hi I just purchased a 2012 pc360-10 with 9500 hrs on it , oil tank is just below sight glass, new hydraulic filter, strainer in new , hyd pressure are where they should be according to specs, runs good and digs great , but when I go to track it the pump starts cavatating badly , till I drive for 5 seconds it stops , and sometimes when I put pump under big load (demanding lot of oil) I hear it also , I checked the hyd tank vent and it looks clean . Got me very puzzled and wonder where I could start looking . It needs to be fixed , cause once it does it when I track it I can make it do again when lifting boom, but when it sits awhile and I don’t track it but just dig , it hardly does it. Please and help will be appreciated , I haven’t checked the strained on top of the pump inline . Almost looks like the track side or hydraulic collecting ring let air in and areates the oil . But can’t really find a leak , not a bad one . Hope pump isn’t shot , but I doubt it as it is very fast and has lots power . 5400 psi on front and rear pump , about 2000 ish when tracking but when turn goes over 5000 psi.
Sounds on those machines can be very confusing as to what they are and where they are coming from. What makes you think it is the pump making the noise?
I could almost bet it’s coming from the pump , I can feel a small viberation when it does it , very noisy ,like a hydraulic pump sucking a little air .
That's fine but all you are going on is feelings. What evidence do you have that a pump is making the vibration and noise? Have you checked the oil level in the damper case? What have you checked on the engine? Fuel strainer and filters, air cleaner? Do you have any fault codes on the monitor. Which engine does the machine have. Komatsu or Cummins clone?
New filters , Komatsu engine , haven’t checked damper , no codes
Could it be the merger valve or pressure valve that is connected with tracks , seams like it does it when tracking
Have you done cycle times for boom up and each track? Does the performance of the machine change when you hear the noise?
No I don’t think it does , but I notice when I track and get of one paddle I hear the noise the machine stops for a slit sec gives a jerk then the side u still have pressed continues turning with lots of power.
Try something like this to find where the the noise is coming from. I have similar to this ,works well
Ok I’ll buy one , can you give a preview , how it works? Thanks
Head phone connected to box with flex neck work like a regular stethoscope. Headphone connected to small box on left ,wires with alligator clips are color coded and go to corresponding connections on small box . Connect the alligator clamps to what you want to listen to . Turn dial on small box to color of clamp you want listen.
Ok makes sense , I’ll get one ,
What is the normal operating hydraulic oil temp on these Komatsu machines ? 100 degree over ambient temp? And do these dash 10 machines have filter right above pump in the high press outlet lines? Thanks for all the help so far . I had a 300-6 that I basically had a collage education on , but this one is a little diff and like to know the simple things before digging too deep.
Maybe a video of the machine making the noise would help.
I’ll post one tommorow
We have two PC360LC-10 and one had a noisy hydraulic pump, talked to the dealer about this and it turns out that there is a service bulletin about that noise issue, they changed the pump and the intake line.
Do you remember if it was constant noise or just with some functions , cold or hot oil? Thanks!
Another question , does anyone rebuild pumps , or do we have to go with factory reman , I’d like to take it off , have someone go thru it replace O-Rings seals- etc . Set pressures (fine tune ) and put it back . Would sure sound cheaper than what a reman would cost , any help thank you very much .
Flint Hydraulics. https://flinthyd.com/
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You could always hear it, hot/cold, but it got worse when doing high flow demand operations (ex. Full boom+stick)
I took the strainers out on top of pump , found couple pieces Of brass , bigger than a pen tip about 5 pieces and the oil had a brassy shine but only a bit of it , the big filter didn’t show and but the return line from the aux showed brass , since the aux was a hammer kit the return line was plumbed into tank , when I replumbed it to the valve for 2 way action , I seen that. But the filter was clean. Any ideas ? Did brass come from hammer/breaker? Or is finding it top of pump strainers ,sure shot it’s from pump , (rear pump) . Didn’t see anything in front pump , just little shine right when I removed plug . Thanks guys
I got a small video for you to see but it says the file extension is wrong
Brass in a Komatsu pump is never a good thing. I haven't had a CLSS system pump apart in years but if I recall right the only brass in them are the slipper feet. There may be brass on the seal plate at the end of the barrel assembly. You might have erosion or damage in either place that makes the noise when you are in a high pressure high flow situation.
that's what I am thinking , I think I can repair myself any taughts?
The pumps themselves are not real complicated. It's the controls and getting them set properly that is a pain. If you have a service manual, plenty of time to study it and at least four gauges with associated fittings and hoses I think you should be able to get it figured out. I've always had to teardown the valves in the pump and clean out all the crud that accumulates in them so you can't usually get a away with just pulling them out of the pump and then putting them back when you have all the parts back in the main cases. As I recall though there are min/max adjustment screws that you can leave in place.
yes I wont turn around on the adjusters , pull apart clean good put the and put new barrels pistons and sliders in new and seals, still trying to upload video, I got all the pressure figured out , I have a service manual, but it don't say anything about torque specs of bolts, but there is a nice video on utube of a professional assembling one. john thanks for your smart and intelligent responses.
hear is the video , listen to it and please give me your opinion . thanks fellas
did you pull the suction strainer? drive each track separately under load and no load.. see if its front or rear pump. does the tank have pressure on it? pressures are set on the control valve...
Good day The noise level in the video I do not find so unusual the pitch and tone I would suggest compare with another machine of the same make and model, as John intimates noise from pumps is very subjective to whom is listening, having been involved on a few occasions to resolve this issue there are a couple of solutions you may like to try - the first is that of adding a solution to the hydraulic fluid, I'm not sure of the composite but it is marketed by Caterpillar this I found resolved most complaints - if all else fails you could try the solution used by another manufacturer to install hose lengths to the out put lines this absorbs some of the high pitch tones. I would add that Kawasaki modified production of there pumps to reduce noise level however the noise was not related to pump life. Kind regards Uffex
Yes everything checked out good , when pump goes to full stroke , it is very noisey , very abnormal sound , and it doesn’t do it when out is cool.It happens when pump destrokes . It clearly come from pump , it’s very obvious .
What type and brand of hydraulic oil are you using ?
I’m not sure it came from dealer with oil in tank (green) and the stuff I use is also green . Chs brand .
Last year I tried a semi-synthetic oil in a Volvo EC330C that was suppose to be the 8th wonder...turns out after a couple hundred hours in service the oil had lost half is viscosity and had bad antifoam additives. It made the pumps noisy as hell. Flushed that **** oil and went back to Tellus 46, cured the noise problem.
Everything inside this pump looks great! Can’t see where brass would’ve came from , must been from the hammer , but how did it get past the strainer ? Before I put together what should I inspect , just in case ? I’ll do lapping compound polish.
Sorry to miss inform you guys , I inspected inside the barrels , just about all have a bad pitting on the inside all perty much on the same spot , but the piston look super. So I’ll replace those 2 kits and let you guys know how it turned out .
If you look closely on the other end (output end there problems
Thanks for the photos of the inside of the pump. It's nice to know that they are still using bronze inside. A catastrophic failure isn't the end of the world like all the rest of the manufactures. I see the black spots inside but can't tell if those are the problem areas. Can you feel the problem areas with your finger. The marking on the one barrel face shows what looks like some minor scoring from foreign material. You can also see marking between the barrels possibly indicating some high pressure leakage. If the sleeves were clean I'd say lap the barrel to the seal plate and you should be good. If you can feel a pit with the skin on your finger or catch it with a finger nail, then the barrel is junk. I believe you have to buy the piston and barrel assembly as a set. Nice work!
yes the barrel has deep pit hole in just about every one , at first it looked like they should be there but after looking again , I seen they are jagged holes about .125 dia and .03 deep . the rest looks very nice. some lapping compound on everything before assembly , I will get some better photo of barrel jut to show the boyz here .
yes the barrel ,piston ,and plate I think are a set. about 1300$ each from oem
Good day it would be of great interest to compare the noise level after the assembly ? Kind regards Uffex
I've seen that often in a cavitating Komatsu pump, replaced the barrel and valve plate (they are sold as an assembly). Since you are there I would also replace the intake line hose as they get porous over time.
Your are talking about that short piece of rubber hose , about a foot long 4” dia .?
Oh I will , for sure
Yep
Made a stand to assemble pump , got all moving parts polished , getting parts Tommorow, now to clean and assemble .
Nice stand! We used to assemble them sitting straight up and down.
Is it better up and down ? Wouldn’t the rear section fall out ?
John , give me a few pointers in assembly , I got all my parts . Thanks
The guys at the dealer had and mounting flange like yours adapted to an engine stand so he could turn it. I did mine on a bench and as I recall I put the cradle in the drive side first and then lowered the piston and barrel over the drive shaft. As I recall the pump in the end had another case the a cradle that faced the opposite way and I lowered that P&B assembly in it. Then I used a fork lift to set the drive side of the case horizontal on blocks. Then I picked the back side and mated them up. I did have all the control stuff out of the pump casings when assembling the sections. I believe that four bolt flange with the big screw and lock nut is for the minimum or maximum swash plate angle and as I recall it was easier to get the barrels in with those removed.
Do thanks ! So assemble the rear section to center section vertically , and then mount rear/center to front section ?. Would make sense .
Finished pump , and the old barrel, look inside you can see the hole , tried the reman pump , night and day difference , I’ll post a video in a few days.
Great catch on the noise and a super job on the repair. I haven't seen a hole like that before in a barrel. What I have seen look like worm trails in the sand at the beach when the pumps were real old, had a plugged strainer and were sucking air.