i cant believe i am the only one having this problem c238

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justgettinby

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
8
a while back i posted my problem with my 2013 c238. i had 0 replies, i was hoping it was a common problem that i could fix myself, but i must have a weird one. everything works fine until i hook up anything that requires the thumbwheel, grapple, post hole auger,flail mower. they will work until i raise the loader up and then something cancels my thumb wheel operation. everything else keeps working fine except the thumb wheel. also as i raise the loader up the grapple opens on its own and then you lose the load. it drops concrete or whatever on the side of the dump truck. pretty embarrising .
 

brdgbldr

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Messages
1,165
I'm not familiar with your machine but here are some ideas.

Could be your auxiliary valve going bad. Some machines this will cause the auxiliary to shut off due to low pressure.

If this problem happens only when you are moving the loader at the same time you are lifting and using the auxiliaries, you could have a hydraulic pressure problem. I've had machines in the past that could not handle two operations at the same time due to warn pumps. The low pressure could be shutting off the auxiliaries.

Could be a bad sensor that is shutting down your auxiliary.

Could be an intermittent short. Some machines have wiring that run though the lift arms. These wires get bent back and forth, over and over, sometimes causing a short only when the arms are in the up position.

Keep in mind that I am not familiar with your machine. These are just some ideas.
 
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justgettinby

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Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
8
thank you for responding, i will check out the things you suggested. i forgot to mention that when the thumb wheel cancels out i have to push the operate button button and let the red light come on and then push the operate button again to get the light to shut off. then the thumb wheel will work again until the next cycle. it seems to do it only while lifting loader.. thank again brdgbldr.
 

mrbb

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
494
I also have no experience with your machine, but , have you tried asking your local dealer what they THINK it might be, as odds are they will have a LOT more experience with your amchcine and kn ow if its a common issue or , just ran acorss it before
most dealers I have worked with, are NOT against sharing info!, so, some times,a simple call to them , can net you a lot of help , over waiting for a reply on a forum!
as they do this for a living and well, most here are just average owners that try and help!

Plus , being a brand specific dealer, odds are again, they know there brand a lot better?
just food for thought, and trying to help!
I know a lot of folks FEAR dealerships, , when honestly its Not so bad to talk to them!
, now paying them for repairs, well that can be a different deal, HAHA!
 
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justgettinby

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
8
I also have no experience with your machine, but , have you tried asking your local dealer what they THINK it might be, as odds are they will have a LOT more experience with your amchcine and kn ow if its a common issue or , just ran acorss it before
most dealers I have worked with, are NOT against sharing info!, so, some times,a simple call to them , can net you a lot of help , over waiting for a reply on a forum!
as they do this for a living and well, most here are just average owners that try and help!

Plus , being a brand specific dealer, odds are again, they know there brand a lot better?
just food for thought, and trying to help!
I know a lot of folks FEAR dealerships, , when honestly its Not so bad to talk to them!
, now paying them for repairs, well that can be a different deal, HAHA!
yes sir i did call the dealer i bought the machine new from. by the way it only has 1000 hrs on it since 2013 when it was bought new. its never spent the night outside or been rained on. they keep reading stuff out of the book instead of trying to diagnose the problem. everything they are reading to me is operator error stuff like locking the thumbwheel into work position while just using the grapple. i told them the only time i lock it in is when using the flail mower. they still suggest changing the thumb wheel to one that dont lock. wouldnt that be fun to mow with? i guess i need to take your advice and call a different dealer. i am 64 years old and have ran heavy equipment since a very young age. my dad was a dirt contractor in the 60s and 70s. i cant hear very well on the phone cause im almost deaf but i can still read good and enjoy fixing things myself. thats why i am reaching on the net. thank you mrbb for responding. PS i took it over once because it wouldnt regenerate. they had it for 2 months and couldnt fix it. they sent it 3 hrs away to another dealership. another month and 3 thousand dollars i got it back.
 
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justgettinby

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
8
yes sir i did call the dealer i bought the machine new from. by the way it only has 1000 hrs on it since 2013 when it was bought new. its never spent the night outside or been rained on. they keep reading stuff out of the book instead of trying to diagnose the problem. everything they are reading to me is operator error stuff like locking the thumbwheel into work position while just using the grapple. i told them the only time i lock it in is when using the flail mower. they still suggest changing the thumb wheel to one that dont lock. wouldnt that be fun to mow with? i guess i need to take your advice and call a different dealer. i am 64 years old and have ran heavy equipment since a very young age. my dad was a dirt contractor in the 60s and 70s. i cant hear very well on the phone cause im almost deaf but i can still read good and enjoy fixing things myself. thats why i am reaching on the net. thank you mrbb for responding. PS i took it over once because it wouldnt regenerate. they had it for 2 months and couldnt fix it. they sent it 3 hrs away to another dealership. another month and 3 thousand dollars i got it back.
while i am on a rant, the 2 months the first dealership told me it should be done by the next thursday, i waited 3 thursdays and then i started calling to check on the progress. the front desk would transfer me to the service dept and it would ring about 10 times and then it would transfer back to the front desk. this went on for 2 weeks. finally one day i drove over there and walked in the back door at 3;30 pm. there was 2 mechanics sitting in recliners in the shop area playing on phones, 2 more mechanics standing at the door watching traffic go by, i asked one of them in the chair if the service manager was around and he said to look in his office, i walked into his office and he was sitting at his computer and the phone on his desk was ringing. he said can i help you and i said you can take that call if you need to and he said, "thats ok, what do you need ?" i thought no wonder i cant get the service dept to answer. so anyway mrbb, in my case paying them is a pleasure because that means my machine is fixed.
 

TooMuchTin

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2022
Messages
18
while i am on a rant, the 2 months the first dealership told me it should be done by the next thursday, i waited 3 thursdays and then i started calling to check on the progress. the front desk would transfer me to the service dept and it would ring about 10 times and then it would transfer back to the front desk. this went on for 2 weeks. finally one day i drove over there and walked in the back door at 3;30 pm. there was 2 mechanics sitting in recliners in the shop area playing on phones, 2 more mechanics standing at the door watching traffic go by, i asked one of them in the chair if the service manager was around and he said to look in his office, i walked into his office and he was sitting at his computer and the phone on his desk was ringing. he said can i help you and i said you can take that call if you need to and he said, "thats ok, what do you need ?" i thought no wonder i cant get the service dept to answer. so anyway mrbb, in my case paying them is a pleasure because that means my machine is fixed.
Almost word for word what happened to me when I brought my machine to the shop. Nobody gives a damn. As I say, "EVERYTHING HAS COVID". Parts have Covid, shipping has Covid, business has Covid. Actually, what we have is an excuse for everything. But hay, we have a whole army of video game players.
 

Voit

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2023
Messages
11
a while back i posted my problem with my 2013 c238. i had 0 replies, i was hoping it was a common problem that i could fix myself, but i must have a weird one. everything works fine until i hook up anything that requires the thumbwheel, grapple, post hole auger,flail mower. they will work until i raise the loader up and then something cancels my thumb wheel operation. everything else keeps working fine except the thumb wheel. also as i raise the loader up the grapple opens on its own and then you lose the load. it drops concrete or whatever on the side of the dump truck. pretty embarrising .
I'm assuming that this machine has EH controls. Does this machine have the self-leveling option? If so is this feature tuned on when the problem occurs? Self-level directs oil from the boom lift cyls. to the tilt cyls. If not this or it's turned off, maybe there is a miss wired or cross wired solenoid or switch? Early C238's were known to have occasional wiring issues. Since you loose the thumb wheel control I'd be looking at the wiring following a schematic. Looking at both the control side and the safety switch side of things. Even the seat and buckle switches can affect control operations.
 

mrbb

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
494
well, I can understand your pain with a dealer, I have known a few that also were terrible like what your's seems to be, some of them don;t care about the small guy or know there the only one in the area and as such, don;t care knowing folks need them more than they need you! sad but is what it is some times!

My suggestion would be as you already know,
stop using them, go else where,
there are many GREAT dealers out there, and like I said, a GOOD dealer that has GOOD workers, tends to want to help its customers, as they know doing so, gets them returning customers! which them makes them money!

I will add that however, COVID sure has changed how many things get done, and time frames on , what was once simple

I been waiting on parts now for simple things, for months now at some dealers, , and this is on some simple wear and tear parts too,
and its like that all over NOT defending any BAD dealer, just saying, some times, its out of there hands, supply chains and replacement parts are not what they used to be!

so some times, a LONG visit is out of a the hands of a dealer in the current world sadly!
BUt that said, again, try a different dealer, I would have to think someone maybe can recomend a CAT dealership they love here if asked maybe? ?

as for hearing over the phone??
My father (94 yrs old) is deaf in 1 ear and almost deaf in another, I got him an amplified speaker phone,(land line phone here, NOT mobile) its made a huge difference for him in how he can hear people on the phone now, just recommend if you do so also, buy a quality phone
as the first 1-2 I tried were cheaper and sound quality wasn't so great, I forget what model I got hi, but can look next visit if you like?
 
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J

justgettinby

Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
8
well, I can understand your pain with a dealer, I have known a few that also were terrible like what your's seems to be, some of them don;t care about the small guy or know there the only one in the area and as such, don;t care knowing folks need them more than they need you! sad but is what it is some times!

My suggestion would be as you already know,
stop using them, go else where,
there are many GREAT dealers out there, and like I said, a GOOD dealer that has GOOD workers, tends to want to help its customers, as they know doing so, gets them returning customers! which them makes them money!

I will add that however, COVID sure has changed how many things get done, and time frames on , what was once simple

I been waiting on parts now for simple things, for months now at some dealers, , and this is on some simple wear and tear parts too,
and its like that all over NOT defending any BAD dealer, just saying, some times, its out of there hands, supply chains and replacement parts are not what they used to be!

so some times, a LONG visit is out of a the hands of a dealer in the current world sadly!
BUt that said, again, try a different dealer, I would have to think someone maybe can recomend a CAT dealership they love here if asked maybe? ?

as for hearing over the phone??
My father (94 yrs old) is deaf in 1 ear and almost deaf in another, I got him an amplified speaker phone,(land line phone here, NOT mobile) its made a huge difference for him in how he can hear people on the phone now, just recommend if you do so also, buy a quality phone
as the first 1-2 I tried were cheaper and sound quality wasn't so great, I forget what model I got hi, but can look next visit if you like?
hello again, i did try the self leveling on and off making no difference, i didnt see anything obvious as far as wiring issues but tracing those are a nightmare. it does have the eh ez controls which i am scared to change settings on for fear of locking myself out, and then try to call the dealer. oh, the dealer just a half hr away, the next closest dealer is 3 hrs away and guess what, they are owned by the same family and use the same guy as service manager!!! i kid you not. i dont know if i mentioned this but a couple of times getting in and out with gloves or a heavy coat i accidentally rotated the thumb wheel into locked position with no attachments hooked up, bucket only. being almost deaf i never heard a noise like a relief valve or squeeling noise , eventually i looked down and seen it and unlocked it slowly and the noise was no different, is there something that kicks out in that circumstance? i wouldnt mind changing out a few parts just to see if i knew where to start. the loud phone sound like a pretty good deal. i ordered some tv ad hearing aids the other day and my ear canals are so narrow that even the smallest rubber cups they sent wouldnt fit, so all they did was squeel, i heard that plenty good. thank you guys for trying to help me, i am going to post an anti freeze question to test you guys some more!!!
 

mrbb

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
494
is there any larger equipment rental places near you?
if so, maybe try asking them, who repairs there equipment, as many of these are mobile techs and work on all sorts of brands and have knowledge of things, and maybe offer some insight on what to check or try?
as they never hurts to ask, if nothing else?/
two of the best techs I know I found this way, been friends ever since random reaching out to them too! so I know it some times works, not always but is something to consider maybe!
or again, maybe post where your located at and maybe someone here can recommend a good place to call or??
 

beale338

New member
Joined
May 1, 2023
Messages
4
hello again, i did try the self leveling on and off making no difference, i didnt see anything obvious as far as wiring issues but tracing those are a nightmare. it does have the eh ez controls which i am scared to change settings on for fear of locking myself out, and then try to call the dealer. oh, the dealer just a half hr away, the next closest dealer is 3 hrs away and guess what, they are owned by the same family and use the same guy as service manager!!! i kid you not. i dont know if i mentioned this but a couple of times getting in and out with gloves or a heavy coat i accidentally rotated the thumb wheel into locked position with no attachments hooked up, bucket only. being almost deaf i never heard a noise like a relief valve or squeeling noise , eventually i looked down and seen it and unlocked it slowly and the noise was no different, is there something that kicks out in that circumstance? i wouldnt mind changing out a few parts just to see if i knew where to start. the loud phone sound like a pretty good deal. i ordered some tv ad hearing aids the other day and my ear canals are so narrow that even the smallest rubber cups they sent wouldnt fit, so all they did was squeel, i heard that plenty good. thank you guys for trying to help me, i am going to post an anti freeze question to test you guys some more!!!
Did you figure out the problem?
My 2012 C238 is having the same issues.
 

neil

New member
Joined
May 7, 2023
Messages
2
On 328 we had the wheel acting up. 328 has a electronic box PWI I think it is called. That failed on ours. It is a single plug small black box. It was on right side of machine under cab hidden beneath some linkage. Not sure if yours has that or something different. I could have sworn our switch was bad but it wasn't switch
 
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