I am a new member of the forum and a newbie excavator owner. We have recently moved to 2 acres waterfront on northern Vancouver Island and have purchased an older Kubota KH-033 excavator. No electrics, solenoids or joy sticks. All levers directly to the valve bodies. (Grey market, Ritchie Bros. auction) Until now the machine has been working excellent, with the exception of a slow right side track motor, and sluggish house rotation. Suddenly, right at start up one morning I have lost all hydraulics to every control. The supply hose to the third pump on the back of the injector pump is collapsed as if under vacuum. So... I have drained the tank, cleaned the in-tank strainer which was totally plugged, replaced the regular hydraulic oil filter (about 15 hours ago), replaced the collapsed hose with a hard plastic contraption. The result was about 1" movement of the blade once. Still nothing on the remaining controls. I guess I assumed that the plugged strainer was causing the collapse of the supply hose and the lack of hydraulic flow to the valve bodies, but now with still no action, I am wondering if there is an air lock problem. Has anyone experienced this, and is it common to have air locks that take a while to work their way through? Thanks, Also the usual question of where can I get a manual for this thing?, or it's North American equivalent.
welcome to the forum jim
I used to be a machine operator, this sounds like the pump has failed
how did you make out with the hydraulic problem, do you still have machine, i purchased one and having a problem getting a manual? thanks
It sounds like the system needs to be bled, I'm thinking you have air in the system and possibly not enough fluid in the system. When you filled it, was the boom, and arm fully outstreched and on the ground? I'm trying to remember what the manual on my Tak said (Because fluid lasts a very long time) but I think making sure the system was full, and that the cap is sealed properly is a biggie. My system is sealed and presurised (As I assume your is. So if the filler cap has a bad gasket, or is loose, or is missing.... that could do it. It almost sounds like you are trying to run an implement that is not on the machine. (I've seen people accidentally switch over to hammer mode, and with out a hammer attached, the pump is basically trying to push fluid into a wall, and trying to do the same thing on the suction side. So look for any levers you might have accidentally hit.)