Hey everyone, it's been a while but I finally got the house built. Special thanks to everyone who has helped me with info on this machine. I never got the hammer fully isntalled on the 680E and am still thinking on that project since the house is complete I figured I would road my 680E over to the hdraulic shop and have him fix some leaks, reshim the bucket and rebuild some cylinders that all started leaking after all the hard digging to build my home. WELL... that did not go as planned drove 5.5 miles in the machine to get there, zero issues everything worked great dropped it off handed him the keys and I thought that would be the end of it. I later got a call saying he started it and it fired right up as usual, he drove it a few hundred yards and apparently lost all movement. According to him it just stopped moving, no bogging down, no grinding or weird noises it just stopped and feels like it's in netural but I have not messed with it. He is confused by what happened and doens't have a good explination other than the fluid for the 4 speed trans and shuttle were a little low. both being one of the leaks I was going to have him address. I topped them off prior to driving the 5.5 miles to his shop so I found that strange that they leaked that much on the way over. At any rate I figure it's got to be either the air clutch cutout locked up, the 4 speed trans (maybe the shift forks or something) or the Shuttle. All of which have been working just fine and the machine just put on over 100 hours building my home without any major failures or issues despite being pushed pretty hard and crunching through some pretty bad rock. I love this machine and am determined to fix it and get it back up and running for my future barn and landscaping and genral property maintence. Any ideas, advice, words of wisedom wold be greatly appreciated. I am going over there tomorrow morning hoping I just have the magic touch and she'll move for me but i'm a little worried. Thanks in advance!
There is a spool in the shuttle control valve that will put it in neutral and sometimes will stay in the neutral position for various reasons. It is referred to as the clutch cut-out. It is normally used when you need to raise the loader (hoist) when loading trucks before you get to it. DO NOT get under the machine to move that spool unless the brakes are locked and the engine is shut-off. It is quite possible to have the machine run over someone if that isn't done !!!
Hey Tinkerer, thank you for the speedy reply and your wealth of knowledge all things 680E related. I was thinking that clutch cutout might be the issue. I'll definitely check that out I'm about to head over to the shop. Keep your fingers crossed that it is that simple!
So, an update: I went to the hydraulic shop and checked out the clutch cutout for both the brake pedals and the separate standalone clutch cutout. They all appear to be working fine. We drained the fluid, and there was a fair amount of gray, what appeared to be clutch material, in the fluid. So sadly, I think my Shuttle needs a rebuild. I have a phone call in with Broken Tractor as well as AMS Parts. Does anyone have any suggestions on where I can get a rebuild kit for the power shuttle for a Case 680E? The weird thing is, I filled it before leaving for the shop, and it was about 4 quarts low, but according to my manual, it holds 12 quarts. Not sure how 4 quarts leaked out on the way over there, but I guess it can happen. My Case is serial number 9124506, if that is helpful for the rebuild kit for the power shuttle.
I wouldn't boy shuttle parts before checking other things. There is always a chance that the flex plate that couples the convertor to the shuttle has sheared off. It happens quite often. Did you lock the brakes, with the motor idling and the transmission in 4th gear - shuttle in forward when u checked the shuttle oil ? Specific instructions should be in the service and / or operators manual.
Hey Tinkerer, sounds like good, solid advice. I'm going to try talking the Hydraulic shop into tearing into it first before we fire the parts cannon at the poor ol gal. I imagine to check that flex plate, we'd have to pull the shuttle out? I have a service manual, but I left it with the hydraulic shop for his reference, so he could see the pressure test procedures for the shuttle. I believe there is a way to check that, if memory serves me correctly. I did not check the fluid level; the hydraulic shop guy did. Hopefully he followed proper procedures. I'll double-check with him. I don't think it's in my service manual. Would you happen to have a copy of the operator manual? He's fairly familiar with Case backhoes but not super up to date on the 680E in particular; sounds like he's done a lot of 580 backhoes. He wasn't super familiar with how the clutch cutout works and thought it was electrical at first. I'm pretty bummed, as I have grown quite fond of this machine, and it did a fantastic job while we were building. she fires right up and the motor runs strong and she's got plenty of digging power with the exception of solid rock. Thank God it didn't die in the middle of construction! So I want to fix her up right and give her a nice retirement gig of small, slow projects around the property. Hopefully, we can get her fixed, and it's something simple; I'll have him check the flex plate. Anything else I should tell him to check as well? Any advice is appreciated. In the meantime, I'll get some quotes on power shuttles and parts just in case, so I have the worst-case scenario planned for as well. I really appreciate all your help with this and appreciate your time!