Where are some areas that water could get inside the swing area? I poped the inspection cover off today to shove some grease in and there was some water in it. I sucked it out and it was clear water, maybe a gallon or two. Machine hasnt been swimming, but have had some heavy rains lately. It may have soaked throught the gasket of the inspection cover, but I find it unlikely, it was pretty tight. Any other ideas?
Often the water gets in through the rubber centre joint boot. Look at how the water drains from that area. Newer machines can drain between the boom cylinder base mounts at the deck, but some older ones have a lip there. Those ones drain behind the boom cylinder base mount, there is a notch in the corner where the front to back vertical main frame meets the side to side plate at the deck. Hopefully that makes sense. This area behind the cylinder base is constantly filled with grease plugging the drain notch. The centre joint area is also lower that the swing drive (thicker deck plate at that point) and the water will collect there. On the wet coast I tell owners who park the machines for a while to keep that area clean and park on a slight downhill grade to allow water to drain.
I had the same problem of water collecting inside the swing bearing area with my Ex400LC-3. Like KenAl said I didn't clear the grease and dirt build up out of the drain hole below where the boom pins onto the machine and water would sit there. In the winter the water turned to ice and took out the seal on the swing drive gear box and let all the gear oil leak out. Now I make sure to take the inspection cover off every fall to make sure there is no water built up inside before it has a chance to freeze and keep the area where the water drains free of dirt and grease.
Thanks a lot guys for the good info. Will keep an eye on that. How often to you guys grease the swing bearing zerks on the outside of the turret?
I grease mine every time I grease the machine which is about every 8 hours. You can never hurt something by greasing it to often. Don't grease something often enough and you have big problems. Grease is cheap in the scheme of things when it comes to maintaining machinery.