck to the flywheel. I did the brake check thing , pulled it with my truck , rocked the wheels back and forth. Nothing worked so i am going to just sell it as is bc it will have to be torn down and fixed.

[oleman]

I have a worn metal clutch plate, off of our 464 D179 Diesel, you can have it for FREE, I replaced it because it was slipping, it was just the rear main seal. 

[Rocket Sci]

Oleman, i would have gladly taken that clutch but i did not see your offer before i bought a complete kit from DB Electrical.LOL

Anyway here are some pics of the after teardown of that monster. It was time consuming and tedious work in this hot Texas sun. Too about 4 hours BC i never did this before.

Notice in one of the pics that there is clutch material stuck to the flywheel. I had to use a crowbar to pry that plate off and when i did it left a lot of material on the flywheel. Giues that flywheel is headed for the machine shop as i i tried to get the material off and a chisel will not dislodge it. 

This may be a dumb question but if you will look at pic where the pressure plate is still in the transmission you can see that there are two splined shafts coming out of the transmission. The pressure plate fits on the larger shaft and the clutch plate fits on the smaller one. Is that normal? 

Notice the pic of the pressure plate and you can see that the arms/prongs are completely burnt off it. That is the result of me driving it around with the clutch pedal clamped down and the throwout bearing wore out and locked up. 

[Rocket Sci]

Here a couple of more pics of the tractor split apart. Did not have a concrete area freed up so i used 2 sheets of 5/8 plywood and it worked just fine. 3 ton jack under the front and two heavy duty jack stands holding the rear. 

[jimb2]

Good thing there was no loader on the tractor or had you previously removed it? The larger shaft that fits in the pressure plate, drives a gear that drives the front part of the PTO shaft which also drives the hydraulic pump.
Did you receive a clutch alignment kit with the clutch kit.

[oleman]

My guess is, that the tractor was flooded with salt water, causing the rusty mess, in one of the Houston area floods from the past 5 years. We moved to PLANO / McKinney, from Napa Ca in 93, have not seen any flooding in this area while living here. 

The duel shafts: the outer one constantly drives the pto and system hydraulics from the pressure plate,   the center one is attached to the clutched disk and drives the transmission/s. 

Take in easy and stay hydrated. 

 

[12_Guy]

That looks like the metallic disc that HydroTek mentioned. The organic disc was a full circle instead of the pads. As I recall the metallic disc had 3 or 6 pads depending upon tractor model. I will say that the pads look darker/rusty. I thought they were more copper colored. I could of course be mistaken. 

[HydroTek]

That tractor only sat in the water a short time -- but it sat a long time with moisture in the bell housing -- the rust evidence points to that conclusion 

The metallic clutch disk stuck to the flywheel is from sitting with the water (salt water ?) in there 

A good cleaning and use a sanding pad on your die grinder to get most of the rust knocked off the flywheel surface
-- new clutch and throw out bearing -- dont forget the pilot bearing
-- and transmission input bearing and seals 

[Rocket Sci]

On 7/25/2026 at 9:43 AM, jimb2 said:

Good thing there was no loader on the tractor or had you previously removed it? The larger shaft that fits in the pressure plate, drives a gear that drives the front part of the PTO shaft which also drives the hydraulic pump.
Did you receive a clutch alignment kit with the clutch kit.

Yes got it. Going to take pics of new stuff before i install. Did not get pilot bearing but this one is ion perfect condition.

[Rocket Sci]

On 7/26/2026 at 12:31 PM, HydroTek said:

That tractor only sat in the water a short time -- but it sat a long time with moisture in the bell housing -- the rust evidence points to that conclusion 

The metallic clutch disk stuck to the flywheel is from sitting with the water (salt water ?) in there 

A good cleaning and use a sanding pad on your die grinder to get most of the rust knocked off the flywheel surface
-- new clutch and throw out bearing -- dont forget the pilot bearing
-- and transmission input bearing and seals 

Ok thanks. Had the flywheel turned today and the pilot bearing is good as well. Kit came with everything including the alignment tool. Very good price was under $300 for the kit.

 

On 7/25/2026 at 11:40 AM, oleman said:

My guess is, that the tractor was flooded with salt water, causing the rusty mess, in one of the Houston area floods from the past 5 years. We moved to PLANO / McKinney, from Napa Ca in 93, have not seen any flooding in this area while living here. 

The duel shafts: the outer one constantly drives the pto and system hydraulics from the pressure plate,   the center one is attached to the clutched disk and drives the transmission/s. 

Take in easy and stay hydrated. 

 

Ok thanks for that info. I did figure it out after a spell. It sat in the swamp water and maybe thats where the corrosion came from. 

[Rocket Sci]

I now need some more information BC the two "manuals" i bought are pretty much worthless as they just do not have the needed technical information a real manual would have. Not sure how to order a manual that contains all necessary rebuild information.

I have searched the internet for torque specs and came up empty handed. I really need three : The flywheel to crankshaft torque, the pressure plate to the flywheel and the bell to the engine torque amounts. So if anybody can post those it will much appreciated.

You know at one time you could post a question on the net and you would get an instant answer by many contributors. Now it seems that nothing is free anymore and every question comes a fee attached for an answer. 

[Rocket Sci]

As promised here are the pics of new stuff. BTW, it did come with a pilot bearing but it was hidden in the box with the Pressure Plate. LOL 

Since i already put that extremely heavy and difficult to place flywheel back on, i am not going to try to remove the old pilot bearing. It is easy to get out with the flywheel on the bench, but hard to do when it on the tractor. UNLESS, someone has a known method to remove it easily? 

[Rocket Sci]

BTW, i just wanted to post this about AI information. It is something to watch very closely BC this info is absolutely wrong BC i know that the torque on flywheel bolts is not 15 ft lbs.

QUOTED FROM AI SEARCH

"Flywheel Torque Specifications for 1973 IH 454 Tractor

For the International Harvester 454 (1970–1973), the factory service manual contains exact torque values for the flywheel assembly and related components. While the full manual is required for the complete list, the following are representative OEM torque specs from the IH 454 service documentation:

Flywheel (engine side)

Flywheel bolts (engine mounting bolts) – 15 ft‑lb (20 N·m)
These secure the flywheel to the crankshaft and are critical for proper alignment and vibration control.

Related flywheel/PTO area torque values (example from service manual)

Flywheel to crankshaft bolts – 15 ft‑lb (20 N·m)

Flywheel to PTO shaft (if applicable) – 15 ft‑lb (20 N·m)

Flywheel to transmission (if applicable) – 15 ft‑lb (20 N·m)"

 

I guess one question i have is: has anyone ever seen a flywheel that bolts directly to a transmission?

[HydroTek]

 I used the pilot bearing puller when the flywheel was left on the engine 
-- a slide hammer can also work 
-- put the hook in the hole and drive a punch to wedge the hook in
-- then just a couple of pulls and the bearing is out 

Yeah that AI stuff will be part of the downfall of the human race 
-- think Sky Net and Terminator or Matrix

Never did I ever torque those bolts
-- tho I am sure there is a spec 
-- likely be in the engine book

[Rocket Sci]

One thing i forgot to mention was when i started to split the tractor i had oil start leaking out of the bell housing. After oi got it apart i could see the oil coming out around the shaft, between the shaft the pressure plate shaft and the clutch plate shaft. Is there a seal in there i need to replace and how do i access it.

The pics below may give a clue. The shafts are both sold and very tight with zero play in them. 

Is there a seal in there and if i take out the three bolts holding the flange in place does the whole shaft assemble come out?

Thanks for any help. 

[Rocket Sci]

10 hours ago, HydroTek said:

 I used the pilot bearing puller when the flywheel was left on the engine 
-- a slide hammer can also work 
-- put the hook in the hole and drive a punch to wedge the hook in
-- then just a couple of pulls and the bearing is out 

Yeah that AI stuff will be part of the downfall of the human race 
-- think Sky Net and Terminator or Matrix

Never did I ever torque those bolts
-- tho I am sure there is a spec 
-- likely be in the engine book

Ok thanks. The flywheel bolts are 1/2 inch so i will just torques them to about 110 ft lbs and the pressure plates i will do 20 ft lbs. That otta hold em.

[jimb2]

A full set of PDF IH Doncaster,UK Manuals are available at the following link.
Note, there maybe slight differences if your tractor was a crate unit shipped to IH plant in Louisville, KY, USA where final assembly was done.

Link: 

 

[HydroTek]

1 hour ago, Rocket Sci said:

i will do 20 ft lbs. That otta hold em.

20 is a little light for those 3/8" bolts

35 would be more like it