Hey guys, and gals- New to the forum and starting an excavation company. I have time on equipment. Just purchased a 2016 SVL 90-2 from auction, 3000 hrs. clean machine. Went thru it and performed 3000hr service. First run today on the mountain and all was well until i traveled up my driveway and another hill and the machine flat out struggled to make it. No bogs, sputters or skips, just lugging. New fuel filters and seperators. Fresh full tank of filtered fuel. Fires up, runs great, just hits a wall with anything with grade 10% roughly. I had rented a TL8 and it motored right up these hills. Cannot figure out the reasoning. Any help, greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!
So you're sure the engine is slowing down, not the "transmission" "slipping"? This is too new for my brain, but I'd always start with fuel pressure, find the spec, figure out how to measure it, and see what you got. Or, check for any screens, or garbage in fuel fittings. In the old days the Japanese liked to put a banjo bolt screen in the most hidden fuel fitting on the machine.
Fuel/ water separator inlet elbow clogged. Been there, done that.
Well, the Rpm’s die down, therefore don’t believe it’s the transmission slipping, but anything’s possible. You mention the fuel/water separator inlet clogged, if this was the case wouldn’t it happen all the time? I’ll look for it and try and clean out. Thank you all for your replies.
How else can you put a good load on the engine? Can you push some dirt at high speed to see if it will run strong? how about full speed up a hill backwards? I tend to believe it's power not the inclination of the machine, but you can prove me wrong.
It is definitely power. Just cleaned the elbows, they were clean EXCEPT for one side had a real thin piece of metal about 1/2 long by a heavy 1/16th. Pulled it out. Ran it up the hill, still struggled. My 26hp Aries drives me up, no issues. I’m losing power for sure.
For testing's sake, bypass the water separator altogether.
Y’all seem very knowledgeable and I appreciate you helping me. Have you ever replaced the pins and bushings on the lowest control arm? If so, is it difficult as in special tools for the bushing? Thanks!
I gotcha, just join the two hoses? Any idea what the inside diameter of the fuel line is? Thanks!
Probably 1/8”
1/8" what? the fuel line is probably 5/16, maybe 1/4" or 3/8". Sorry, can't help on the bushings, typically you can weld a bead inside them, or heat a line with a torch and shrink them to get them to come out easy, then press the new ones in with a good sized threaded rod and washers. Or hammer them in, it's just a skid steer.
Gotcha. Good advice, I’ll go into town and grab a few splices to join the fuel lines together. Worth a shot, I reckon.
5/16" ID fuel line. Just buy a Napa 3972 inline strainer and put it in place of the separator. When you find that it is cured, put the strainer inline before the water separator, when you clean it out thoroughly. If no change, it still won't hurt to have the inline strainer. Like here HeavyEquipmentForums
10-4, good advice. It looks like there is already a very small strainer up the line. My water seperator looked very clean.
The key is "strainer". A cellulose style inline filter is incompatible with diesel. It must be a strainer (mesh).
Gotcha, ordered the NAPA filter. Thanks for the part number. We’ll give it a try.
Either not getting enough air or fuel. Check filters first.
Just throwing this out there. Maybe that is just the way it is. I demoed a 299D a couple years ago, new machine. I was stockpiling dirt which required hauling material up a steep hill. The machine (which was the regular 299 not the higher hp version) struggled taking an 84" bucket full of material up the hill. Ran fine other than its ability to track material up a steep grade.
Just changed every filter on the machine.
Could be, that wouldn’t be good though!!
That can't be normal.
I now notice that my machine is pulling to the left, I’m wondering about the final drive motor may be going. Tried the water separator bypass and still dogging up grades. Any other suggestions before it goes to the dealer?
Want to make sure I’ve installed the inline filter properly! Is the fuel “IN” the seperator on the left and “OUT” on the right? Thanks, I’m having a brain fart.
So when I plunge into dirt, it bogs down under load, takes a second to lift up, then pulls the load. Hmm, I’ve gone direct with the filter, bypassing the water separator. Any ideas?
Here’s what I did.
Do you get a lot of black smoke when it struggles? Have you removed the oil fill cap to check for blowby? You changed air filters?
I have changed every filter and all fluids on the machine. How do I check for blowby? There is zero black smoke and the engine runs strong. Thanks for answering!
just remove the oil cap with the engine running. You shouldn't see a lot of 'air' coming out. You say it runs strong but it bogs down going uphill? Contradiction there
The rpms stay up, but the machine just slows down. I'll check for blowby. Should it be heavy rpm?
Its basically losing power, doesnt sputter or anything.
There is no blowby.
So the rpms don't drop going uphill? What type of hydraulic fluid did you put in?
Kubota hydraulic oil ISO 46. It just keeps making motor noise, but no power. Almost stops on a 10 degree slope, full throttle.
if it was fuel related, wouldn't it sputter? It's good clean fuel.
Ok. It sounds to me like you have a hydraulic issue. Either worn pumps or drive motors. Maybe that's why the machine got sent to auction.
I believe that you are correct.
I'd think the next step is to test the hydraulic pump pressure. Not sure how many pumps your machine has. Maybe it has a dedicated pump for the drives. If you don't have gauges, then you'll have to take machine to dealer or someone.
Yup, I agree.
One or the other, knowing which will point you in the righter direction.
That white plug under the black box was unplugged for some reason, not sure what it does or why it was unplugged. I ran it after and no change. Took a video of what the machine is doing. How do you post a video? Thanks
You could upload to YouTube.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10216815460280685 This video will show the bog
It's kind of hard to tell what is going on.
Yeah, I know. When I hit the hill you can hear the machine labor. I’ve got to get my wife to get closer!
The only useful part is the very end, I would expect the engine to rev back up and then quiet down at the higher no load speed if the engine was bogging down. I don't THINK I heard that.
It did pick up speed as it got to a lesser grade.
Can anyone tell me if this fuel petcock is on or off? This is how I’ve received it. Typically it runs parallel with the line for on??
Usually valve handles should be parallel to be open. Perpendicular to valve to be closed.
It would seem to me that if a drive motor was going out, you would really have to fight the machine to keep it from favoring the weak side while it is in travel. If it is doing that than the drive could be bad. It would be interesting to hook up a hydraulic attachment, like a rock rake , street sweeper or something similar with an orbital motor and see if it has the hyd. power to run it.
But how are the pumps setup on this machine? The drives could have a separate dedicated pump.
I am having to favor one side pretty heavily. Gonna block it up and make sure the tracks are adjusted properly, then see if I can get a mobile mechanic here to check out flow rates.
I was going to say that is just how they behave on grades until I watched the video. That grade doesn't appear very steep. I cut in the road on my new land last year, at the peak was 14% grade. I definitely was losing speed on that grade. Brought a case dozer out to cut to a more acceptable peak of about 8% at its worst transition. The dozer would track up it fine with zero hesitation. But my c238 still does not love the high grade with a full bucket. But the dozer and skid steer are nowhere near the same function. Your machine and mine are about the same hours, I've got a little more. But your grade looks less. If I were you, start saving for parts and see what the flow rates are. Granted your machine is for making money, mine is for personal use. But 3000 hrs +, have to be realistic with expectations
Just got it back from Kubota, my hydraulic flow is really good. My left track was too tight. Dealer insists it’s normal and recommends just running it.
Dumb question but do you have it in low range when you climb the hill?
I sure hope so
You said the hydraulic flow was good. What about the pressure? Also will the machine switch from low to high speed? Assuming both speeds work try low speed at 3/4 to full throttle have the arms down and push into a non movable object such as a large tree. See if both tracks spin. Whats the condition of the rollers and idlers. Lift the machine off the ground and with the tracks sagging are the rollers free, loose or seized?