S160 Forward Drive Problem

[BobcatDilbert]

First of all, I want to say that this a great forum. I recently bought a 2007 S160 with 550 hours. I changed the oil/filter, hydro filters, fuel filter, air filters, and topped off the hydro fluid with Bobcat brand. I have since put about 12 hours on it moving dirt and everthing worked great. Suddenly the right forward drive went to a crawl. Left drive and right reverse work fine. Sporadically, the right forward drive would return to normal but then it would slow to a crawl again and bog down the engine. I have read where the case drive filters can get clogged and cause this problem. Does anyone have any ideas about how to fix this problem? Thanks for the help.

 

[Tazza]

I would start by checking the steering linkages. I assume it does not have hand controls?
Case drain filters wouldn't cause that issue, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to take them off and check them for metal particles.

 

[BobcatDilbert]

I would start by checking the steering linkages. I assume it does not have hand controls?
Case drain filters wouldn't cause that issue, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to take them off and check them for metal particles.

I checked the linkages they are tight. It does have the JCH controls. I tried it both ways last night just make sure and no difference. When I fired it up tonight it worked perfectly. Used it for about 30 minutes and had no problems. Could one of the pressure valves stuck causing that problem?

 

[BobcatDilbert]

I checked the linkages they are tight. It does have the JCH controls. I tried it both ways last night just make sure and no difference. When I fired it up tonight it worked perfectly. Used it for about 30 minutes and had no problems. Could one of the pressure valves stuck causing that problem?

Looks like I got my terms wrong. It has the ACS controls. Also, could air in the hydraulic line cause the problem since I just changed out the hydraulic filters and topped off the fluid? I appreciate any help or info you guys can give me.

 

[Tazza]

Looks like I got my terms wrong. It has the ACS controls. Also, could air in the hydraulic line cause the problem since I just changed out the hydraulic filters and topped off the fluid? I appreciate any help or info you guys can give me.

I would doubt its an air issue, its more possible its an issue with an actuator. Is it giving any codes?
Its weird it doesn't do it all the time though....

 

[BobcatDilbert]

I would doubt its an air issue, its more possible its an issue with an actuator. Is it giving any codes?
Its weird it doesn't do it all the time though....

It didn't throw any codes while it was doing it. Could it be a hot hydraulic fluid issue? The hydraulic lines get warm but not too hot to touch. I thought it would throw a code if the hydraulic temp got too high?

 

[Tazza]

It didn't throw any codes while it was doing it. Could it be a hot hydraulic fluid issue? The hydraulic lines get warm but not too hot to touch. I thought it would throw a code if the hydraulic temp got too high?

If you can hold the lines, its not too not. The weird thing is its only one direction on one side, i'd doubt that would have anything to do with temperature....

 

[Fishfiles]

the seat is bolted to a flat plate of steel , in the plate close to the edge there is a plastic plug , under that plug is an allen headed bolt , look under the plate ( with cab up , and secured and I'd bet you may find a problem with that mechanisim restricting travel ---send 6 pack Coors Light Bottles in dry ice container ------if that ain't it , look to the pintle arm for looseness ------------if that ain't it either , then it sounds expensive --------I have seen something like that where it was a bearing worn out on the axle and the chain was binding against the floor in one direction and not the other , also seen the brake wedge guide assemble fall off the under side of the chain case and get stuck under the sprocket , but it never went either way that time ------- the seals in the travel motor when they go out they will cause a no travel or a delay of engagement but have never seen the motor bog when that happens --------------------the case drains and cut open the hydraulic filter may have been my first step to see if something tore up inside the hyd system

 

[BobcatDilbert]

the seat is bolted to a flat plate of steel , in the plate close to the edge there is a plastic plug , under that plug is an allen headed bolt , look under the plate ( with cab up , and secured and I'd bet you may find a problem with that mechanisim restricting travel ---send 6 pack Coors Light Bottles in dry ice container ------if that ain't it , look to the pintle arm for looseness ------------if that ain't it either , then it sounds expensive --------I have seen something like that where it was a bearing worn out on the axle and the chain was binding against the floor in one direction and not the other , also seen the brake wedge guide assemble fall off the under side of the chain case and get stuck under the sprocket , but it never went either way that time ------- the seals in the travel motor when they go out they will cause a no travel or a delay of engagement but have never seen the motor bog when that happens --------------------the case drains and cut open the hydraulic filter may have been my first step to see if something tore up inside the hyd system

Thanks for the advice. I will check out your suggestions tonight. I used it for about 4 hours total this weekend and everything is working fine. Weird deal. I guess I'll just keep chugging away and keep an eye on everything.

 

[Fishfiles]

Thanks for the advice. I will check out your suggestions tonight. I used it for about 4 hours total this weekend and everything is working fine. Weird deal. I guess I'll just keep chugging away and keep an eye on everything.

It is very hard to see , work on or even visualize the allen headed screw and it's adjustment and purpose , not all machines have this gizmo , best way to see what happens is to stroke the steering lever with you head bent looking up under the steering console while the machine is blocked up off the ground and the cab and boom securely up , but you say it is ok now , sounds like the same thing I encounter once before on the same machine , the head of the bolt hits the bracket under there and locks it up in one direction only then it will be ok for awhile till you push or pull the lever a certain way and then it gets " throwed off " as I heard it said around here , you screw the bolt thru a plastic plug on side the seat

 

[BobcatDilbert]

It is very hard to see , work on or even visualize the allen headed screw and it's adjustment and purpose , not all machines have this gizmo , best way to see what happens is to stroke the steering lever with you head bent looking up under the steering console while the machine is blocked up off the ground and the cab and boom securely up , but you say it is ok now , sounds like the same thing I encounter once before on the same machine , the head of the bolt hits the bracket under there and locks it up in one direction only then it will be ok for awhile till you push or pull the lever a certain way and then it gets " throwed off " as I heard it said around here , you screw the bolt thru a plastic plug on side the seat

I checked out the machine tonight and there isn't an allen headed screw under the seat. I double checked the linkages and everything is good and tight and the machine still seems to work fine. Thanks for the help.

 

[Fishfiles]

I checked out the machine tonight and there isn't an allen headed screw under the seat. I double checked the linkages and everything is good and tight and the machine still seems to work fine. Thanks for the help.

Wow , at least this thread could help someone else that has that set up , I guess yours is different from the rest of the S 160 I seen , if it were there you can't even see the screw head from under the seat -----------you would find a plastic cap that could be pryed out of a 3/8 size hole on each side the seat , just big enough to get a allen in and it takes a long shank allen to get to it , like I said it is very hard to see ---------the purpose of this gizmo is to limit the amount of forward that could be applied ------------I do know that S160 had two different pintle arm set up that were used , the set up that has the allen head bolt is the same one that the pintle arm has a golden colored allen adjustment screw in it that sticks out towards you if standing in front of the machine with the cab up looking on top of the sunstrand