Hello Everyone. An emergency today. We spent a few day a couple of weeks ago servicing everything we could on the old PC as we had a very important couple of weeks for it. Yesterday we saw a puddle under it where it was sitting right in the middle. Checked today and the swing drive motor was out of straight 30. I filled it up and drove it a couple hundred feet to the shop and I could see the trail of fluid. Got under it to look and it was pouring out. Very hard to see where it comes from in there. Any ideas or can it only be the seal? Has anyone heard of the seal leaking that bad? I mean it was a steady stream. Next question as we are in the middle of something time sensitive and important. Has anyone done this? I am pretty good with the tools and we have a gantry crane in the shop. But I have never done this before. Wondered if there is a manual for this machine out there? Do people replace these with rebuilt ones or do we replace the seal ourselves? Really hoping for some help. THanks
Because we are in a tough spot here I had a thought so please dont judge.... Is there anyharm in running the machine with no oil in the swing gear if I am not swinging it? We are only using it to pickup equipment and load onto the barge. Albeit heavy lifts for the machine I really am not swinging the house. If I do just a few inches here and there. Any thoughts on this? Thank you.
Any thoughts on whether we can use this machine if we dont swing it? Is the fluid in the swing drive only to lube the gears while it is working? For the next few days we just need to use it to lift and place things on trailers and so just the arms and the tracks. Any help is appreciated.
You need to provide more information. A serial number would help and maybe a photo of the serial number tag. I don't recall seeing a swing gear box on those small machines before. Most just have a high torque radial motor for the swing.
It has a planetary gear box, Sir. Attached "pdf" file is how to disassembly.
Some here have pumped grease in in an emergency.
Hello, Thank you very much for the replies. I will post the serial number and tag today. I have not had any luck whatsoever connecting with anyone who can rebuild these. I will keep going at that this week. I guess my immediate question is. If I am not rotating then I should be ok to use the machine for a few hours here and there loading things correct? My guy tells me I should be. Another question is why would it fail so dramatically? Is that normal. I mean the fluid is pouring out. It will empty itself in less than 5 minutes. Thanks again
The usual reason is because the oil has never been changed. All the wear materials that get generated end up in the bottom of the case and in that seal. In time that can also build up and end up in the pinion shaft support bearings cause a cascading failure. A drive like that is not hard to rebuild, getting it out of the machine might be the toughest part. Using the machine at this point is basically a game of chance. At this point it might just be the seal that needs replacing. Or the drive might already be broken so damage from any more turning just makes the repair that much more expensive. You will have to weigh the amount of money you are making on the job against the cost of repair or replacement of the drive. I doubt used will be much of an option but you might look before making a decision to use the machine more.
How long has it been since you checked oil befor this happened. How long it lasts depends on how much has damage has already been done.
They's called SWING MACHINERY (actually it's planetary gear box) which is lubricating by ENGINE OIL. It has a oil seal as picture below. You should check oil seal and also the shaft of it.
It's got a bolt on pinion gear retainer. That makes changing the seal easy!
I change everything regularly. So it shouldnt be a service issue. I use the machine sparingly. I feel like we can change the seal once we get a little bit of time. I did look up the tag this morning and its a pc60-6 serial number 41364. I am in ontario and wondered if anyone had a recommendation on where to order parts from? We do not have any Komatsu dealers anywhere close by.
Thank you very much everyone for your help. It really is amazing. I see the seal online so I am sure I can order that. Should i be ordering any other parts at the same time to be sure once I have the swing like the shaft and gear as well?
Sometimes the worn material wears a groove in the pinion shaft and if that is the case you will need a speedy sleeve installed to cover the worn area. You can get those at any bearing house. You won't know if you need it till you take it apart.
Just a few questions/ thoughts.I work on very few Komatsu excavators, mostly Deere/Hitachi. From reading the original post it would appear that you can see the swing drive gear from the bottom of the machine? If oil is pouring out that fast would it be wise to reseal the hydraulic motor also? It would almost seem like the swing drive is being pressured up for it to push the 30 weight out that fast.
I cant see exactly where it comes out. It is open right through the center but the swing drive is sort of offset. I believe the hydraulic motor sits on top of the planetary gearcase. Yes it sure does come out. But I did notice the big puddle the first time when the machine was sitting after we used it for 20 minutes or so. But still we are not really doing any swinging. just lifting and loading onto our trailers.
Does the oil eventually stop leaking?
I am sorry for the long wait to reply. Was out of town for work. Yes its stops leaking...when all the oil is gone. Of course I need the machine now....so I have it parked under my gantry and need to get this sorted out. I still dont have a factory service manual for this machine. Does anyone have a digital copy or know where to find one? Thanks
I have found a online repair manual. From The Repair Manual.com. Worked really well.
hello, Update on my PC 60 issues. I have removed the gearcase and swing motor. I have never done this before so if anyone can explain to me now how to take apart to get at the seal to look I would appreciate it. I also encountered another issue. Take a look at the picture of what was below the gear can? It doesnt look good. Can anyone explain to me what happened there? There is some milky oil coming out of where the swing drive motor is attached. And yes the other picture which was right under the planetary set is completely full of that mess. Right to the top.
It looks like your swing motor blew the shaft seal filling the gear box and blowing out that seal which filled the pinion tub full. The blue stuff looks like grease and hydraulic oil mix. If you look on the outside of the machine at the bearing, you likely see some of the blue stuff in little streams on the outside of the bearing and leaking onto the carbody. If you can crawl under the carbody between the track frames and look up, you will see a two bolt plate on the sprocket side of the carbody. Take one of the bolts out and then loosen the other a few threads. Put some kind of big catch pan under there and then knock the plate loose. There will be a considerable mess as all that drains out.
Hi John< Thank you for the reply. yes its quite a mess. I knew that the swing gear set had a seal leak as the fluid had been coming out and I had been topping it up. It suddenly got really bad and just poured out. Before I took the planetary and the swing motor out I opened the drain for the gear. Very little came out but it did look like a little bit of water was in there. It was hard to tell as it wasnt very much. I am pretty handy but havnt done either of these before. Would replacing both of these seals be easy? Or should I take it to someone? Also why would that milky oil be coming out of the top of the planetary where the swing motor attaches? See in the picture where it is laying on its side. Thank you very much.
I haven't had a swing machinery out in that small of machine but the job should be pretty straight forward. I think the parts break down is posted somewhere in this thread.
I have ordered the seals for both the swing motor and planetary. I am hoping that will solve the issue
I was able to get the seals out of both the planetary and the hydraulic swing motor. Now just waiting for parts to come in. Does anyone know what the torque should be on the bolt holding the planetary gear on? Should I be using thread lock on it? It was really on there. I hit it hard with the impact and had to stop I thought I might break it. It finally came off with the 3/4 long bar. The seal in the planetary was clearly torn. But I am doing both that and the drive motor per John C comments
One other thing you might consider would be why the swing motor seal was leaking. Generally there is only tank pressure against that seal. They do wear out but many times you can get excessive pressure against that seal if the piston a barrel assembly is not sealing properly on the seal plate. I usually pop the top off the motor to be sure the seal plate isn't scored causing the leakage. I think I have a photo of a pump or motor somewhere on the board showing what that looks like.
That would be great to look at. Thank you. When I poped the seal out of the swing motor it didnt seem to be leaking . But I thought I had it out and on the workbench so I might as well replace that seal while I was there.
I should add that the seal in the panetary was clearly gone torn almost in half.
So I cracked the cover plate under the machine to open up the carbody. A few litres of water poured out first them some plopping mess of grey grease like matter..... Still alot of that in there. I am not sure how to get the rest of it out? I was thinking varsol and a garden sprayer? Any thoughts on this?
Update- Well we got the seals in the planetary and swing motor this morning and got it all back together and it is working. I am hoping to do a few more things on it and then try it out for a half day or so to make sure not leaks show up. I wasnt able to do a very good job on cleaning the slop out of the car body. I raged what I could, used air. But still alot of grey goop in there. But that will have to stay for now with the new grease. I am going to drill a hole in the bottom removable cover to help water run out of it in the future.
Hello, I got the same issue as you with my PC60-6 last week. The oil I fill in the swing gear box is going directly to the ground. Is your PC60 still working good after you changed the seal?