The steering cylinder is leaking on my Cat 416C backhoe (serial # 1wr09267). What is the removal procedure? I will attach some pics if I can. Another question - what is the purpose of the solenoids located at the bottom of the front loader control valve body. Looks like mine was damaged before I bought it but it doesn't seem to affect the operation that I can tell. I noticed while I was underneath machine adjusting parking brake caliper. The two 1/4"x6" bolts were bent but I was able to remove it. Unfortunately the threaded piece connecting solenoid linkage to spool was broken and I can't easily get to it. The wires were pulled loose also. Thanks in advance for any help. Much appreciated.
Steering cylinder D&A procedure attached. I'm not 100% sure, but is the centre section of that 3-section valve only used when the machine is equipped with either a clamshell bucket or a quick-attach on the loader arms for accessories..? The outside sections would be for bucket lift & bucket tilt functions.
Thank you Nige for the reply. I appreciate your time and advice. I do have the 4 in 1 bucket and the quick attach. I just purchased a set of forks and they are nearly worth their weight in gold. The quick attach has worked as I have changed the bucket and forks a few times and the locking cylinder pins have retracted and engaged. I want to get the steering leak fixed first and then I will see if there are issues with quick attach. I just noticed the tilt will not hold when I release the lever.
Got the steering cylinder out. Had to use pipe wrench on spanner nut with a 6 ft cheater pipe then took a 20 lb sledge hammer and block of wood. After about 10 or 12 whacks it came out. As you can see in pics the rod is bent. I dropped it off at machine shop specializing in hydraulic cylinders and they will straighten or make me a new one. I'll update on cost when I get it back.
seems like there are some old theads on repacking the steering cylinder on this site.........i know i had to do mine several years ago and i dont remember the details but i do remember there was some information on this site
Thanks ttazzman. I was unsure how to get the cylinder off the machine. I didn't readily see the flats on the left end of the rod that would allow me to get the knuckles off. I bought a 2" wrench from Northern Tool to turn the knuckles and had a 1 1/8" to hold the rod. I got a good workout that day. We have a fantastic shop local that can fix ANY hydraulic cylinder so I just left it with them. Had it not been bent I would have just bought a seal kit and resealed it myself.
Picked up cylinder from machine shop this morning and thankfully they were able to straighten out the rod. The cost was $185 to straighten and reseal. Had it back on the machine by noon. The rod was much easier to turn than when it was bent. Now I will focus on the broken solenoid.
I rebuilt my cylinder and was easy enough, and disconnected the tie rods and then removed them from the cylinder, worked easy. Did causes an issue trying to get the cylinder out (was not able to). How did you get the cylinder out?
AllDodge it was not easy. I took off the spanner nut with pipe wrench and cheater pipe. I thought the cylinder may tap loose with a rubber hammer but not even close. I tried a large ball peen hammer with a piece of wood but it wouldn't budge. I ended up using a 4x4 balanced on a 5 gallon bucket with another piece of wood shimmed to get the right height and a 20 pound sledge hammer. I scribed a line on the cylinder to see if it was moving and for about the first 10 or so whacks it never budged. It did finally come loose but I was really swinging the hammer. BTW I was placing 4x4 on the edge of the cylinder and not impacting the rod. I considered buying a 10 ton porta power ram kit but was able to get it out.
I think that solenoid is for your “return to dig” sensor, if it is on your tilt spool. Should cylinder bores be honed if they are perfectly smooth? Some say you should have the cross hatch pattern, but it seems most people just put in new seals and call it good.
CAT said they have a press to push out and in. Hope it goes in easier. Found out it doesn't need to be removed to rebuild In case it needs to be hammered back in, I would take it back apart first HeavyEquipmentForums
I always reseal those on the machine. I have the most trouble in removing those swivel joints, had to burn a few off.
Thanks AllDodge. I removed the e-clip from the LH side of the cylinder but couldn't get the rod out either by pulling or pushing from RH side. I just kept hammering from the right side and the whole cylinder finally came out. Putting back in was pretty easy. I cleaned the inner and outer surfaces really well and coated with white lithium grease. I was careful not to roll the lip seal but I did have to tap it in far enough to get the spanner nut some threads to grab. Turned the nut with pipe wrench and it pulled up nicely. I cleaned and coated the threads on the knuckles and they went on pretty easy. I probably should have used some threadlock on them but I will keep an eye on them. Looking at the other thread you posted I think the $185 I paid was reasonable given the fact they did the work, provided the seals and even straightened the rod.
Thanks LN Pipeline for the info. Mine does have the return to dig set-up but I won't ever use it I don't think. I just put the solenoid assembly back on the machine with the inner link rod still broken. It needed the springs to hold the spool in the up position so now my tilt holds like it should. Thanks for inspiring the lightbulb moment. I was about to try and pull spool out from top and replace the solenoid, now I don't need to. Many thanks to all!!
All the Cat cylinder refurb documentation states to hone only if the cylinder bore is scratched. If it is not scratched and is within specified tolerances on the bore diameter - use again without touching it other than the usual cleaning.
Why worry about the bore... they didnt even polish the rod
Good observation Mike ! The wiper seal looks distorted to me.
I thought the same thing about the rod but it is smooth to the touch. The wiper seal is straight...must be an illusion. If it fails I will def let you all know right after I drop it off to be repaired.
How do you remove the guide from the shaft when repacking?
What is the guide you mentioned?
im trying to get this hard like seal over this o ring and I'm not sure how to do it without ruining it
I put the hard seals on before installing O rings if that helps HeavyEquipmentForums
Will it hurt if it's deformed a little bit? Also is there a certain direction these seals go the others were completely disintegrated when I got everything apart and I don't want to do this twice lol
In most cases it will not hurt the seals to deform a bit, so long as the lip is not cut or nicked The lip of the seal always goes toward the pressure, unless your talking a exterior wiper seal. A wiper seal faces toward the outside air so it wipes dirt and crud from the shaft when its being retracted Internal seals I try to not use tools and just my hands to push them in place. Exterior seals I'll use a real small screw driver or Awl and place it under the inside of the seal and roll it around the outside to work it into the grove
Sometimes you can successfully soften certain types of seal by dropping them in a container of boiling water.
Thank you I'm gonna get back after it tomorrow I may have a few more questions for tomorrow
Welcome to HEF, Ahastings52 !
If you need detailed information remember a machine Serial Number helps to find it.
Does this look correct?
First we need your serial number to look at drawings Something doesn't look right when comparing to mine (post 22 link). With mine in post 9 and 10 (see link) it used 2 of the same color seals inside (blue) and the Black wiper seal on the outside. I layed the seals out after removing in order (post 9). Your model and seal kit may be different then mine but right now they look similar
5HK47860
Thanks, Your serial number is 4ZN00701 Finding kit number 178-7189 and if pic is correct (link below) then it uses same number of seals as mine. This is assuming yours has just the one spanner nut on the right side. Right after your S/N CAT changed the cylinder which had a screw in nut on each end, which appears to combine the guide and a lock nut together https://aftermarket.express/caterpillar/1787189 The pic shows sort of clear ones (bottom left link above) but color means nothing other then the count. The bottom left seals would be the wiper seals used on the outside of the guide. This drawing shows 3 seals on each end as mine had
Yes my kit is a blumaq 1787189 it had everything I needed I have it back together now just got to hook the lines up and keep my fingers crossed
Can you send your phone number
Only after dinner and a movie. I don’t %#@& on the first date.