Hi everyone I'm having issues with a customers John Deere 323E with hand controls. I've checked all the fuses, verified the interlock system is operating properly, checked the port lock solenoid/spool valve, checked the port lock spool inside of the control valve, verified the joystick is working and I'm getting power and ground to the control valves, ohmed out the whole control valve harness to the HCU unit, machine has no active or stored codes, checked the machine with service advisor and came up with nothing there, checked the charge pressure and the hydraulic pump pressure and everything is within spec. Machine drives fine and the auxiliary functions work just no boom or bucket functions. I'm scratching my head on this one. Any help would be much obliged. Thank you.
Let's start with the machine serial number please. So to clarify, all the lights in the instrument panel go out when you sit in the seat, close the cab door (if a cab machine), seat bar lowered, and the park brake is released? The control lever readings in the monitor cycle from 0 to 100% in one direction and -100% in the other direction? If yes, does it sound like it is going over relief when trying to operate the hydraulics? Which control valves?
Machine serial number is 1T0323EKEEJ268219. Yes that's correct sit in the seat close the door and lower the lap bar all light go out and you can unlock the hydraulics and the parking brake. When you unlock the hydraulics you can hear an audible click from the port lock solenoid and it has good power and ground when commanded. Yes I monitored the X and Y axis on the monitor and it responds accordingly. I also switched it to H pattern so some of the bucket functions are on the left joystick but no change. When operating the controls for the bucket there's no relief it acts like it's doing nothing. Except when you cycle the AUX functions then you hear it relief. And my apologies I meant to say the proportion valves that control the functions in the bucket control valve.
You are measuring voltage? Those are pulse width, so they would be measured with a scope or with the duty cycle function of your multi-meter. Unfortunately, there is no spec for those measurements. I would be looking for a change with the lever movement. You have an interesting issue. I'll have to chew on this a bit.
Well that's good to know haha I wasn't sure. I can tell you they all read around 5 volts when commanded by the joystick. It's got me confused for sure. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Did you try a calibration?
Yes I tried that the first time I looked at the machine but now I can't remember if the calibration failed or not. I will try it again next time I go look at the machine.
Sorry for the delay had some time to go out and look at machine again. Went through a boom and bucket calibration no problem. But didn't change anything
So, the boom and bucket began to move while calibrating? Interesting. Me too. I am convinced it is something simple being overlooked, I just can't put my thumb on it at the moment. Also found nothing in Deere's solution search. Just to ask again, when moving the levers, nothing pops up on the screen? I don't think this is the issue, but are the two diodes in the fuse box pointed in the correct direction?
My apologies no the boom and bucket did not move at all during the calibration. But once I went through the procedure it said it had passed. When moving the levers theres no beeps or warnings popping up and you can watch the x axis and y axis and watch the values change accordingly. And yes I checked the diodes they are pointed in the correct direction and their resistance is good as to what service advisor says.
It is supposed to move during calibration. If you did not wait for the function to move, then that could be your issue. When prompted to move a lever by the instrument panel, you hold that function at full stroke, keeping it there until you see the function just start to move, then release the lever. The release of the lever signals the HCU when the function began moving and then it records within itself the milliamps required to move that function. Try it again. It can take upwards of a full minute before you see the function begin to move.
Okay I figured it was supposed to move but I only held each function for about 15-20 seconds. I will retest and report back
Okay so I went to calibrate the machine again first function it asked for was boom down held it for about a minute then it said threshold failed and gave me an active code 523411.06 boom down solenoid out of range high.
Now we are cooking. Most likely a bad boom down solenoid. Check your messages.
Got it. Will get back to the machine this week and go through that and I will update you. Thank you very much.
Okay got back out to the machine today and went through diag steps you sent me. Everything came out good. Harness checked good and resistance on all of the solenoid coils checked out good. Have you ever dealt with a bad HCU on these machines?
Did you load test the wires? Checking them with an ohmmeter will not detect issues except a complete open, short to another wire, or short to ground. Yes, you could have a driver issue in the HCU. Did you read through the solution I sent you?
Yes sir I read through everything you sent to me. I didn't load test them but I tested them with an ohmeter while wiggling and moving the harness.
Did you check that the wires for that solenoid are not shorted to another wire?
Sure did. All of that came up good. I also tested the wires for each solenoid in the control valve and they came out good as well.
Sounds like you either have a solenoid issue that won't show up until there is amperage running through it, or the driver in the HCU has gone wonky. About $500 for the solenoid and about $1000 for the HCU. HCU will require the dealer to come out and program it, so the $'s gets added to the 1000.
Yes that's kind of what I'm thinking as well. Was talking to my customer yesterday and asked him if I could swap a boom down solenoid out of one of his other machines to try and he said no. He also told me that this problem didn't happen until one of his guys powerwashed underneath the cab of the machine. There's no sings of water or corrosion in the HCU plugs but I wonder if they could of sprayed it to hard with the pressure washer.
It would have been nice to know that from the beginning. When sitting in the seat looking at the control valve, did you check the connections that would be to the right of the control valve?
It sure would of haha. Yes I went and unplugged every connector underneath the cab to check for water intrusion in the connections but everything looked clean and tight.