We've recently purchased an old Clark C500-40 Forklift and the mast needs lubrication. I don't see any grease fittings anywhere on the mast. How, and with what lubricant, should we be lubricating the mast and cylinder please?
If it has rollers, there is no lubrication. If it has slides (I don't remember how far back you have to go with Clark to find slides) then some spray lube or grease applied with a brush will do. Where the chains go over some pulleys there will usually be a grease zerk for each one though, almost forgot that.
Please post us the serial number of the truck and the mast number. Mast number will be cut in 1 ' tall letters and numbers on the outer channel, one side of of the mast. Some typical for a single stage would be 130F0123 or a triple stage 189M0123. The leading 130 and 189 numbers denote maximum fork height, the F for a single stage, the M for a multiple stage. The following 0123 is Clark's sequence numbers. Describe why you think it needs lubrication. Balky/jerky raising, hangs up on lowering, carriage hangs up and rails lower, looseness left to right? Are chains stiff and rusty?
Mast cylinder Lubrication continued The SN of the forklift itself is 40-132-2504 and the SN of the mast is 188M0734. The mast cylinder appears to be leaking hydraulic fluid from the external seals, particularly the seal on the top of the cylinder. The cylinders still extend all the way and there is no drift so from other Forms / posts it is working okay however what would be involved with replacing the seals? Where is the reservoir for the hydraulic fluid located please? Is there anything we need to do to lubricate the mast cylinder? Operation seems to be smooth. Thanks!
Thank you for the numbers. Lots involved in "replacing"the seals/packing. Maybe not so much in lessening the leaks, Hydraulic tank/reservoir is the right hand portion of the frame. Lift seat, open RH door, reach in and down for the black round plastic vent cap to see into the reservoir. Lubrication: If it is "leaking" then it is lubricating the top chrome barrel of the cylinder plenty. NOT "leaking" the raising and lowering should leave a thin film of hyd oil on the visible chrome. Can you send us a pic of the "top of the cylinder". Standing in front of the truck: Focus on the top of the painted barrel of the cylinder(at level of the chains cross head), looking to get the big brass gland nut and chrome above. Be good if you could run it up and down twice before snapping to show us some oil. Depending on the type/age of the packing in under the big brass gland nut will tell you how difficult to fix. Advice- Do not mess with the big brass gland nut (attempt to loosen, tighten, whatever) until you get more detail from BTDT people.
Still looking for mast cylinder reservoir and dipstick! Continued thanks for all of your assistance! I looked in the right hand (if you're the driver) panel and cannot see a hydraulic fluid reservoir or dipstick. I can't find anything like those within the left panel either. Here are some pix of what I see with the panel doors open. What am I missing please? I don't think that it matters however this lift has been modified from gas to propane.
The change from gas to propane does not matter in this discussion. You sent two pics. The left pic is of the RH side of the truck, the other is of the LH side. The left side pic (of RH side of the truck) shows a round black plastic hydraulic tank cap with the word CLARK and a screw head in the middle of it. Unscrew it to the left and lift out. There should be a plastic dipstick attached underneath, held on by the screw thru the top of the cap. If OEM dipstick it will be metal. There is no hydraulic(sump tank). That whole right hand side of the frame is hollow and is the "sump". Likewise, that whole left hand side of the frame is hollow and is the gasoline tank. The right side pic (of the LH side of the truck) shows the gas filler cap. (A flip top lever to add gas, or will unscrew to remove and view its cones shaped bronze input strainer.) Hope this helps. Regardless of the dipsticks measure, if the carriage goes all the way up its height, and bumps out, loading the engine sound a little, you have plenty of oil. That tank will hold enough oil to fill a a taller cylinder than you have. No need to haul around excess oil.
Thanks! This is exactly what we needed, thanks!
Glad to be of service.... As an old picky Clark person, I noticed a few things from the pics... RH side of truck; (showing a Zenith LP carb), You need a new choke cable. The outer metal spring wrap on yours is broken about 3 inches from the retainer. Will eventually cause your choke to NOT go COMPLETELY off, run rich, hard to start when hot. Measure it's length and go to a NAPA store for one. LH side of truck: The tension spring on the protruding catch post to hold your left side door closed is broken. Door will not snap closed snugly, may rattle and leave an opening at the top for small metal objects to drop thru and touch your battery post.(IE: Small piece of chain or wire tossed up behind the seat in haste). Get one from Clark. Will fit and perform. I never was able to find a worthwhile substitute in 14 years of repairing. Same side: Plug wires are way too long. With engine heat (if truck is used regularly) will harden, crack and ground to some of the many points of possible contact under there. Go to NAPA, get a 4 cyl set of universal WIRE wires (not graphite) and cut them to lengths to drape freely/directly to plugs. Will work fine, since I doubt if that truck has surround sound. End of nosy no charge advice. Any other way I could help, just e-mail me.