Bad Control Valve?

[bbill]

I have a L555 with 3400 hrs. It was sitting for about two months over the winter without being used. When I used it I noticed the bucket tilt pedal did not fully return to the center position when tilting the bucket back. It would creep until I tapped the pedal. It only does this when tilting the bucket back. I thought one of the shaft bushings might be sticking. I removed the peddle assembly and found two bushings that were rather tight. After I got them working freely I tried moving each of the two connecting rods going to the control valve. The boom connecting rod moved easily and I could feel it stop solidly at either end of its travel and it would snap back to the center when I left go of it. The bucket tilt connecting rod felt "mushy" at either end of its travel and did not return to the center very well. After I put everything back together and cycled the bucket tilt, it still creeped up unless I tapped the pedal. I am assuming there is a problem in the control valve. If so, I guess parts are available to rebuild it. I looked on the Messick website for parts. They list the body but I didn't see any listing for a rebuild kit. Any suggestions where to look for one? Also, it looks like a lot of things have to be moved to get the control valve out. I think I saw somewhere on this forum it has to come out of the bottom. I have a service manual coming, but I thought I would post this question and see if there are any tricks or tips that are not in the service manual. Thanks for any help, Bill

 

[deaop06]

bbill, Yes it is a lot of work to remove the valve. the boom needs to be raised up and on the pins. Belly pan and fuel tank has to be removed. You need to block the machine up 16" high to get the tank out. I need to replace the o rings in mine but can do that without removing the valve. You may pull the stems out of yours and see if they will loosen up. Take nuts off rear and slide them out. Make sure the exposed stem in front is very clean and smooth. Raise the arms first so you can pull the valve if they will not loosen up. A New Holland dealer can get you the parts. Mine had o rings in stock. The spools can not be purchased. If one is too tight you will need a new valve. This info is for a Cessna valve. I don't know if it will be the same for the Victor valve. Good luck. Ron

 

[bbill]

bbill, Yes it is a lot of work to remove the valve. the boom needs to be raised up and on the pins. Belly pan and fuel tank has to be removed. You need to block the machine up 16" high to get the tank out. I need to replace the o rings in mine but can do that without removing the valve. You may pull the stems out of yours and see if they will loosen up. Take nuts off rear and slide them out. Make sure the exposed stem in front is very clean and smooth. Raise the arms first so you can pull the valve if they will not loosen up. A New Holland dealer can get you the parts. Mine had o rings in stock. The spools can not be purchased. If one is too tight you will need a new valve. This info is for a Cessna valve. I don't know if it will be the same for the Victor valve. Good luck. Ron

Thanks for the response. If I to guess why the connecting rod feels "mushy" when moving it, I would say something (hopefully just a disintegrating o-ring) is impeding movement of the spool. I hope nothing in there is scored. The suggestion to raise the arms in case the valve needs to come out is a good one. I not sure I would have thought that far ahead. I'm glad you mentioned how far up the loader has to be in order to remove the tank. I could not find that scanning through previous posts. I'm sure it's there somewhere. I will most likely be back with more questions later. Thanks, Bill