I have an old beater 580sk. I bought it disabled, fixed it up a bit, and use it as a hobby 'hoe on my land. This one has the shifter in the right console, and is 4x4. My land is hilly, and my tires bald. So when I couldn't reverse up a hill, with a load, I dropped the load, turned around, and coaxed it up the hill, and parked it, waiting for a dryer day. In the meantime, I broke down and finally bought new tires. I've been putting that off far too long. For anyone in the market for tires, now is a good time. I'm getting 4 new tires delivered by amazon, for 1750 including tax. I will have to mount them myself, but I could use the workout. But yesterday, I had some help, and it was dry, so I went to grab those logs I had previously dropped. Once again, I couldn't reverse up the hill with a load. My friend confirmed that the wheels were not spinning, with the throttle down. I dropped the logs, again. And then coaxed it back home. So, slipping in reverse. No tach. No temp gauges. No flow meter. How do I figure out which component to repair/replace? My assumption is the transaxle. But that is big $$$ and a pain, and it would suck to replace it and not fix the problem... I try not to put much stress on my old beast. I run around in 1st or 2nd, and don't use it much. it seems overall weaker in all gears than it use to, but only reverse has slipped so much it failed. I can reverse on flat, but not up hills. Any hints?
When you drive up against something solid will it spin the tires in 1st gear ? If not the torch converter may be going.
Warmed it up, pushed the bucket against a tree. In first gear, it won't spin the wheels. The drive shaft spins so long as movement can be made. Drive shaft stops when motion stops. Engine keeps humming along. No stall. Now what should I check?
I'm not sure but guessing torch converters shot. Mechanics here may have more of an idea than me.
Transmission full of oil ? If it is Billrog is right about the torque converter.
So... do you know when was the last time the transaxle was serviced? Do the brakes work properly? Park brake work? These transaxles can get very contaminated with iron filings if there is any issue with brake operation, & that can then destroy charge pump & torque convertor. Cutting open the transmission filter & inspecting the suction screen will reveal any contamination issues. Usually, the torque convertor is tested with a stall test - measuring full rpm in 4th gear, against brakes, with load & no load. But without the tacho it's a bit of a guess - on an SK there isn't much difference between load & no load. The test can be done in FWD & REV - comparing the two. When it is in full stall, with wheels not turning, the driveshaft should not turn. Disregard the hydraulic/combined stall test spec as that is testing engine power.
I bought the machine about a decade ago, from a small construction company that thrashed it, hard. The dipper cylinder was blown apart, and lots of pieces missing. Since I got it, I haven't done anything with the transaxle, and if the prior owner did anything, it probably wasn't anything good... The parking brake hasn't worked from before I got it. I replaced the rusted handle, checked the cable, confirmed the problem seemed to be in the transaxle, and then decided the repair exceeded my skills. So the brakes work fine, but they chatter. The parking brake works not at all. About 150 hours ago, I changed all the hydraulic filters and oil. I was hoping the new oil would quiet the brake chatter, but no luck. So cutting the filter seems out. But now I need to find this suction screen you are talking about. I assume it is accessed from the top, through the floor access panels? I just cleaned the floor, and used the can of PB blaster on all the allen screws. I'll try to pull those panels today, for a better look. I did crawl underneath, checked wires, nothing loose. I checked the tubes looking for damage, they seem solid. So I sprayed down the big hardware with more PB Blaster. It seems likely that I'll be pulling those someday soon... I do have a handheld hydraulic gauge, I'm hoping to find some test ports I can adapt to. But the service manual seems to expect a level of technical competence I don't have, yet.
Where are you checking trans oil at? The hyd. oil and trans oil are separate, the filter for trans is mounted on the torque converter housing. The suction tube runs from converter to left front of trans housing just inside frame under step.
I'm checking the trans oil with the dipstick coming up thru the floor, over the transaxle. I changed the filters all at once, air/oil/hydraulic fluid, including the one on the converter housing. It's not that I'm thorough, I'm lazy. If I'm under there already, with tools, I should bring all the filters I can access. Last night after work, I pulled the front floor plate, but I am going to have to drill the hardware out for the other plates. I'm finding working on old machines is really a process of getting comfortable and skilled at destroying hardware and buying replacements... It looks to me like these floor plate bolts are only for retaining the plates, not anything structural. I'm thinking of replacing them with plastic automotive interior rivets. The plates will stay in place, and the plastic will not rust... let me know what you think. So if I understand the workings right, when I disconnect the transaxle or torque converter, and cap off the lines, the engine and hydraulics are separate. So I can still use the backhoe to load the parts in my truck? I can still use the outriggers for positioning, etc? I'm trying to work out the logistics of moving heavy parts. I ordered a flowmeter and photo-tach today. I probably won't have anything new to report until this weekend.
If you run the engine without pin in the trans you will burn the pump up in converter housing unless you remove it. I’ve always used a heavy duty transmission jack to remove transaxle. Torque converter housing isn’t that heavy.