Hi Guys. I have a problem with my machine that is very slowly seeming to get worse. With a full bucket, it struggles or cannot lift it. The tilt works fine. The tracks run fine. I think it started a few weeks back, but I'm a homesteader and don't put tons of hours on the machine. I'm not certain, but it does seem like my track drives seem a little bit jerky, but that might just be from pushing the lift control so hard and maybe hitting the other directions hard. I had it parked tonight and kind of perched up on the bucket tilt a bit to wash it out and the bucket raised up in elevation pretty quickly - like 6-8 inches in about 2 minutes. Not sure if that's related, but I don't think I've seen it release that fast before. No hydro leaks that I know of, fluid level looks fine. Didn't see any fault codes on the display. I just replaced the hydraulic filter. I kept the old one as I believe there is a process to examine it. I'll have to get that done. Meanwhile, I'm pretty worried about this problem and can't seem to find similar posts after scanning back through all pages of this forum. Is this serious? Do the symptoms point to a specific thing that I can troubleshoot? Serial #: CAT0299CAJSP02200 Appreciate any help or advice. Thanks.
Is the emergency lowering valve partially activated?
Um, I can check that... but if that's the red handle in the cab, I'm pretty sure that doesn't work. I tried to use it 2 or 3 times to lower the arms a tiny bit to open the door without restarting the engine. It wouldn't budge. Sounds like maybe something I need to fix. Hmm, you got me thinking now.
Feel the lift cylinders for heat. If one is quite toasty the seals on the piston have likely failed and the cylinder is bypassing internally. Good Luck
Even better if you have an infra-red tem gun and shoot the temp around the area of the cylinder barrel where the piston is. Piston seals bypassing will show up really quickly as an elevated temperature in one particular spot.
Good to know. I do have an infrared temp gun so I will get some readings on this. Just to quickly go back to the emergency lowering valve. How does that work? Is it a valve right at the handle or is there some sort of wire that runs to the valve. Since I believe mine doesn't work, I'm not sure if it's stuck shut or even partially open from yanking on it. How much force is needed on the handle to get those to release/open?
There is a cable attached to the handle. It is probably seized. Possibly the best way you can do it needs two people. Extend the lift cylinders right to the top and hold the lever in the RAISE position while someone else shoots the temps right at the top end of the lift cylinders next to the cap. It's easy to determine the position of the piston that way.
I second a temp gun when available. The valve you are having issues with is a known problem in my experience. Raise cab and use pliers to manually cycle the valve. I would recommend doing this as regular maintenance to keep the valve free. It really sucks to be stuck in a disabled machine and have to use the rear exit and all the frustration that can go with reinstalling the rear window because that valve is stuck. Every C and D model machine has this problem in my experience.
Finally got back to the machine and checked out this emergency valve. It was fully closed, but cable was stuck. I broke it loose and it works good now. So I guess I've ruled this out.
Hi Nige, coming back to this. Is this where you mean to measure the temp? Thanks for the help!!
If the cylinder is fully extended, then you need to be a couple of inches below the area you circled. Remember that there is a cap screwed maybe 3” or so into the top of the cylinder barrel. You want to be right where the hydraulic line connection is located. Also after doing the temp measurements stop the engine with the bucket in the air. Mark a point on each rod a couple of inches above the cap. Leave the machine like that for 5 minutes. Measure how much the rods come down. The hydraulic oil needs to be hot when you do this.