All the other hydraulics seem to work fine but when it gets below 25 degrees F the boom lifts VERY slowly. Sometimes it won't rise at all. The other day it was 30 degrees and I ran the machine for 1 hour and the boom just wouldn't lift. If it's summer time, it works fine with no problems. Any ideas? It's only got 500 hours on it.
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thetool
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 516
Hmmm........weird symtoms.....
Anything that comes to mind, should be the other way around. Works fine when cold, but drops off when it warms up......
Keep in mind when you read this, I'm not trying to offend you in any way, but just offer some observations that might save you a lot of time, money and aggravation.
When I used to work for a dealer, often a customer would bring in his machine, along with his suspected diagnosis or list of strange symptoms, that was passed along to the mechanic, who then proceeded to trouble shoot. Oftentimes, the info passed along from the customer actually impeded the diagnostic process, and this was not realized until after the job was done, often in reflection of why such a simple thing took so long to diagnose and repair.
After a few times, I realized that I had to be very careful in what I did with this info that was passed along from the customer. Totally disregard? Clarify? Re-interpret?
With that in mind, some things in your post don't make sense.
To state that it works fine in summer but screws up when cold, you have to have had the machine for at least a couple of seasons, and with only 500 hrs this raises an eyebrow. It's possible, I guess. Have you?
To state that it works slowly when below 25 but won't work at all at 30, with the rest of the info in your post, is counter-intuitive.
If you took your machine to a dealer with this info, you stand a very good chance of having your machine totally disassembled and reassembled, with a huge bill for all kinds of strange repairs, when maybe all it needed was a hydraulic oil filter and oil change, or maybe the gear pump coupler is stripped. The dealer tries to recover and ends up looking like greedy barstards, or they eat it and the mechanic gets chastised or worse, you're angry and nobody wins.
So let's start from scratch:
Have your hydraulics totally quit working?
Is your machine an AHC or ACS or SJC machine(hand or selectable hand/foot or joystick control)? Does it give any codes?
Does the hydraulic oil look okay? Is it milky or dirty-looking? Have you serviced the main and case-drain filters?
I believe it most likely that you have a problem that has nothing to do with seasons, and your observations on temperatures may be coincidental.
Anything that comes to mind, should be the other way around. Works fine when cold, but drops off when it warms up......
Keep in mind when you read this, I'm not trying to offend you in any way, but just offer some observations that might save you a lot of time, money and aggravation.
When I used to work for a dealer, often a customer would bring in his machine, along with his suspected diagnosis or list of strange symptoms, that was passed along to the mechanic, who then proceeded to trouble shoot. Oftentimes, the info passed along from the customer actually impeded the diagnostic process, and this was not realized until after the job was done, often in reflection of why such a simple thing took so long to diagnose and repair.
After a few times, I realized that I had to be very careful in what I did with this info that was passed along from the customer. Totally disregard? Clarify? Re-interpret?
With that in mind, some things in your post don't make sense.
To state that it works fine in summer but screws up when cold, you have to have had the machine for at least a couple of seasons, and with only 500 hrs this raises an eyebrow. It's possible, I guess. Have you?
To state that it works slowly when below 25 but won't work at all at 30, with the rest of the info in your post, is counter-intuitive.
If you took your machine to a dealer with this info, you stand a very good chance of having your machine totally disassembled and reassembled, with a huge bill for all kinds of strange repairs, when maybe all it needed was a hydraulic oil filter and oil change, or maybe the gear pump coupler is stripped. The dealer tries to recover and ends up looking like greedy barstards, or they eat it and the mechanic gets chastised or worse, you're angry and nobody wins.
So let's start from scratch:
Have your hydraulics totally quit working?
Is your machine an AHC or ACS or SJC machine(hand or selectable hand/foot or joystick control)? Does it give any codes?
Does the hydraulic oil look okay? Is it milky or dirty-looking? Have you serviced the main and case-drain filters?
I believe it most likely that you have a problem that has nothing to do with seasons, and your observations on temperatures may be coincidental.
Let me be a bit more clear. I've had it 3 years. I do not use it much, just around the small farm I own. The first year - no problems. The second year I noticed that the boom (the boom only) would raise slowly in cold weather. This year it is to the point where it won't hardly go up at all - but only during below freezing weather. In warm weather it works fine. I have foot controls only. I'm not stupid when it comes to mechanical stuff and can do most of my own maintenance. I just wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else. I am going to start with draining the fluid and changing the filters. I thought perhaps there is a cold fluid bypass or some other possible cause to this. Just looking for some suggestions.
Sounds like a ice problem caused by not enough use to really warm up the oil and it has built up condensate in the tank which can seperate from the oil if it sits for a while and collect and freeze in filters and such.
The thing i see is you mention its lift ONLY, to me that sounds like the lift lock out solenoid isn't fully releasing. If the tilt and aux hydraulics work fine I'd suspect a sticky safety solenoid..... It could be ice, but its built into the control block so as the oil warms up it will warm too.
Thats my best guess sorry.
thetool
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 516
That certainly does clear things up for me....=).
I certainly did not mean to imply stupidity, and I took care to try and preclude any offense in my post, though it seems I failed anyway.....probably think I'm a pompous a$$.....=).
Plain foot pedal machine is the best to have!
I've seen machines that have snow and ice and frozen mud built up in the foot pedal area, and it keeps the lift spool from stroking fully when it freezes.
Don't be mad at me, I'm a helpful and friendly guy.......=).
LOL Shane
We all know you better than that! you are super helpful around here thats for sure.
