thetool
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2008
- Messages
- 516
For your information and/or entertainment, and welcoming any comments, a sample of what I do:
1. Receive call from customer stating intermittent ACS codes and controls lock-up, wants a service, and fix his A/C so he has good defrost for his winter project, leaving monday AM for a location in Wyoming 6 hours drive away.
2. Pick up parts from local dealer(mad props to Mark) and drive 50 miles to customer's yard.
3. Pull codes from machine and determine that it is most likely a bad lift actuator. Luckily, I can still raise and lock the boom. If not, I would tee into the fittings on the lift cylinder lines with my coupler-equipped pigtail hoses and raised the boom with the aux flow from the customer's on-site 435 excavator. Luckeeee. If anyone's interested in that procedure, I'll photograph and post that the next time I do it.
4. Raise the cab and install A/C maniold gauges. Jump the pressure switch and get the compressor spinning. Pressures are off on the low side. Normal but aggravating loss of refrigerant charge, methinks. Check for any obvious leaks and hook up evacuation unit with tank on scale and start evacuation.
5. Sart engine oil to draining.
6. Refrigerant recovery complete-no change on the scale. Disconnect recovery unit, connect vacuum pump and start pulling. Drops into a nice 23" vacuum. Let it pull while the engine is draining and I move on to the ACS problem.
7. Pull the steering panel to inspect ACS harness for any breaks or rubs. I do not want to replace that expensive actuator and overlook a simpler problem. The harness and plugs are best examined with the panel out and it's also best if I have to replace the actuator, keeping me from standing on my head or trying to reach it through the motor cover. Such a shortcut is the best way to make a mistake and bind it up when installing it.
8. Harness and plugs all check out, so replace the lift actuator. That's the bottom one, so I have to remove the tilt actuator first. Here's the new actuator, with a yellow decal stating that "This actuator needs Service Analyzer Version 63.0 or Higher".
You can still do it yourself, just drive by the dealer and have him hook up and update your software. He ought to do it for free in that case, IMO. My customer had V64.0, so it was plug and play.
9. Turn off vaccum pump and close all valves, vacuum-hold leak-test while reassembling the panel. Nice 23" of vacuum.
10. New actuator and steering panel re-installed, change engine oil filter, fuel and air filters. Bleed fuel system, add engine oil and start machine and run for a bit. Top off engine oil. Added some coolant to the marks on the reservoir. Checked the belts, battery, etc.
12. A/C system still holding vacuum, set tank on scale and plan to let in 2 lbs of virgin R134A. At about 1.5 lbs on the scale, I hear a hissing and gurgling from down by the compressor. Coolant leak from the compressor pressure hose crimp! Quickly set up and evacuate the refrigerant that I just let in, minus the small amount inadvertently vented to atmosphere. Call Mark and see if he has the hose in stock. No way, man! Call customer and tell him he won't be defrosting this winter, unless a local Wyoming boy can hook him up or he wants to reschedule transport until after tuesday. Pulling the hose and getting one built per sample is also a no-go. Too late in the day, and leaving the system open overnight calls for a new receiver-drier, also not in stock, and would have compounded a simple problem.
13. Close up the machine, do a manual ACS calibration, lower the boom, check hydraulic oil level, and give her a good greasing. Run around the yard a bit, a little on the rough side, trying to get that ACS to fault. Seems good.
14. Pack up, mosey over to the customer's 435, and give it a quick once-over. Seems okay.
15. Drive 45 miles back home, 2 hrs in point-of-the-mountain rush-hour traffic.
16. Invoice the customer for a labor bill of $394.24.
TGIF.......
1. Receive call from customer stating intermittent ACS codes and controls lock-up, wants a service, and fix his A/C so he has good defrost for his winter project, leaving monday AM for a location in Wyoming 6 hours drive away.
2. Pick up parts from local dealer(mad props to Mark) and drive 50 miles to customer's yard.
3. Pull codes from machine and determine that it is most likely a bad lift actuator. Luckily, I can still raise and lock the boom. If not, I would tee into the fittings on the lift cylinder lines with my coupler-equipped pigtail hoses and raised the boom with the aux flow from the customer's on-site 435 excavator. Luckeeee. If anyone's interested in that procedure, I'll photograph and post that the next time I do it.
4. Raise the cab and install A/C maniold gauges. Jump the pressure switch and get the compressor spinning. Pressures are off on the low side. Normal but aggravating loss of refrigerant charge, methinks. Check for any obvious leaks and hook up evacuation unit with tank on scale and start evacuation.
5. Sart engine oil to draining.
6. Refrigerant recovery complete-no change on the scale. Disconnect recovery unit, connect vacuum pump and start pulling. Drops into a nice 23" vacuum. Let it pull while the engine is draining and I move on to the ACS problem.
7. Pull the steering panel to inspect ACS harness for any breaks or rubs. I do not want to replace that expensive actuator and overlook a simpler problem. The harness and plugs are best examined with the panel out and it's also best if I have to replace the actuator, keeping me from standing on my head or trying to reach it through the motor cover. Such a shortcut is the best way to make a mistake and bind it up when installing it.
8. Harness and plugs all check out, so replace the lift actuator. That's the bottom one, so I have to remove the tilt actuator first. Here's the new actuator, with a yellow decal stating that "This actuator needs Service Analyzer Version 63.0 or Higher".
You can still do it yourself, just drive by the dealer and have him hook up and update your software. He ought to do it for free in that case, IMO. My customer had V64.0, so it was plug and play.
9. Turn off vaccum pump and close all valves, vacuum-hold leak-test while reassembling the panel. Nice 23" of vacuum.
10. New actuator and steering panel re-installed, change engine oil filter, fuel and air filters. Bleed fuel system, add engine oil and start machine and run for a bit. Top off engine oil. Added some coolant to the marks on the reservoir. Checked the belts, battery, etc.
12. A/C system still holding vacuum, set tank on scale and plan to let in 2 lbs of virgin R134A. At about 1.5 lbs on the scale, I hear a hissing and gurgling from down by the compressor. Coolant leak from the compressor pressure hose crimp! Quickly set up and evacuate the refrigerant that I just let in, minus the small amount inadvertently vented to atmosphere. Call Mark and see if he has the hose in stock. No way, man! Call customer and tell him he won't be defrosting this winter, unless a local Wyoming boy can hook him up or he wants to reschedule transport until after tuesday. Pulling the hose and getting one built per sample is also a no-go. Too late in the day, and leaving the system open overnight calls for a new receiver-drier, also not in stock, and would have compounded a simple problem.
13. Close up the machine, do a manual ACS calibration, lower the boom, check hydraulic oil level, and give her a good greasing. Run around the yard a bit, a little on the rough side, trying to get that ACS to fault. Seems good.
14. Pack up, mosey over to the customer's 435, and give it a quick once-over. Seems okay.
15. Drive 45 miles back home, 2 hrs in point-of-the-mountain rush-hour traffic.
16. Invoice the customer for a labor bill of $394.24.
TGIF.......