1998 John Deere 4300 with 420 Loader problems help!!

[gracianoh]

what should I look for when I check for the vale and aux??
and yes I did win this at the barnone auction. I have not contacted sierra tractor. thats a good idea.
hours were about 508 when I bought it, it did have a video of it from the auction and I did test it all out but wasn't sure on what to look for
when buying this being that im new to tractors. I mean all the functions on it worked fine when I tested it at the auction.
and can you show me exactly what your talking about when you talk about the FEL mount? not sure exactly how its suppose to look like. thanks

 

[sd455dan]

Update, I replaced hydraulic fluid, filter and cleaned the screen underneath which was covered in gunk. Also did an engine oil change and filter for peace of mine and replaced the seals on the cylinder. The dog gone thing still doesn稚 pick up a small dirt load. I知 confused. Any other things I can try?? It also drops about 3 a minute when the bucket is up high. View attachment 614678View attachment 614679

Is it the FEL bucket (Curl) dropping while sitting? - that would likely be a leaking (U) seal(s) in the curl cylinders. When the FEL control is centered the relief valve is not in circuit.
BUT- oil can bypass bad seals and fill in behind the piston as the rod extends

If it is the lift cylinders that are moving when parked, That sounds like the control valve is leaking, since even with bad U seals the rod (should) not compress into the cylinder because fluids do not compress.

3 inches a minute is a pretty good leak somewhere

 

[gracianoh]

Found the problem!
One of the lift cylinders was leaking internally. Seals were cracked and pinched. Bucket is able to lift up the tractor front wheels like nothing now and the bucket doesn’t leak down anymore.

 

[sd455dan]

Found the problem!
One of the lift cylinders was leaking internally. Seals were cracked and pinched. Bucket is able to lift up the tractor front wheels like nothing now and the bucket doesn’t leak down anymore.

interesting,

I see how bad seals would cause almost non existent lifting, but surprised it allowed the fel (boom) cylinders to drop over time


Glad it is fixed :thumbsup:
Always happy when it is just seals, about the least expensive FEL repair

 

[gracianoh]

Yep I was worried when going through the hassle of pulling off the cylinder because it showed no signs of outside leakage. But so glad as soon as I opens it up and seals were cracked. But yes very cheap fix!

 

[dfkrug]

and can you show me exactly what your talking about when you talk about the FEL mount? not sure exactly how its suppose to look like.

The front plate hinges downward when you mount/dismount the FEL. A retrofit latch came out in 2000 because they were coming loose at inappropriate times, apparently. Did yours come loose?

BTW, I am off to the BarNone auction tomorrow AM, to post something in the next auction.

 

[gracianoh]

It does have that hinge on my tractor. Does it not look right ?? and oh what are you going to auction off?

 

[pmsmechanic]

It does have that hinge on my tractor. Does it not look right ?? and oh what are you going to auction off?
View attachment 614916

Out of the first four pictures you posted there is a closeup of this assembly in the third picture. The safety that John Deere provided is not readily visible and if you look closely at the left side of the picture the hinge that holds the loader onto the tractor looks like it's about to slip off. Obviously with the safety on it can't but I missed that when I first looked at the picture. In the above picture everything looks fine.

 

[dfkrug]

It does have that hinge on my tractor. Does it not look right ?? and oh what are you going to auction off?

It looks OK in the photo. Your earlier one did not look quite like that.

The bandaid "latch" is not necessary if you put a bolt or 2 thru the holes. I think the idea was to avoid wrenches when you mount/dismount the FEL.

Up for auction will be a Chinese 1-ton mini-X with Briggs & Stratton engine.

 

[gracianoh]

update: I replaced the right side lift hydraulic ram "all seals were cracked or pinched" and everything seemed to function properly. It now picks up the bucket with actual load in it with no problem. it was all fine for a day and than I started noticing the bucket still bleeds off with a load on it. its pretty noticeable, so im going to replace the other side hydraulic lift ram and see if the seals are bad in it. anyone have the diagram of how to get valve and aux under the seat? what to inspect?