Hi Everyone, I'm looking for some wisdom with the Case skid steers. I have a 2004 60XT with the bi-directional self leveling option. I recently bought the machine and did some maintenance along with a paint job and new decals to freshen it up. The problem happens when I go to lower the loader arms, it doesn't matter at what height I lower from or how quickly/slowly I try to lower them, it will start to move down and then there will be a slight hesitation and then a jerking motion as the loader arms fall a little. After that I can move the arms downward as fast or slowly as I want but the engine sounds like its loaded a little. I would have thought that the down movement would have required the least amount of effort from the machine with gravity helping it. The jerking happens whether the self leveling is engaged or not and the self leveling works fine. When I had the loader arms off for paint I flushed out the cylinders because the oil was a little water contaminated when I got the machine. I put them back on, hooked up the lines and tried to move the rams in and out. They moved out fine but when I tried to retract (or lower if the loader was installed) the rods would only creep in real slow. It didn't matter how much control lever I gave it, they would just keep on creeping in real slow. It probably took 5 mins to get the rods all the way back in. So with the loader installed and the weight of it and a bucket pushing down on the cylinders it move slow briefly and then jerks. After the jerk I can move the loader downward no problem. It seems like the weight of the loader helps overcome something that is sticking inside the control valve. So far I have pulled out the circuit reliefs and load check valves (circled in red) and found that they are clean and free of scuffing/scoring that would indicate them getting stuck/hung up. Any ideas?
Today I pulled out the "Lower Counterbalance Valve". I found a smushed o-ring on the outside and when I pulled it apart there was only half a backup ring left on the check valve. From what I understand this valve controls the oil flow coming back from the lift cylinders and helps lower the loader arms in a controlled way when you have a load on. I put new o-rings in and re-installed. The problem is still there. I am now wondering if it could be something to do with the seals on the rod ends of the lift cylinders? There are some marks from a pipe wrench on the glands so somebody has been inside and probably resealed the cylinders at some point. They aren't leaking but I wonder if there is a twisted seal or something that is causing drag inside the cylinders. I noticed when I had the cylinders off for paint that they were harder to move with compressed air compared to the bucket cylinders. Also one of them needed a little more air pressure than the other. When I was running the cylinders back and forth on the machine without the loader arms attached the left cylinder moved significantly faster than the right. Obviously they should work together to lift the loader arms but at the time I thought that air was still leaving the system and that once it was gone they would start moving in sync. I noticed today when lowering the loader arms that the left side moved first slightly. So that problem is still there. With the cylinders not moving at the same time would that cause a binding effect that could cause the jerking motion?