On my 1988 JD 310c Backhoe..... is it all in my head? or can I feel a vibration once in a while? Perhaps from something mechanical starting to fail or in need of adjustment? Because while I was working the hoe arm today, and it was not under any load I was feeling a vibration right thru the levers.... I figured the only thing that can do what I was feeling it had to come from the engine, but when I paid attention to the engine it sounded fine, like I was thinking the engine was skipping thats the kind of vibration I was feeling. Just to make note, the fuel filter is old, I never changed it, not sure if they do that if clogging.... on the last car engine I worked on that was a diesel had a clogged fuel filter, it was blowing heavy smoke out the exhaust pipe as it starved for fuel... I've been using the same fuel and fuel station... Its a hard vibration to explain, because it felt like the whole machine was rattling...
Have seen guys complain about a vibration while digging but they notice it when there is no load. Could be the injection pump governor, you load the engine digging then you stop functioning and you get a slight vibration as the load is removed. Now they stop and listen to the engine and it sounds fine. Even loaded it sounds fine, it's just the transition from full load to no load. Just a thought...................
I was thinking it should be something like that being I found it odd it was not under load... but this is all new to me and I really don't know anything at all about this, so its all guessing from here on in unless someone has been down this road... I never did like the sound of the hyd. pump from day one, with the slight inconsistent sounds I hear one in a while, I wasn't sure if that was normal, so it's been like that for the last few hundred hours. I wonder if what your saying lets loose if things become much worse with metal chips getting loose flowing in the system? I need to look in the book I have and see what's going on with this pump, I believe there is a part of it that was serviced years back according to the files I have that came with the machine. Maybe its worth just getting a new pump, or are they rebuilt? When I was at the JD dealer they said it was about 1k for the pump, so I guess that should be the whole assembly?
What engine does your machine use??? The vibration dampener came apart on our 750c dozer, couple year ago... Then the out side heavy ring had a fight with the fan, but I ended up being the ultimate loser! Thankfully, it didn't get the radiator or oil cooler, or anything else, except the belts. A bad dampener can also ruin your crank shaft... according to the book, any way. Could be the belt tightening idler too, I've lost a couple of them. OCR
Check your pump coupler,especially the rubber bushings. While they usually make noise it could be the whole thing is coming loose on the shaft. Have you noticed it when you use the loader?
This ain't necessarily about your vibration. But if your curious about the hydo system, take your filter off, then drain the oil in the filter into a clean bucket or something so you can inspect the oil for particles. Once you have drained most of the oil from the filter, pour some mineral spirits into the filter, place your hand over top of the filter, and give it a little agitation. This will dislodge debris in the filter media. Pour the liquid into a clean container and inspect it. If you don't see much debris, your hydro system is probably OK.
The engine I believe is the 65hp, 239ci, 3.91L. I don't see any tag other than the ID plate, and the dealer did give me a paper print out on it but can't find it now.... On cars when ever I hear about or see the damper falling off it's a cracked crank shaft, wow good for you thats all the got damaged. I think I won't run it now until I take a look at it... I was going thru the repair history and see at 4427 hours the hyd. pump had lots of parts replaced, but not sure if this was the same problem back then when these parts were replaced back at 4427 hours, which were, Spring, Cushion, 2-Cap Screws, Spacer, Washer, Plate, Adapter, were installed in pump drive? Then I was reading if abnormal noise is heard check Loose or worn hyd. pump drive coupling, or bad pump... So 4773 hours were put on since then, so I'd say there is a good chance I might find something worn, I hope I know how much play is good or not good, with what I'm looking for as far as shaft play and such....
okay bill.... thanks, I'm thinking more and more now that this is what I'll find tomorrow when I look at it, I might as well replace the fan belts, they are worn... I hope I find something obviously worn, with the way that vibration felt, wow, I thought the engine was shaking it self loose... .
Great idea! I saved all the used filters I had taken off the machine, because I've been meaning to cut them open, I always do this with everything I own, I have some sort of hang-up wanting to know what shape things are in... but that hyd filter is one tough part so I didn't do anything.... but thats a great idea, I'll take it off tomorrow and see whats going on with it, I might not use the mineral sprits just yet until I'm ready to replace it with the fluid, not sure until I see what comes out... thanks....
Well I took the side access panel off and was able to get in there and shake the heck out of the hydraulic pump drive shaft, it was nice and tight, very little play, seemed to me to have the kind of play as if it was brand new.... now by checking it this way would I get a false result with looking for anything wrong in there? Such as this was not really the way to check this hydraulic pump system and drive shaft where it connects to the engine side? This vibration I got while working the hoe for the first time the other day seems like a problem just starting, and being it's not vibrating all the time chances are I'm not going to find this problem fairly easy, this is what I'll guess? I'm yet to look inside the hyd filter.... I'm wondering if there would be anything going bad to keep an eye on when working the hoe arm in the way of a valve with-in the hyd lines.... I'll pay attention next time I get the vibration if it does it while working the hoe arm when working a specific lever direction only, then that might tell me if its something along the area of a valve in the hydraulic lines that work the hoe arm and such...
You say " you could feel it in the levers " . Could it be the pump was cavitating? Have noticed any new oil leaks that could let the pump suck air? Have you changed hyd oil that doesn't have anti foaming agents? Or possibly one of the control valves stuck?
When I was looking at the front of the pump, I believe this is the section thats for the power steering pump, it looks like the two pumps are stacked, I did see some sweating, there was no drip, none, not one drip, but there was a slight oil film on about the top half only towards the front only. I need to look into this because it might be when I changed the antifreeze I may have spilled a few drops on the pump... bolts were tight, everything looked great.... I'll know more once I clean it up and keep an eye on it for any leak... you never know if its sucking inwards may explain not one drip perhaps? And second you mentioned the levers, yes I felt vibrations right at the levers, very odd, perhaps I may have to lube them because I don't know if its all in my head but when I pull the bucket swing inwards it feels like its not going as easy as it should, I've noticed this more than once, but I was writing it off that I was tired and imagining it, so I'll need to look into that now that you mentioned it, perhaps the mechanical linkage was sticking keeping a valve open when I was at rest, I'll see... All day today the machine ran great... I hope it is all in my head being paranoid... but maybe no such luck...
Remember even paranoid people have enemies so keep an eye and ear on things.....