I have a 1982 kubota L295 with a newer (2 yr old) generic FEL that has worked fine until recently. The bucket will curl up but when I release the stick it will curl back down fairly slow (10 sec). I have searched this forum and have tried what has been suggested for like problems-such as- readjusting the 3 point box blade and cycling the system to bleed any air. There did not seem to be any indications prior to the problem and the system had not been opened. All lines, filter and fluid level checked and fluid temp seems normal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
FEL Bucket Hyd problem?
- Thread starter jax65
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skipmarcy
Veteran Member
Do you mean the bucket will curl down with the joystick centered (in neutral) on it's own or do you mean it is slow when trying to curl it down with the joystick? It started this all of a sudden one day or has it been a progressing problem? Did you do some unusually heavy work right before the problem?
Soundguy
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Sounds like a bad spool to me..
Soundguy
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ruglad03835
Silver Member
When I read the first post on this thread I was thinking the same thing that Soundguy pointed out. Bad spool. He just beat me to the punch. Another thing to try is this. If you have quick connects switch the ones on the curl circuit for the ones on the up and down circuit. It the curl stays solid and the bucket lowers to the ground it's the valve and not the cylinders
skipmarcy
Veteran Member
Absolutely - this would be the first thing to do to localize the problem. A bad spool sounds likely, or possibly some foreign matter in there. Also, not having much experience inside a valve like that, maybe it has a seperate load check that's not actually part of the spool - i.e. a ball & spring check of sorts, would be relatively inexpensive repair if it was. In my FEL valve, the float detent has weakened and I hope to be able to go in there and stretch the spring out a little to get some tension back, or replace a worn ball. Many times in automotive work I've been able to repair a leaky ball/seat by using a brass drift and lightly tapping the ball into it's seat, occasionally having to replace the ball too, if grooved or pitted. Steel check balls aren't too hard to come by - I have hundreds saved from the carburetor and other work I did for years and have used many of them in different applications. Now if it's a scratched spool or bore, I would think there's not much option other than to replace the valve - I understand that most are custom honed at manufacture.
erosol
Silver Member
Check your hose couplings, they might have gotten jarrred on something and came loose. It happened to me once.
jinman
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</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Skipmarcy, the bucket curls down when the joystick is centered on its own. It started all of a sudden, no heavy work prior. All of the other functions of FEL and 3 point work fine. )</font>
If your FEL has quick-connects, here's how you can isolate the problem. 1. Put the FEL down with the bucket flat on the ground. 2. Disconnect the curl quick connects (both of them). 3. Raise the FEL 4. The bucket should sag a little and stay firm.
If the bucket continues to droop, then the internal seal is leaking on one of the cylinders. Because the cylinders are in parallel, only one cylinder needs to have a bad seal to cause this problem.
If the bucket stays firm after the initial slight sag, then the problem is in the control valve.
I had this happen to me on an old Ford loader and the mechanic told me that 90% of the time the cylinder seal was the problem. He said he had never seen a leaking control valve spool in the joystick. He was right. I had my cylinders rebuilt and the problem went away.
If your FEL has quick-connects, here's how you can isolate the problem. 1. Put the FEL down with the bucket flat on the ground. 2. Disconnect the curl quick connects (both of them). 3. Raise the FEL 4. The bucket should sag a little and stay firm.
If the bucket continues to droop, then the internal seal is leaking on one of the cylinders. Because the cylinders are in parallel, only one cylinder needs to have a bad seal to cause this problem.
If the bucket stays firm after the initial slight sag, then the problem is in the control valve.
I had this happen to me on an old Ford loader and the mechanic told me that 90% of the time the cylinder seal was the problem. He said he had never seen a leaking control valve spool in the joystick. He was right. I had my cylinders rebuilt and the problem went away.
With every ones help I was able to Isolate the problem down to a bucket cylinder (less than a year old) with both seals blown - no obvious cause. Thanks to all for your help --- Just confirms this forum is priceless for mechanically challenged folks like myself!!
