Loader FEL issues

[Kioti Lee]

Things have progressed badly for my FEL on my DS4110.. At first the float would only randomly work ( do not use much so not a big issue). Now it is very slow in raising and does so in a jerky motion instead of smoothly..Also does not always have strength on down motion.. I.E. will not lift tractor. The roll seem fine.( Backhoe seems to work just fine, perhaps a little jerky.hard to tell I am a new operator ) The fluid appeared to have many small bubble in it that I had not noticed before when checking. Any ideas as to what problem maybe.. It is a long haul to dealer and would like to avoid the downtime as weather will be changin soon. Thanks and happy tractorin

 

[VictorW]

When you first mentioned the fel, I thought you might have one of the QDs only partially connected. Your bh should be smooth in it's movements if you're holding the control lever steady at whatever position in it's travel. But with all the air bubbles in the fluid, it sounds like you have a leak on a suction side hydraulic line, sucking in air and this air and fluid mixture is going through the pump. I'd start checking all the line/hose connections, especially under the tractor. If you had it through the woods, maybe something kicked up and hit a line. It's seems to be on the suction side so no fluid should leak while running but it may be wet from when the tractor is parked.

 

[Kioti Lee]

Thanks..I did look for leaks with tractor running and did not see any.. however after reading your post.. I looked after tractor sitting off and noticed some drips that appear to be coming from the fitting right in front of filter, and we were playing in the woods today. Could this be my trouble area, very small drops

 

[k0ua]

I know on the Kubota L3400 the suction hose is notorious for cracking and leaking air in. The symptoms are just what you described. I don't think the leak has to be very large on the suction side to let a lot of air in. I would investigate, if a little fluid can get out when shut off. a Lot of air can get in when operating.

James K0UA

 

[VictorW]

K0ua hit the mark. Air can pass through a hole, crack, or lose connection much faster than oil not under pressure. I'm not sure how that filter and mount is positioned on your tractor, but members that have the CK series hst tractors have a hydro filter that hangs down from it's mounting. Some have had things hit the filter and crack the mount. I know I have to be careful when installing/removing my bh because the subframe can hit it. The wet/dripping fitting by the filter is definately a place to start.

 

[Alien]

I have bent the hydraulic steel pipes up the front of the FEL on mine and this slows them down. Had to replace them because they are real hard and thick walled. No hope of straightening them. Brush work is hard on them.

 

[Kioti Lee]

It is leaking from the fitting that connects the large tube from the front to the fitting that the filter screws into.. I do not see how to tighten or undo the connection does not appear to be threaded. I believe it was bumped by a small log as I was backing up from brush pile.

 

[Alien]

From memory, it has O Rings in there
I smashed mine off a while back and had to repair it lying in the mud.

 

[kiotiken]

From memory, it has O Rings in there
I smashed mine off a while back and had to repair it lying in the mud.

Man, you're hard on tractors!

 

[VictorW]

Is this a picture of what you're looking at? OEM Parts
The end of the steel tube going into the filter housing has an o-ring but no mounting/securing device. The other end does have a flange with bolts. Maybe it's just lightly pressed in being that it's on the suction side and the stiffness of the steel tube holds it there. If you did hit the tube with something, maybe it's bent and not in align with the hole in the filter mount. If you call the people from the web page I listed, they're very helpful and will point you in the right direction. Ask for parts and you will probably talk to Robert.

 

[Alien]

Man, you're hard on tractors!

LOL. Tough country here. I am glad I didn't buy less of a tractor.

 

[Kioti Lee]

Thanks for the input.. things have "changed" a bit.. unbolted joint where leak was coming from and pushed it back straight into the o ring.. could feel it pop backin .. ran tractor for awhile moved bucket up/down was smooth.. turned off and let sit over some cardboard..returned half hour later,no leak :thumbsup:.. started tractor and went to test...up motion was very slow unless reving motor, would not keep going up when handle was all the way down(used keep going up even if not held down).. scooped up load of sand struggled to lift it, seemed to do better as I played with joystick.. but the more I used it the worse it got..now will not come up at all .. joystick seems to have a LOT of play in it. float still doesnt work...fluid level good, some air bubbles but way less than before.. do I need to bleed the air out or what to do next..I promise to watch more carefully for stumps

 

[Kioti Lee]

Once again my optimism and lack of patience have got the better of me. It still leaks, only harder to see, runs down different pipe before dripping. It is very close to lining up perfectily but am unsure of proper procedure to install o ring and line up all pieces. It is very similiar to the setup that VictorW directed me to expect for the flange connection is not on it and the tube with the O ring is secured to filter assembly with a bolt on the side

 

[VictorW]

I've never had that particular type of connection apart on mine to physically see what is there to be able to give you an idea of how to install the o-ring. Sometimes, I've seen with similar connections on other vehicles, there may be a small groove in the filter housing for the o-ring to fit into and other times, there is a raised ridge on the tube where the o-ring goes on up to the ridge and then the tube is pushed into the mating hole. It sounds like you still have a small leak causing the lessor amount of air bubbles in the oil which needs to be fixed. With no more leaks and when the tractor sits off, say overnight, the air should work it's way out of the oil in the sump area. You'll still have air in the oil, from the previous bubbled oil, in the lines and cylinders. It has no where to go until that oil gets to the sump area. With the leak fixed, start the tractor and if you run all the controls/fuctions full travel several times with no load/weight, that bubbled oil should work it's way to the sump where the air can escape. Not sure what happened to the joystick. Do you mean that the joystick moves easily before feeling tension that it's working the valves or do you have to move the joystick a lot before the loader moves? I assume the loader worked fine before, except for float, prior to the leaking line. I would think your joystick and valve block are OK. The leak needs to be fixed first, the get the air out of the oil, then hope the hydraulic pump is still OK. Hydraulic pumps don't like air but it doesn't seem like you ran it that long after the problem occurred.

 

[Kioti Lee]

Thanks for the input.. the joystick move freely without anything happening.. did notice before that it would not do two funtions at same time i.e. roll and go up .. but I rarely try to use that.. believe leak is stopped, set o ring in and compressed fitting back on abd bolted into place. bucket will come up once and then not again.. down and roll and 3 point all work fine.. no bubbles in fluid.

 

[VictorW]

Good that you have no bubbles in the hydro fliud. Hopefully the leak is fixed. Bucket going down is by it's own weight unless you're able to lift the front of the tractor off the ground with the fel. Empty bucket roll and empty 3pt arms doesn't take much hydro pressure to make them move. Being that you apparently had something hit the underside dislodging that line, check the line fittings on the valve block for the fel which should be under the right floorboard and while there, check the cables that come from the joystick to the valves in the valve block. They may also have suffered from the same object. If your lines have QDs, completely disconnect them and reconnect so you know they are together correctly. You can adjust the fel cables if you need to.