L553... I sure hope it's not the hydro's....

[hilljak]

First time poster, long time lurker.... I have owned my L553 it's whole pampered life. It only has 900 hours on it and has been maintained by the same shop that I purchased it from. With that said, the economy has me pinching penny's, so I must work on this myself... maybe... If I can get some help please... After searching this forum, I have found that I may have a pump issue. Works fine when I start it up, and after about 20 minutes of use, it starts to struggle on the hydro end. The motor starts to slave and wants to die while driving and using the bucket. There is a general loss of hydro power. I have to pause and let the engine come back up to rpm before I can slowly start to work it again or limp it back to the shop. I cleaned the suction screen yesterday. It had a massive amount of metal shavings on the magnet, I'm talking like over an inch of metal shavings hanging off of it... and a lot of sealant in the screen. Also cleaned and replaced the filters for the chain case breathers. Return and charge inlet filter will be replaced tomorrow with the fluid as well. After all this, and the problem still exists, is it a pump? Just sitting here contemplating my bleak outlook... and spending what could be a bunch on coin... I would be thankful for any thoughts or advice...

 

[Mike10]

I would first look at the fuel system. Generally when hyros fail it is not a lack of engine power but pulling power from the hydros because of internal leakage. It's possible a bearing could be going but not in both sides at the same time. What you are describing sounds like is a fuel supply problem. Change your fuel filters and air filters. When bleeding the fuel filters be sure a good stream of fuel is coming out the bleed screw when the key switch is on, if not the fuel pump may not be working or partially plugged. When you have the inline filter off remove the fuel cap and blow air back into the tank to push any obstruction out. Your fuel cap may not be venting which would allow the engine to work for some time before exhibiting the lack of power.
A hydro that is failing will not work for 20 minutes before acting up. If it is something mechanical I would look at the axles, drive chain and drive chain tightener in the chain case, but again it would not work for 20 minutes.

 

[hilljak]

I would first look at the fuel system. Generally when hyros fail it is not a lack of engine power but pulling power from the hydros because of internal leakage. It's possible a bearing could be going but not in both sides at the same time. What you are describing sounds like is a fuel supply problem. Change your fuel filters and air filters. When bleeding the fuel filters be sure a good stream of fuel is coming out the bleed screw when the key switch is on, if not the fuel pump may not be working or partially plugged. When you have the inline filter off remove the fuel cap and blow air back into the tank to push any obstruction out. Your fuel cap may not be venting which would allow the engine to work for some time before exhibiting the lack of power.
A hydro that is failing will not work for 20 minutes before acting up. If it is something mechanical I would look at the axles, drive chain and drive chain tightener in the chain case, but again it would not work for 20 minutes.

Thanks for the thoughts Mike, I will check to see if fuel is my problem. I was leaning to the hydro side because of my searches here. I have read that when the hydro fluid gets up to temp, that's when everything goes south. I will admit, in retrospect, it seems kinda weird that the motor would slave huh? I guess what you are trying to say is if the hydro pump was bad, it would just simply not provide power to the boom/bucket cylinders and wheel motors, not pull the engine's rpm down as if overloaded... This makes me happy

 

[Ivan]

Thanks for the thoughts Mike, I will check to see if fuel is my problem. I was leaning to the hydro side because of my searches here. I have read that when the hydro fluid gets up to temp, that's when everything goes south. I will admit, in retrospect, it seems kinda weird that the motor would slave huh? I guess what you are trying to say is if the hydro pump was bad, it would just simply not provide power to the boom/bucket cylinders and wheel motors, not pull the engine's rpm down as if overloaded... This makes me happy

I have the sqame machine and mine did the same thing. It was the fuel system. I had alge in the tank and it would suck a big long booger down to the filter. I changed the filter blew the line out added algecide and another in line filter. Fought with it for a few weeks and it finally straightened out. I would take the line off the bottom of your filter and turn key on to check the pump and see if the line is clear. Ivan

 

[hilljak]

I have the sqame machine and mine did the same thing. It was the fuel system. I had alge in the tank and it would suck a big long booger down to the filter. I changed the filter blew the line out added algecide and another in line filter. Fought with it for a few weeks and it finally straightened out. I would take the line off the bottom of your filter and turn key on to check the pump and see if the line is clear. Ivan

Changed the hydro filters and fluid. Cleaned the fuel filter, blew some air through the line back to the fuel tank. Found that my fuel pump was not in working order, so I replaced it. Also had some rust in the fuel cap, so I replaced that as well. Now she purrs like a little kitten again. I am very happy... I would like to thank you all for the good sound advice. And I tip my hat to those that keep this forum up and running and do the work, so shlubs like me can benefit from it. Thanks again.

 

[irwin]

Changed the hydro filters and fluid. Cleaned the fuel filter, blew some air through the line back to the fuel tank. Found that my fuel pump was not in working order, so I replaced it. Also had some rust in the fuel cap, so I replaced that as well. Now she purrs like a little kitten again. I am very happy... I would like to thank you all for the good sound advice. And I tip my hat to those that keep this forum up and running and do the work, so shlubs like me can benefit from it. Thanks again.

I'm a sucker for a happy ending..

Glad to hear it's all better.