Looking for some help... My machine just recently and suddenly became very weak when trying to swing. If I try moving any other controls at the same time, the machine will not swing at all. I noticed also that the swing motor became very warm after only a short time. I think I noticed that the joystick which controls the swing felt a little "heavy" or stiff just before this swing problem. Also, I just re-installed the swing gear and swing motor after having the swing gear seal replaced. The machine worked fine for about 10 hrs after the install. Coincidence that now I am having this problem? Thoughts?
interchange with another joystick and check again
I'll try swapping it with the other controller today. Good a place to start as any. Any reason a faulty joystick may cause the swing motor to get hot?
I've been doing a little reading, looks like a swing priority valve is a likely culprit? Anybody have any experience with this?
I don't have a Dash 3 book and had to check my Dash 5 book to even see that there was a swing priority valve in these machines. That would say that I've never seen a problem with them. Before you do anything else I would recommend you pull the pump suction strainer from the hydraulic tank and look for brass in the screens. These machines for some reason didn't throw the junk into the whole system when you had a catastrophic failure. Instead it all ended up in the tank because of the way the case drain system was designed. If you have lots of brass you eather have prior failures that weren't cleaned up properly or you have a current failure. The symptoms you describe seem to indicate pressure oil getting into the pilot circuit for the swing controller. This usually happens from a motor dumping massive amounts of oil into the case drain circuit. If the problem happens when turning both ways, I would recommend doing a case drain test on the swing motor before doing anything else. If you have lots of oil from that you will have your answer to your question on the people who worked on your components. Good Luck!
Thanks for the tip, I'll try to get out this afternoon to take the strainer out and have a look. The problem does happen swinging both ways. The machine will slowly and weakly swing when I don't use any other hydraulics. And there are no bad sounds or feelings when it swings. Just slow and weak, and the motor was fairly hot to the touch. What causes the swing motor to dump these large amounts of oil? Is it something that could have been caused when I had the swing seal replaced as it was leaking gear oil into the turntable. I also had the bottom swing motor seal replaced as well. I put it all back together and used the machine for about 10 hrs. Going now to check the strainer. Thanks for the help!
No brass in the hydraulic screens. Now....case drain test?....how exactly does one go about doing that?
You just installed this correct??? just for the heck of it double check your lines and make sure you didn't get something crossed and does the gearbox get hot or just the motor and pilot
Yeah, just installed gear box, and swing motor. It worked fine for about 5-10 hrs. Just the swing motor gets hot. I'll double check the lines, but I had them marked with color coded zip ties.
stranger things have happened somebody swapping a fitting on motor this could cause you to swap line on install
True enough. Never thought of that. Just bothers me that it worked for so many hours with no issues, other than the joystick felt a little stiff. Thanks!
You have to find the case drain line on the swing motor and disconnect it. Cap off the hose and then hook another hose to the drain line and run it into a bucket. Leave the machine bucket on the ground with the stick stretched all the way out. Start the machine and try swinging easy. There should be next to nothing come out of the hose into the bucket. I would try it a low engine idle and raise the rpm a little at a time. If you get a lot of oil, you found your problem. You can also use an infrared thermometer and check the heat coming off the unit. That motor will get hot anyway when you are working hard but shouldn't loose power or speed. If you are getting twenty or more degrees rise off the motor and lots of noise I would pull the motor and take it apart. Just thinking also of the swing brake. Have you checked to see if it is working. You have a swing parking brake switch on the right side console. Set it and if the house with turn you also will have to pull the swing motor.
I'm going do the case drain test when I get home in the next couple of days. Are you thinking that the swing brake is stuck on?
I put one of the motors together once where one of the disks wasn't seated properly when I bolted the case together. When I did that the motor wouldn't turn at all. So I'm just brain storming a bit. The motor isn't that hard to take apart and put together but it also isn't hard to get something in there out of place and causing problems.
I solved the problem! Just before I was going to do the case drain test, I checked the auto swing lock. I disconnected the wiring and had a look at the solenoid behind the swing motor. I put it all back together and it worked. It seems the auto lock malfunctioned and was stuck on? Not really sure but it works perfectly now. Thanks for the help and ideas guys.