2013 318D. Boom control pedal (not bucket) sticking. Solenoid?

[smelt240]

So, I've had the tub out, hosed everything down, and can't see anything physically wrong with the pedal. No real rust to speak of, nothing frozen up... It operates nicely, when it does. I tapped the silver solenoid on the bottom left of the control valve with a wrench while I had it all apart, and I'm suspecting that either that solenoid or one nearby is sticky. Wanted to check and see if anyone has had a similar issue before I go playing the guessing game as to what does what on the control valve... It doesn't seem like that solenoid could only be 'half bad'... haha. Again, I'm only having an issue with my boom pedal, on a foot-control only machine. The bucket curls fine, and both pedals feel identical when the left one actually unlocks.

 

[smelt240]

So, in case anyone else has this issue, and doesn't know.. The boom pedal is locked out by the small round solenoid all the way at the bottom of the control valve body, under the left (boom) control pedal. (Mine has blue wires on a 2013 model)

I lucked out. My machine decided to start working again, (about a week after the boom got stuck in the air, and I got to climb out the rear window again... My hydraulic release plunger has never worked, so lowering things that way is not an option. Yet.) . So, rather than chase hard-to-get resistance values off solenoids way down inside there, I unplugged solenoids til I re-created the boom pedal-only lockout. Bingo.

I pulled the boom pedal to access the control valve. Then I had to bend the arm that supports the hydraulic release cable (which I found is also frozen solid, and a battle for another day) out of the way to access it with vise-grips, I didn't have a one-inch wrench short enough to fit in there. As expected, the solenoid wasn't in there very tight, and it came free pretty easy this way. If you could believe it, my 1" crow's foot was the ONLY one not in it's spot. Huh.

Also, I'm not sure how long it will last, but I went with the cheapest, Chinese-est solenoid I could find on Ebay. John Deere wanted around $600 for a 340719, I paid $29 shipped. The knockoff is a bit smaller in diameter, but fit and works just as the factory one did. Now that I know it worked, I may order a couple more just to have them hanging around. I expected the plugs to be cheap-feeling junk, but they weren't too bad. Granted, I did this swap at 65 degrees, and not 16 below zero.

While I was at it, I changed the fuel filters, and checked the pickup tube, to see where the de-rate/ low fuel pressure issue was coming from. Guessing the pickup tube is getting blocked with gravel, so the plan is to run the machine a bit lower on fuel, then drain and clean the tank. It looks pretty black down in there. It's always something. Either way, I'm up and running again, and able to go above 1600 rpms for the first time in a while. So that's how much power I was missing.

 

[Deleted member 13824]

Smelt240, Thanks for posting your update! Its good for us that know or find out a solution to post it to help out anybody else that could be having issues, including myself.
Glad you got it figured out, yes John Deere parts are pitifully overpriced as we know.
Best wishes.
D.