New Holland 555e front loader lift is weak

[Tireddude]

I have a 1997 New Holland 555e backhoe loader and the front end loader lift is weak. The bucket curls fine but it won't lift unless you rev up the engine and then it's still not strong.It barely lifts the bucket, and when you try try to raise the front wheels with the bucket it will lift slow and when you release the joystick the frontend will not hold. The problem seemed to occur when I was digging with the front loader in some hard clay. I pushed the switch on the joystick that alows the "extra push" when you want to increase the hydraulic power and it seems that's when the problem happened. I went looking for obvious signs of where the problem might be. Underneath the machine on the loader control valve is a magnetic detent that is electronically controlled. What I noticed is that the wires to this switch had at one time apparently been broken and had been "twisted" together to make a connection and the wires wrapped in black electrical tape. I took off the switch and resoldered them and reinstalled the switch but no improvement. Is it possible this switch could be causing the problem? What else should I look for?

 

[EddieWalker]

Do you have good hydraulic power to the backhoe? When was the last time you rebuilt your cylinders? From what you are saying, it sounds like the seals around the pistons in the cylinders are wore out. It's not a horrible project to do, but I found a place here in Tyler that does mine for around $100 each when I bring the cylinder there. If you go to New Holland for the rebuild kit, they make you buy a big bag of parts that you don't use for anywhere from $60 to $160. Sometimes they also make you buy a new piston because they no longer make the rebuild kit for that particular piston in that cylinder, which can be another $100. The rebuild shop gets just the exact part needed, and that's usually just a couple dollars in parts, the rest is their labor to do it. I found out about the rebuild shop from the parts guy at New Holland. They send their cylinders there too!!!

 

[Tireddude]

The backhoe is strong. The front loader lift was working fine until I activated the "extra push" switch on the joystick while in heavy clay soil. I just bought this tractor and it appears that the lift cylinders had been worked on it hem as their is discoloration on the cylinder tube like someone had heated the tubes. Is it possible that the magnetic detent located on the control valve be the problem as it appears that the wires on it were broken and reconnected by twisting them together? I resoldered the wires but it didn't help.

 

[deanocraft]

I'm just guessing here... If there is an electrical component to your system, have you checked the fuse?

 

[Tireddude]

Fuse is good. I did disconnect/unplug the magnetic detent switch and tried it but the loader didn't even try to lift. It's strange that this problem didn't occur until after I pressed the switch on the joystick. I wonder if the switch is wore out? I don't know if maybe the magnetic end to this switch is weak and not able to fully release for full hydraulic flow?

 

[Alesandro]

Sorry for all the questions;

Does it seem to have more bucket lifting force while its cold and less as it warms up? Are the bucket lift cylinders and bucket tilt cylinders come from the same hydraulic circuit? If so can you switch the hydraulic lines (your controls will switch function between lift and tilt) and see if the same problem persist with the bucket lift or does it go to the bucket tilt? Also, do you have a pressure gauge to tell what hydraulic force is being applied while you use your bucket lift?

I had the same issue with my lil tractor. It worked good before the hydraulic system warmed up. I did switch the hydraulic control line and I still had a weak bucket lift. It wasn't until I got a pressure gauge and could tell I wasn't getting the pressure needed for bucket lift but I was getting what I needed for bucket tilt. With this info other people on here were able to tell me it seemed like I was getting hydraulic bypass on my bucket lift cylinders. When I took my bucket lift cylinders apart I could easily tell I needed both cylinders re-packed. Now they work.

Good luck man.

 

[oldnslo]

The backhoe is strong. The front loader lift was working fine until I activated the "extra push" switch on the joystick while in heavy clay soil. I just bought this tractor and it appears that the lift cylinders had been worked on it hem as their is discoloration on the cylinder tube like someone had heated the tubes. Is it possible that the magnetic detent located on the control valve be the problem as it appears that the wires on it were broken and reconnected by twisting them together? I resoldered the wires but it didn't help.

If it was working fine until you activated the "extra push" function I would suspect something in the "extra push" option has failed. Do you have any manuals or a hydraulic schematic for this machine?

 

[Tireddude]

I ordered the shop, parts, electrical and hydraulics manuals. I should have mentioned I changed all the front loader hydraulic hoses at one time because one of them blew. After replacement the frontend loader worked fine for a couple of hours and when I presses the loader switch it seems that's when the trouble started. As mentioned earlier, the magnetic switch located on the control valve had been "rewired" by someone previously. Apparently the wires on the switch broke and were merely twisted together and wrapped with electrical tape. I ordered a new switch and will replace it.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a 1998 555e and I have never heard of, or knew about an "extra push" switch. Now I wonder if I have one, and if I should push it? Could it be that you increased the amount of hydraulic pressure to the cylinders when you did this and that you blew out your seals inside your cylinders? If not, I'll just keep watching and hoping you find it.

 

[Tireddude]

There's is a button on the handle of the joystick. The owners manual says it takes hydraulic pressure away from the transmission and redirects it to the loader hydraulics for more power. I think that's where this magnetic detent comes into play. I think my problem may be in the loader control valve. After removing the adjacent detent cap located next to the magnetic detent on the control valve the cap has a hard crust and the detent balls were rusted in their holes where their held in place. The cap that covers this part has a groove where it looks like these detent balls lock in place but that groove is encrusted. I'm going to clean this part and scrape the groove out with a metal pick. It appears that this crust maybe a combination of moisture, dirt and maybe hydraulic oil. Maybe I'll get lucky and that will be where the problem is. Keeping my fingers crossed.