# YS-828 no 1st or 2nd speed



## wdb

I moved a lot of snow yesterday and eventually the snowblower just wouldn't move anymore, in 1st or 2nd forward gears. It moves in 3rd but that's too fast for most of what I need to do. 

Can I fix this with an adjustment? Is the friction disc shot? How can I tell? I have a pdf of the service manual but it doesn't describe how to check for wear.

Reverse kind of sucks too, if that makes any difference.


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## motorhead64

Check your drive belt. Sounds like it is slipping. Or, your drive disc may have gotten wet and is slipping. Cure on 1, adjust or new belt. Cure on 2, dry it out. MH


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## Buttchet

I would start by looking at the belt first. worked for me. I thought mine was the friction disk and replaced that first and made no difference...then I checked the belt and that was it.


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## wdb

Thanks for the replies. The belts are brand new, and the machine moves just fine in the 3rd and 4th positions, so I don't think the belt is the issue.

I just got back from standing the machine on its nose, removing the bottom access cover, and doing some maintenance. I think the friction disc is just fine. The problem appears to have been a lack of maintenance. The drive mechanism was dry, sticking, and generally needed a dose of TLC. I lubricated all of the points that were supposed to be lubed, adjusted the clutch lever a bit, and it was good to go. It did stop moving in the 1st position again, but it was during a really rough push through dense, heavy snow, and I think it might have gotten wet or maybe just hot. 2nd was fine, and reverse is better than ever.

The longer I own this machine, the more clear it is to me that the real issue with this machine is a lack of maintenance by the previous owner. He was a mechanic at Caans Bilco, which sells and services snow blowers among other things. Strike one. The Caans Bilco sales guy sold it to me with full assurance that it had been totally serviced and was ready to go. The first time I used it I broke a belt. Strike two. Now I've had to service it again. Strike three. I won't be taking my business back there.


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## skippy1969

I would check the shift lever adjustment. If it is out of adjustment you won't have 1st or 2nd gear. This adjustment procedure is found in the service manual if you have access to one. I had this problem with my YS828W and I adjusted the shifter and it works fine now.


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## DANM

I would also check the shift lever adjustment as mine was doing there same thing when I first got it. But I found it easier to tip the machine up on housing remove cover & watch the shift mechanism as I adjusted it. The actual slots are against the rear panel bottom below the Serial #. It's somewhat hard to see & you lay funny, but you can see how it works much better. I will try to find the instructions I had when I first adjusted mine.

DANM


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## wdb

I sold it 5 months ago.


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## DANM

*YS624 & YS828 Shifter Adjustment*

wdb

Here's the instructions I found most helpful in adjusting the shifter on the Yamaha snowblower:
About the shift linkage, here's where I'm not sure what to tell you next, because after I spent some time and dug into mine it wasn't so mysterious or difficult BUT I'm not sure I can put into words how to look at or evaluate the linkage. You know? It was partly inspection and partly gut that helped me evaluate it and get it working. On the old 624 I fixed up the linkage wasn't working right. It would stick in gear sometimes, other times it wouldn't drop into gear like it should (actually, the gear-select handle would drop into position but you could tell it hadn't engaged down inside in the transmission.) Sounds much like your problem - could be the same thing. 

Tip the snowblower forward 90 degrees onto it's chute and pull the bottom cover plate off. Look up inside where the linkage goes through from outside to the inside. The gear select handle controls two rods. One rod moves a plunger that backs the drive wheel away from the friction disc when you pull the handle towards the operator (out of gear). Don't worry about that rod yet - first lets look at the other rod. The other rod is the one that moves the friction disc left or right. The further it goes in one direction it will contact the drive wheel nearer it's outer diameter which will result in faster snowblower movement. Moving the friction disc to the other side of the drive wheel results in the friction disc spinning the opposite direction and the blower will move in the opposite direction. 

Having said all that, get a flashlight and look way up inside right where the rods come through the sheet metal and you will see a long, sort-of kidney-shaped solid steel block with a series of holes in it (see my attached picture). When you let the gear select handle go forward into one of the gear slots up by the operator controls a pin must slide into one of the holes in this steel block. Since you can't reach it yourself while also watching underneath, have a helper move the gear-select handle into and out of one gear, and then have them slide it left and right to different gear speeds (including reverse). This picture is from a 624 which has 3 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds, and if you look you'll notice 3 holes that match up to the 3 forward gears and 2 holes that match up to the reverse gears. Your 828 will have (I believe) 4 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds, therefore 4 holes on one side and 2 holes on the other side of the steel block. (Disregard the holes on the ends - those are just sunk to retain the nuts that hold the block in place.) 

Here's the point: As I had someone work the gear select handle and I observed, I saw exactly what was going on: when the gear select handle was released the pin would often contact the steel block BETWEEN holes instead of sliding into one of the holes. THIS is the problem. If the pin doesn't slide all the way into one of the holes then the 1st rod I described above can't return to it's original, relaxed position, and the drive wheel will not contact the friction disk to make the blower move. I think there are two main reasons for this: 

1. A bent or incorrectly-adjusted control rod is causing the pin to travel slightly further or not far enough so when the gear select handle is aligned with a slot the pin is lined up between holes. This can be adjusted without too much trouble by loosening the locking nuts and turning the turnbuckle-type adjuster in the middle of the rod (which effectively either lengthens or shortens the rod to increase or decrease the travel of the pin underneath.) The rods do have some bends in them new from the factory, so you'll have to inspect your rods to see if the bends look like they belong there or if they were accidental. If rods are bent where they shouldn't be you should try to get them back as close to the original shape as you can and then proceed with the length adjustment I described above. 

2. The other reason I may suspect is slop in various parts of the rod linkage due to wear in the pinned or ball joints. If there is slop, then when you push the gear select handle left it won't quite go far enough to get the pin lined up with a hole in the steel block. And when you push the gear select handle the opposite direction to the right it also won't quite go far enough. This condition is something that will be impossible to adjust for in the linkage (depending on the severity of the wear) and it bad enough will require replacement of the ball joints (and possibly other parts). 

I believe I had a combination of both conditions on the 624 I fixed up. The rods were out of adjustment AND there was some wear/slop in the rod joints. So what I did is first I adjusted them as close as I could so the pin was as near to dropping in the correct holes as possible. Then, I got creative. If you look closely at MY picture of the steel block vs. your actual steel block you'll notice that I took a Dremel with a grinding bit on it and widened the lead-in each side of each hole in the steel block. That way there is less flat steel for the pin to rest against (get stuck on) and the pin will more likely get lead or guided into either one hole or the other, but not stuck in between. I would just caution you that you'll have a pretty difficult time putting steel back on that you've ground off, so proceed at your own risk. Personally, I wasn't terribly concerned about it, but you have to think about it and modify parts (parts that you can't pop down to the corner hardware store to replace) at your own comfort level. If nothing else, take it in stages - grind some off, see how it works, and then go further if you need to. It worked well for me - I was able to get it modified and adjusted so that every time the pin drops into a hole (the correct hole) and the transmission works just like it should. I guess I should add the obvious point that you should try to clean the gunk and grass and spider webs etc. out of the sliding and moving parts in the transmission underneath, and then lightly lube the parts. (Be careful you don't get any cleaning solvents OR lubricants on any of the belt surfaces or on the rubber part of the friction disc or those parts will be trash. $$$+time!) 

DANM


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## Kiss4aFrog

If you have the chance to buy it back now you have the instructions


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## wdb

Kiss4aFrog said:


> If you have the chance to buy it back now you have the instructions


I actually found the shop manuals online while I still owned it.


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