Hello guys, I'm trying to get an older 580B working for the lady I bought my 977s and Hein-Werner from. It had a few busted hydraulic lines. I replaced the lines, checked all the fluids, put a battery in it and went to start it. It cranked over fine but suddenly slowed right down as if the battery was dying and suddenly POW the return line blew off the filter. Thinking the filter must be plugged I pulled it out and tried again, but it did it again. When I looked at it closer I saw that it was actually the return from the filter to the reservoir that had come off, and pretty much every clamped on return hose had moved some, so obviously something is blocked between the filter and the reservoirs. Has anybody had this happen before? Could it be water that has accumulated at the bottom of the reservoir has frozen and is blocking the return oil? The machine has sat outside for a number of years and not been used/moved so water in there is quite possible. Or if it could be something else I'd love to hear your ideas. I'm going to go back when it gets above freezing again and drain all the hydraulic fluid out and replace it and see what happens then. Oh and here's a picture of it too that I took in the spring when I bought my 977s.
It's very likely it's water frozen in a low spot. If water is emulsified with the hyd oil, over long periods of time of inactivity the water molecules begin to once again bind making a pools of water throughout the system, and water being heavier than oil, it will settle to the bottom of a low spot.
sorry to hijack your thread> i have a an old 580 b and it quit shifting into 1st and 2nd after being towed. I have figured out that it might b related to the alignment in the shifter case(took everthing apart and that appears to be the reason) how do i align it or is there something else before I put it back together and give it a whirl. Thx again for any input and sorry for piggybacking your thread
I had a few hours time today so I went and revisited the 580B. Indeed water had accumulated at the lowest points in the system and had frozen the lines shut. I drained all the old oil and water out today and refilled it with fresh hydraulic fluid. I put in a good battery and hey presto, it started just like that! It runs really nice and there are no bizzare sounds or abnormal vibrations. There is one big leak on one of the main boom cylinders on the backhoe, the packing has blown out the shaft end and it's leaking oil even without moving the backhoe controls. Does anybody know how big a job it is to replace this seal, and what a seal kit would cost? Otherwise it seems ok, I drove it around a bit in the yard and put it under the roof to hopefully keep water out of places it shouldn't be... I'll attach a few pictures of the beast... Cheers!
Pretty good looking machine spitzair. Repairing cylinders on those aren't a major project, as long as stuck pins aren't an issue.
So I finally made it home this week and went ahead and fixed this machine. The packing at the end of the ram was completely done, and was the source of all the water in the hydraulic system. When it rained, water would sneak in through the packing and find it's way into the cylinder and the rest of the system. The cylinder was actually full of water when I pulled it apart. Some of the chrome was corroded off the rod and there are a few minor little rust pits in it, but the owner just wanted the seals replaced. I polished the rod as good as I could so it wouldn't tear up the seals as fast and put everything back together with new seals. It was a fairly easy job, I was expecting to fight with everything but it was all just a breeze! Everything came apart nice and went back together nice. The machine started and ran great and now it has no leaks. I told the owner if she ever wants to sell it to give me a call... Thanks Willie for your input, I probably would've been too scared to try it otherwise. By the way does anybody know what rechroming the rod would cost or would I be better off getting a replacement? This cylinder has the 2 piece piston if that makes any difference... Here's some pictures of the thing: This one is how it looked before I started: This is another before shot... The missing chrome All back together again...
What a cool find man. When replacing lines or working on the cylinders do you have to bleed the hydraulic system or are the systems self bleeding?