LX665 drive chains, brakes and hydraulic woes... oh my!

[lx665owner]

Hello all new to the forum, new owner of an lx665. Bought it with 2500.9 hrs needing work from a local landscape supply place, didnt run because of oil pressure switch failure. Repaired the known issues, found several that weren't told to me and am trying to figure out how to proceed. Problem 1: drive chains, noisy left hand drive. Opened both chain case covers to discover an oil/water mix resembling chocolate milk. Noticed damage to the front left chain (see pics) and noticed with worn out tires the wheel play is approx 1/2" more then the 1/4" allowed per the manual. cleaned it all up and began to examine brakes that didn't work (problem 2). The manual I found said you can adjust by moving axle assembly, but online i read that they are non adjustable. Looking at the axle assembly the hole doesn't look wallowed out to move for adjustment. I felt behind the axle assembly and there doesnt look to be a way to adjust there either. Once they go, they need to be replaced? If so, would you replace all 4 chains while I am in there? I am a motorcycle guy, it is common to replace all sprockets and chain together. Is that the case with skid steers? The sprockets look good from what I can see, although i cant inspect the splines until removing them, but assuming that is good is it ok to just replace the chains? Problem 2: no parking brake: The parking break button does nothing when pushed in, if up pull it up it goes half way through range of motion but never locks/clicks like a car parking break. The brake disks (think car rotors, as opposed to the friction disk think car brake pad) could be moved 1/4" in out on the shaft. Parking brake is over adjusted (to 5.5" spring height instead of 6", so i have to adjust that still. I am hoping that adjusting the spring height will allow me to move the brake in a full range of motion. I took apart the brake assembly on the noisy side to see what I could find. What are minimum thicknesses for wear parts like friction disk, brake disk spacer and outer cover/cap? See pictures, they have scoring on them, some spots better, some spots worse. It is ~$559 to replace all of these on both sides according to online prices that is why I am asking rather than just replacing. Problem 3: Hydraulics. i haven't been able to test the hydraulics yet, one of the left boom cylinder hoses had a hole. Also 2 of the front tilt cylinder hoses are on their last leg, they had been replaced once before and routed improperly. After scouring the web for images, I came across a few decent ones to let me study the hydraulics. I believe they have the cylinders swapped, placing the hose ports on the top of the cylinder closest to the bucket. The pictures have additional comments, this is the second time typing this up and posting as the forum ate my homework the first time!!!! [Session timeout] Grrrrrr Please take a look at the photos if you are familiar with the machine and let me know if I am on the right track. Also if you have additional insight into the wear items I am considering replacing, please let me know. The information is scarce in the manual i found online. The manuals I have found online are $300... ouch Photos here: http://imgur.com/a/jGkfN manual here: http://sampledl.s3.amazonaws.com/New_Holland_L565_Lx565_Lx665_Repair_Manual.pdf

 

[lx665owner]

Just need someone to review potentially bad parts. Photos here: http://imgur.com/a/jGkfN

 

[deaop06]

Just need someone to review potentially bad parts. Photos here: http://imgur.com/a/jGkfN

Welcome to the fourm. Do a search for the manuals. I found they can be downloaded and are around 35 t0 50 dollars. You will need the parts, service and owners manuals. With those you can fix most anything. On the cylinders can you turn them 180 by taking the top pins out? The chain does not looked cracked but you can change one and not the others. I don't know your machine so can't help much. Good luck.

 

[Mike10]

The chains are adjusted by loosening the eight nuts which hold the axle assy to the chain case. The axle housing is slotted. Remove one of the nuts and washers from the top row and the bottom row. You can then use a big screwdriver or pry bar to wedge the axle assy away from the center drive to remove the slack......There is no need to replace the sprockets and probably do not need to replace the chains...........Adjusting the brake spring is not how you adjust the parking brake. Adjust the springs back to the factory settings. Since you know the length of the springs I assume you have a manual. The spring link is attached to the parking brake lever linkage at the top and an arm at the bottom. The arm has a 1/4" bolt holding the arm onto the brake pivot shaft. Once you have the brake assy back together and the spring links set at the proper length, remove the spring link from the parking brake linkage at the top. The book will tell you to remove the spring link from the arm at the bottom. I find it easier to remove the spring link at the top. Loosen the 1/4" bolt about a round. The arm can now be removed from the brake pivot shaft. It may need a slight pry but should come off fairly easily once you break it loose. Once the arm is off the shaft you will see the brake pivot shaft is splined. The brake pivot shaft has threads on the end you can not see. When you raise the parking brake handle the pivot shafts screws in towards the parking brake pad which applies pressure to the brake discs. Rotate the brake shaft to take up all the free play in the brake actuator and slide the arm back onto the shaft while holding the spring link up so it can still be installed in the parking brake linkage. Be sure the parking brake handle is all the way down. When I adjust the brakes I try to have the spring link top hook about 1/2" below the hole in the linkage, that way I know the brakes will not be adjusted to tight when I reattach the spring link to the parking brake linkage...... The cylinders are on upside down. The rear fittings should be tied together with a steel line instead of a hose. Whether you use a hose or the correct line the line and hoses go under the step bolted to the front of the boom.

 

[Mike10]

The chains are adjusted by loosening the eight nuts which hold the axle assy to the chain case. The axle housing is slotted. Remove one of the nuts and washers from the top row and the bottom row. You can then use a big screwdriver or pry bar to wedge the axle assy away from the center drive to remove the slack......There is no need to replace the sprockets and probably do not need to replace the chains...........Adjusting the brake spring is not how you adjust the parking brake. Adjust the springs back to the factory settings. Since you know the length of the springs I assume you have a manual. The spring link is attached to the parking brake lever linkage at the top and an arm at the bottom. The arm has a 1/4" bolt holding the arm onto the brake pivot shaft. Once you have the brake assy back together and the spring links set at the proper length, remove the spring link from the parking brake linkage at the top. The book will tell you to remove the spring link from the arm at the bottom. I find it easier to remove the spring link at the top. Loosen the 1/4" bolt about a round. The arm can now be removed from the brake pivot shaft. It may need a slight pry but should come off fairly easily once you break it loose. Once the arm is off the shaft you will see the brake pivot shaft is splined. The brake pivot shaft has threads on the end you can not see. When you raise the parking brake handle the pivot shafts screws in towards the parking brake pad which applies pressure to the brake discs. Rotate the brake shaft to take up all the free play in the brake actuator and slide the arm back onto the shaft while holding the spring link up so it can still be installed in the parking brake linkage. Be sure the parking brake handle is all the way down. When I adjust the brakes I try to have the spring link top hook about 1/2" below the hole in the linkage, that way I know the brakes will not be adjusted to tight when I reattach the spring link to the parking brake linkage...... The cylinders are on upside down. The rear fittings should be tied together with a steel line instead of a hose. Whether you use a hose or the correct line the line and hoses go under the step bolted to the front of the boom.

When you engage the parking brake, always pull the handle all the way up until it latches. Only pulling the lever until you feel pressure will cause the brake pads to wear and get out of adjustment quickly. While only pulling the lever until there is pressure will probably hold the loader from moving, on it's own it will be easily over-ridden by the hydrostat causing the brake pad to wear. The parking brake light on the dash is not attached to the parking brake lever so you can not depend on it to remind you the parking brake is engage partially.