Hi All, I am new to the forum. Grew up on a big farm in Idaho drove everything from a Big Bud to a combine. That was quite a few years ago, I'm close to retirement now and it's still in my blood. However fate finds me a small town in CA with small chunk of land that I can push a little dirt around and grow some oat hay for a couple angus beef to put in the freezer. I have a few tractors to play with, small Massey, small case excavator, a super clean Ford 545D, and now a John Deere 310E extend-a-hoe and a clam shell front bucket. All of them are just for hobby home use and to help friends/family/others just for the enjoyment of helping others. The 310E belonged to a good friend of mine that just lost a very long battle with cancer. I purchased it from his widow, more to help her rather than because I really needed it. The last 3 years it was occasionally run but very little and not hard. I have been cleaning it up and fixing things as needed. So now I have a couple questions if I can have your thoughts. 1. It starts perfect. As it sits at idle, it vibrates enough that the sheet metal rattles and I can see the motor etc shake. It's not violent, more of an annoying vibration than anything else. I can't hear anything wrong with the motor. No ticks, nothing. As soon as I give throttle, and immediately off idle it runs perfectly smooth, no vibration, not an ounce of smoke, no power loss, runs perfect. Should I be concerned? I think it should idle smoother but it runs flawless besides at idle. Thoughts? 2. It has a hydraulic oil leak that is hard to see. Leak is constant if it is running. Oil runs out of a hole in the left frame rail directly behind the fuel tank in front of the back tire at the frames lowest point. If I reach up under inside of the frame rail, and then on top of the left frame rail there are a couple of hydraulic lines that feel like they go inside the frame rail and have some steel wrap around them for wear protection. I think that the steel wrap has worn and allowed the rubber to rub and become thin and I am assuming leak. Does anyone have suggestions on what he hoses are and the replacement of these hoses? Again new to forum today, and I will be searching threads for diagrams etc. that will help me get the bugs worked out and in good working order. Any help pointing me in the right direction with diagrams of the hose routings etc. Would be helpful.
Welcome to HEF Idahoanatheart ! At what speed is the engine idling at (spec is 900-925 rpm). Too low of an engine idle speed can create unusual vibrations. For the hydraulic oil cooler mounted in front of the radiator.
It very well could just need new motor mounts, for the shaking. Agree on the oil cooler leak.
Thank you, I had hoped to spend a bit more time today and over the weekend. Instead I spent the day in the ER and will spend at least the weekend down and out. I was stopped waiting for a car in front of me to turn left and got rear ended by a distracted driver going 70. Lucky to still be here as well as the mom and infant that was in the car front of me. So thanks for those suggestions. No Tach on the 310E and I am not sure of the RPM. And I will check the mounts. The oil cooler hoses give me a good starting place. I did have to clean a ton of debris out that was packed between the radiator and the oil cooler. I had to pull the cooler away to clean it, although I didn't undo the lines. I doubt it, but maybe I messed up a line somehow when moving it away from the radiator. Got to do some recovering for a bit before I can get to it.
Newest Deere I have ever owned was 410C, but my manual recommended at least 1000 RPM. The oil pump needs a bit of speed to keep up volume. If not enough oil is pumped, some oil gallerys might not get oil. At 1000 RPM you are sure to get oil everywhere it should go.
Buy a cheap photo tach to get your RPM's.
A phone with a strobe can be used to get a speed by "flashing" at the crank pulley. Adjust to freeze motion.
Welcome to HEF! I have a 310E too. Good machine. Bump that idle lever up a little on your right when seated and looking at the wheel. I suspect that vibration will go away.
Welcome to the forum and yikes to the accident! Heal up well man! That sounds rougher than your idling issue.
Well I was able to be up and around for a few minutes today since my car accident and spent a few minutes with the 310e looking into the shake at idle. Downloaded the rpm strobe on my phone, thank you for that suggestion Tony. It was idling at 897 rpm. I slowly bumped up the idle until it smoothed out nicely. It starts to run smooth at 1003 rpm. So is the consensus then 1000 Rpm is a good idle point for a 310E? not too high? I have not been able to hunt down the oil leak yet....I will need to do some more pressure washing to really see it. It is really dirty, caked with years if oily dirt. .
Maybe it just comes with the territory of a back hoe, but there are hydraulic leaks everywhere LOL. Spent 20 min today checking things out under the 310E. Here are the few things I will need to address. Oil pan gasket Power steering hose Main big Hyd supply hose from bottom of main tank to main pump is leaking (pump is new ;-) Hyd oil filter leaking Hoses from oil cooler (inside left frame) leaking somewhere inside frame Rear left rubber motor/trans mount is toast, thank you HarleyHappy for that suggestion, others look ok. But likely added to the vibration issue. lights instrument panel colored light cover cracked fallen off (found it under seat) ?? Is it better, or worth it, to have a mobile "Hose Pro's" come out to replace hoses? I'm capable of doing the repairs myself, but would have to remove hoses, take them local hose shop to have them made, and then reinstall myself. In your opinion, better to have mobile hose mechanic do it, or do it myself. Again I am more than capable and have the tools etc., but is it worth it?
I've found over the years that oil pan gaskets rarely leak. The oil runs down the block and collects there and look like the gasket is bad.
Worked on the 310e today and got a lot done. But found another issue that I want to ask about. The left side backhoe swing cylinder in missing the Spanner Nut on the end of the cylinder that the cylinder rod goes through. Weird is that if it came loose it would have just ended up on the rod. But it is not there at all. This machine has probably 500 to 1000 (likely more) hours on it without that spanner nut on it. So what is the purpose of the Spanner nut? Is it something I need to worry about and deal with? Pretty sure the only way to put one on would be to remove, disassemble, and rebuild the swing cylinder. Anyway lots of progress today! Pressure washed the underside of the whole tractor, that greasy dirt shower sucked a lot. Replaced the 2 leaking hoses inside the left frame rail. They were just old, seeping, soft and thin in a few worn areas. Probably seeping more than spraying. But no leaks anymore from them now with quality hoses and a protective shield sock for the length of the new hoses. Concerning to me was the oil in the lines was a little milky, and yet the tank oil seams to be clean. I flushed the oil cooler. I know that the water would settle in the bottom of the tank, but still I would think that all of the oil in the tank would be milky, but thats not the case. So I changed the main hydraulic oil filter also. It too had some milky oil in it. I also changed the rear motor mounts. That was fun. Had to unbolt the mount from the motor (4 bolts) to get the old rubber mounts out. Not much room in between the frame and mount to get the recessed bolts loose. Good news is....NO MORE vibration at low idle! Thank you HarleyHappy, that was 100% the vibration issue. I never readjusted the idle to be higher so it runs smooth with no vibration at 897 RPM with the new mounts.
Condensation can make that oil look milky. There are vents that need to be kept clear and clean. One is on top of the transmission kinda in behind those 3 transmission solenoids. Another is on top of the rear differential. Running that machine enough to get it up to operating temperature regularly will go along way towards driving off the moisture.