Was playing a bit with the new to me grader and discovered a few things. Exhaust manifold cracks seem to be common on Cummins 8.3's but not wanting to deal with broken bolts, used some sheet metal and furnace cement to stop the leaks and then wrapped some high temp header wrap around them with SS zip ties. Seems to be working fine. It seems to have decent brakes which is good. The blade pitch sticks when the blade is rolled all the back so I'm just going to tack a couple spacers in the curved slot so it can't roll quite as far back. The one thing I'd like to fix is the hyd. controls. They are a little sticky and don't always return right to the neutral position. The hyd. valves are mounted outside the cab on the frame and are cable operated. I'm not sure if the HD cables can be lubed or I need to lube the lever pivots in the cab? It has long levers that appear to turn on nice round shafts so I'm thinking the stickiness is in the cables but not familiar with Champion graders. If someone has some insight would be much appreciated.
It’s likely the cables. Disconnect both ends and try to slide the cable. If it doesn’t move easily you have your answer.
I read an older thread that said the cables can get rusty and sticky but lubing them helped. Just have to see how easy (or hard) they are to get apart to lube. I priced out a fuel sender and almost fell over... $255.00 at Jade. Used was $150.00 but they didn't have one. Guessing it's because the tank is so deep but still a ridiculous price for a fuel sender. I guess if I need it, I need it. Always like having a fuel gauge on a diesel. I'll ask them how to get the cables apart so I can lube them.