2006 S175 3000 hrs. Making a very loud squealing noise from the hyd system. (Sounds like a fan belt going) Sounds like its out of oil but it isn't. What makes the hyd system /pump turn? Like what is between the engine and the pump , how does it work? Where is the main pump and how hard is it to change? Any ideas or tips welcomed , thanks.
i don't think your machine has a fan belt, but our older one did and that was always squealing. there is a belt that drives the pumps hooked up to the left side of the engine. open the endgate and you will see a plastic cover over the belt. seems those were always kind of a pain to tighten.
Awwwwwww thank you , so the hyd pump is belt driven?
So Ive searched but cant find instructions for changing the belt? Anyone got any tips ?
the belt shouldn't need to be tightened. could be a bad idler. Describe the sound more? Is it a squeal only or a chirp when the hydraulics are dead headed? If it's a chirp, there's a good possibility two lines are rubbing together (hard lines) and creating a vibration frequency that sounds like a high pitched chirp. Squeal is belt drive, usually. Could be something stuck in there, bad idler, or a belt that has frayed and is coming apart. Is your machine a K series or G series? G had belt drive fan, K is hydraulic.. at least on the large frame loaders.
Its LOUD like a powersteering pump on a car going. Sounds like somethings going to blow apart. How hard is it to check idler? Belt is badly cracked and weathered but seems tight. I guess im K
Does it make this noise as soon as you start the engine and run the throttle full revs?
No it only does it if I push a stick full ahead or full back while lifting
Sounds like you're drive belt is slipping then. Either need to check and adjust the belt tension, tensioner spring could be broken, tensioner could be seized up, or the belt needs replaced.
I took tensioner right off , it just turns around the spring? Spring pointer is pointing at 1 and I don't see anyway to make it do anything different? I put on a new belt and used a big bar to keep tensioner tight while I tightened tensioner bolt?
The drive belt tensioner pulley is mounted on an eccentric mandrel, the torsion spring turns the mandrel to keep constant tension on the pulley/belt when it's tensioned properly. When there's not tension on the torsion spring the pointer will be at the 1 o'clock position, which also means there will be no tension on the belt. Loosen bolt (item 1) just slightly. Pointer (item 2) is at 1 o'clock. Place a prybar between the belt case housing and the top of the belt pulley adjuster plate as shown in pic. With prybar, push the adjuster plate downward, this will cause the eccentric mandrel to turn putting the torsion spring under tension and at the same time it will dial the pointer around to 3 o'clock, don't force it into the stop of eccentric at 3 o'clock. Proper tension would be between 2 and 3 o'clock with pointer. Lock down adjusting bolt. Start engine and run for a few minutes, shut down engine, check the pointer position, adjust again if necessary.
Thanks much Ill try again tomorrow , maybe my spring is broken
It takes a good bit of prying pressure to push that bar down. For the life of me I don't know why Bobcat didn't provide a jacking screw for this, but we don't build this stuff.
Willie I went back out tonight and redid everything with the same results. I took idler right off and looked at spring it doesn't seem to be broken? But the pointer still points to 1 when I push down on idler. I had a 6' good pry bar on it , so it was getting lots of pressure. One thing I don't understand is how pushing straight down on the idler loads up that spring, the spring just seems to sit in the idler and isn't attached to anything else? Am I missing something?
It's entirely possible the tensioner is stuck, it happens. I can't even begin to explain how that thing works in a way that would make logical sense, the best I can do is show this exploded view, item #13 is that eccentric cam I was referring to, it's probably stuck. You could take it apart and try to repair it, but me, hardly worth the trouble. When I run into a problem tensioner I just replace it, most Bobcat dealers keep one on the shelf because they do go bad, just like a fan belt tensioner goes bad on an engine.
Will order a new one in the morning thanks for all your help.
About the only attempt I can explain this in the most simple terms; as you push down on the bracket 20, you're pushing down the pulley as well. Pulley comes in contact with the belt. Belt only stretches so far, then resists stretching any more. Continue pushing the bracket, pulley can't go down any more because of contact with belt. At that point, the pulley begins to rotate the eccentric cam (hub) 13. Cam is attached to spring, cam begins to "wind" the spring putting it under counter-tension against the pulley. The indicator plate (pointer) 16 is "notched into" the back side of the cam. When cam turns, pointer turns. If you can't get the pointer plate to turn, kinda indicates something is stuck. But one would have to take it apart to be sure. Me, I'd just replace the blasted thing.
BTW, I going to change your thread title, add "Bobcat belt tensioner" to the title, that will help others to find this thread and maybe get some useful info in the future. :drinkup
if it still wont move with a lot of pressure on it, smack the pulley with a hammer while you are prying on it. they do get "stuck" once in a while. make sure you're prying against the mount and not the pulley. FWIW the early design of the tensioner wasnt spring loaded, it did have a threaded adjuster rod. but you needed a special tool and a spring scale to set the tensioner :drinkup
When I touch my pointer its loose? Has a little back and forth movment when I push it with my finger? Not much but I can wiggle it.
I phoned and ordered a new one this morning, just as I was hanging up I asked how much? $636.00 does that sound right? I cancelled going to look at old one again.
Sounds like dealer rape to me. Might find a part number on it or go direct to the engine manufacture. Similar ones for vehicles can be had for well under a $100.00 but then there is a million more of them.
thats not kubota part part # may, (or not be) be stamped or cast on the part you shouldnt be able to wind the spring by moving it with your finger. the dowel pin may be loose in it's hole, or the other end of the spring could be broken
I have to admit I haven't purchased a new tensioner for some time, but I recall it wasn't no $636.00.
I checked Ebay and it was $550 plus $50 shipping so I guess I just take it from the dealer. I changed the idler on my 7.3 diesel pickup not long ago and it was like $75 I think. Almost the same as this Bobcat one. I cant hardly believe it for what it is.
So I got a good bar on it and pushed the tensioner down and tightened bolt? Good enough you suppose?
Well, that's better than no tension on the belt. To restate what crewchief asked, you are prying on the mounting bar and not the pulley, right?
Im prying on the top of the bracket the tensioner is mounted to, the steel flatbar with the hole for the bolt. Prying it down so the idler wheel is pushing hard against the belt. About the only place there is to put a bar.
Ok, just wanted to make sure. You could always take it apart and see if you can repair it, it might just need cleaned up and lubricated.
LOL Ive taken things with springs apart before..................................... It never turns out well! It was greasey , I might take it off one more time and look again , but I sure couldn't see the spring broken anywhere.
Well, it was just a thought. I mean, 600 some bucks for a tensioner, jeezzz, stick it in me and break it off, right? Putting some prying tension on it and lock it down may very well get you by, but at some point, you need to get that tensioner sorted out properly. I do hope you find a workable solution.
My thoughts exactly Im going to need it. I work in remote areas of BC , sometimes 3 hours from cell phone service even. Its going to fail 5 kms from the road in 3' of snow , I can see it all happening. I think Ill order the new one..........................
if it were me i'd toss on a new belt as well just to be on the safe side. i've seen it happen way too many times, an old belt gets tensioned properly and it snaps within a few hours. might b a good idea to check all your belts and hoses if you're gona be that far out in the middle of nowhere :drinkup
Got the new tensioner , have not put it on yet. The other one with my pry bar tightening seems to be working fine yet.
Spring reference 18 packs full of dust and freezes solid, can be cleaned but not worth the extreme hassle getting the dirt out of the spring ( spring grabs and holds the dirt in VERY tightly) We replace em when they won't budge.
Did the tensioner fix your problem? I'm changing my tensioner and belt on my t590 today just for preventative measures, the pointer is loose and rattling on mine. Cost 398 for the tensioner and 75 for the belt from bobcat in CDN $
I'm curious if this cured the problem. I'm having similar issues with a S150, Keeps blowing the fan belt off and shredding one row off the drive belt, drive belt stays on though. Its a buddy of mines machine and its chewed up 3 belts in about 30 hours of operation. I'm about to dig into it tomorrow. Anyone know how this fan belt design works? I haven't had much luck in finding info online seems like a pretty crappy design. I'm guessing (hoping) that its either the fan belt tensioner or the drive belt tensioner binding up. Any input would be great. (Not sure If I should've just started a new thread about this? Maybe a mod could chime in and let me know.)
the cooling fan belt has a spring loaded tensioner, as long as the tensioner is moving freely, the pulley isnt worn, and everything is aligned it should stay on. as far as the drive belt is concerned, repeat failures arent uncommon if the tensioner pulley bearings are bad. very rarely ive seen the 1 piece flywheel housing broken, or of it has the 2 piece housing, the bolts could be loose/broken, or have missing motor mount bolt(s). as far as a crappy design, if it was bobcat would have done something about it a l o n g time ago. it's been in use since the late 80's/ early 90's when the 50 series machines were introduced, and is still in use today on the latest M2 series machines..
Thanks for the clarification on that fan belt, that's the crappy design I was referring to. I was a little confused how that thing worked from just looking at it because I don't see the fan. I was looking for diagrams online but no luck. I'm no pro when it comes to working on equipment but show me how it works or give me some diagrams and I can fix it. My buddy was assuming the fan belt coming off was chewing up the drive belt. After looking at it and doing some research I think it's the other way around. I think the drive belt tensioner is bad and the shredding drive belt is making the fan belt come off. I found the tensioner on eBay for like $180 and found some rebuild kits online that contain the spring and the bearings, sleeve, snap rings etc. for about $80. Is it worth rebuilding to save $100 bucks.
we only use OEM bobcat parts......
I wouldn't rebuild one of those tensioners, way too much hassle for me.
Thanks for the input, not sure I can afford the bobcat OEM part lol. But I know what you are getting at, you get what you pay for. Willie, I was kinda thinking the same thing, much easier to just slap a whole new tensioner/idler pulley assembly on there. So I got the Idler off, there is no arrow plate between the spring and the pulley and the pulley spins freely but not so smoothly, kinda wobbly and bearings don't sound so great. So I think I'm just going to give it a new one and see what happens. New belts and a new Idler/tensioner pulley assembly and see what happens. This thing quit working on me while I was using it and then upon talking to my buddy, who was the last one to use it, I was informed of the prior issues. Would have been nice to know beforehand but oh well gonna get her back up and running in the next week. Just want to clarify installing everything new. Tensioner pulley is at 1 o'clock under no load and 3 o'clock under full load against the stop. So installing it I pry down on bracket and tighten it around 2 o'clock? Run it, recheck it, and re-adjust if necessary? That arrow should stay between 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock correct? I take back what I said about the design, now that I have disassembled it, which took all of 20 minutes, its a pretty simple design and not so hard to work on. I was thrown off a bit because at first glance I didn't see the third pulley which controls the fans way in the back hahaha... oops. I also found the diagrams on the Bobcat web site which are nice to have. Thanks for the help I might put together a little repair video if i do I will post the link. Here's the pulley.
Yes, you should adjust the tensioner so the pointer is between 1:00 and 2:00. If you tighten it so that the pointer is in the range of 3:00 you're getting near the area will be "bottomed out", not able to provide floating tension on the belt. Less than 1:00 may not be enough tension on the belt.
And yes, you may be dropping some coin to purchase that OEM tensioner assembly, but they do, in fact, last a long time, so as you stated, you do get what you pay for. That OEM belt and tensioner is worth the money in the work they'll do.
10/4 Thanks Willie! I'm giving it some thought now, I found an OEM tensioner for $275 and a non-OEM for about $200 kinda seems silly to not go with the OEM for an extra $75.
Went with the OEM Pulley I will hopefully have it back together this weekend.
Getting it back together only to find out the cooling fan tensioner idler arm is shot as well, might have this thing running again by the end of the week...
gotta love it sounds like my life story
Back together and running, finally. I found a idler pulley tensioner kit for about 80 bucks. Getting some snow so I will have something to test it out on in the morning.
I have an 05 S250 that needs the a/c belt tightened, I have resolved to just get used to the noise until it warms up as I cannot find a gnome powerful enough to break the adjusting bolt free, the other choice is to remove the engine. Good luck, someone's wife's nephew needs to get a slap up side the head and send to find a real job, not in engineering.