My left side stabilizer has become sluggish and sometimes makes a squalling noise like a relief valve lifting. When it makes this noise I can reverse it and get it to go away and speed up a little but it never works as fast as the right side. This just began a few weeks ago. It still works and will lift the tractor off the ground. I'm wondering if it might have some trash in the valve or lines but i haven't taken anything apart yet to investigate. I am going to start by taking the lines loose at the oil control thingy that is mounted on the cylinder. It doesn't even show this thing in the service manual that I've found. Does anyone know it's function or if it may be my problem?
That prevents the stabilizers from dropping if a hose bursts, or if the engine is off. Something like that, possibly a "lock out valve". You don't really have to know how it works as long as you don't mix up the hoses when you put it back together. That would be a good suspect to me to take apart and inspect.
That's a nice upgrade. If you let the stabalizer onto the ground, without much presssure on it, you can crack the tubing or hoses loose that go directly to the cylinder. At that point you can slowly unscrew the cartridge without being in its path. On a cartridge of that vintage the part number will be stamped into it. Probably around $100
Switch that lock valve with the other on the other stabilizer, see if the problem moves.
I'll combine and interpret Mike and Vetech's more helpful suggestions. The rusty hex head on the left is probably the cartridge (what contains the important parts and isn't a hose fitting). You can remove and replace that cartridge by matching the number on it. The block and all the hoses can remain in place. Or you can swap the cartridge with the one on the other side and see if the problem follows the cartridge. First examine it for any obvious gunk, binding, etc.
I will give that cartridge swap a try when I get the crowd cylinder back together. It's been seeping around the gland nut for a while and started leaking worse this afternoon. O-rings were broken and chafed on the nut so I'm going to try just replacing those. Had some green oil filter o-rings that stretched over and fit right in the groove. Just having trouble getting the threads to start back.
Just stopping in on this thread to vent a little. I am going backwards as fast as I can on this. I have just been putting up with this problem and using the machine as is for a while. My first attempt to get the lines loose on the lock valve were met with resistance and I could NOT get them loose. When I rebuilt the cylinder on this side last year I pulled a sleazy and didn't replace the piston seal. Other than leaking down a little when parked it worked normal for months after the reseal. I finally decided the problem may be fluid bypassing that seal so I went back into the cylinder. This opened another can of worms as the gland nut that came loose so easy last time refused to budge. I finally took the cylinder off and drove 50 miles to a hydraulic shop (2 times) and they got it out for me. When I asked how they got it loose they said instead of a proper peg wrench they used a big pipe wrench. They had one guy hold the pipe wrench square wit a large adjustable wrench while two others pulled on a 8 ft pipe they had on the pipe wrench handle. Only charged me $80 for 20 minutes of work but hey, they got it loose. Rod has some scratches I never saw before but what can I say. I guess I should have spent that $80 on a big pipe wrench and got more help. So I replaced ALL the seals in the cylinder and put it back on. Didn't fix the problem and now the gland nut o-ring is leaking like a sieve. I didn't think it fit right but I bought the same kit from the same supplier last time and it didn't leak. I guess I have to pull the gland nut back out and try to stretch some different o-rings on it. Anyways I tried to get the lock valve off again and this time I overcame the tight fittings. I took the whole thing apart and didn't find anything stuck or broken. It has one piece that's a little fishy looking as it's threaded on the outside but just floating in the bore it came out of. Cleaned it all up and put it back on and have the same symptoms. Had to walk away for a while but after the sun goes down a bit I guess I will tackle the leaking gland nut then try swapping the lock valve to the other side.
Work the cylinder up and down a few times, see if the barrel is getting hot or the gland is getting hot, the rod might have a bit of a bend in it, happens when a rock jams in the outrigger.
Rod and piston seemed to slide in and out fine by hand so I don't think it's bent.
Finally swapped the lock valves and the problem moved with the swap so it IS in the lock valve. NOW, I have taken that valve completely apart before the swap, cleaned it all out and blew it out with air. Found nothing stuck or broken. The only other thing I can think to do is to tear both of them down side by side to compare the parts or replace the whole thing. I cannot find a part number or breakdown anywhere for this part. It is mentioned in the service manual but no reference to rebuild it or breakdown for it. Going to call a dealer tomorrow and see if they can look it up.
Finally found the part number for this thing. Found one on ebay and made an offer so I'll see how that goes.
Final update. Ebay seller had a half dozen of these NOS parts and accepted my offer. Part arrived today, got installed, and fixed problem. Next weeks project is to replace leaking AC hoses. That is a double pain to do the evaporator connection but needs doing. They have been seeping freon since I resurrected the system. THEN maybe I can get back to digging some stumps.