Is anyone else having lots of problems with an 1850?

[Bob999]

None of these issues take long to repair -- the seals problem we've just been talking about probably took a total of about 15-20 minutes of actual repair time.

But it took several days to diagnose (the symptom was "oil leaking", which had to get narrowed down to "oil leaking from gizmo on side of engine compartment" which then had to get narrowed down to "oil leaking from the end with the spring" during conversations with Terry -- each iteration required lots of cleaning of the engine compartment to get rid of the oil that was already there).

Then it took a few days for the seals kit to get here via UPS from PT.

Then it took a trip over to Big Bruce at the implement dealer where his monstro power hands got one of the O-rings on a piston.

If you took this problem to a good implement/hydraulic shop I imagine they would have charged you, I dunno, a couple-three hours? Plus the hassle of hauling it over and back.

On the bright side, I don't think of myself as terribly handy either. But this kind of thing I've learned I can handle myself -- partly relying on Terry over at PT for instructions (he's great at that) and partly relying on this gang for ideas. I'd have spent a lot of money on my 1850 if I'd had a shop do all the work I've had to do on it. So unless you just simply hate that kind of thing, I'd suggest learning how to do the routine service stuff yourself.

I am now wondering if you and altavista experienced the same failure. My recollection of the failure you posted about--brought back today when you said you had to take it to someone to get the o-ring installed--was that your failure was in the hydraulic accumulator.

My understanding of the altavista failures (4 I think) is that they were in the draft control assembly.

 

[BobRip]

How many people out there have an 1850?
How many people with 1850s have had hydraulic failures?
How many people with 1805s have had alternator failures?

Let's try to get some numbers on this.

 

[MikeOConnor]

I've got an 1850 -- hydraulic failures "yes", alternator failures "no", hours - 140

 

[AltavistaLawn]

There must be something else wrong with it this time. After 30 minutes it started pouring fluid, again. I took the "pressure regulating" box loose and watched it.. I never could see any fluid coming from it, spent about an hour looking...never did find the leak. In th emean time the pressure is running too high, so I adjusted it as low as I could by the two nuts on the plunger, but that didn't help.

To get the last job finished, we put an expandable freeze plug in the access hole to keep it from killing grass on the customers lawn. We're shut down now for all of next week, so we're going to tear it down. We might have to pull the engine to get access to the mess of hoses at the front of th eengine compartment.

I called the local Bobcat dealer, they said they would let me trade it in for a Bobcat all wheel steer; but I'll probably loose too much money to do it.

I'm really stuck in a bad place with this machine.

 

[Gravy]

AV,

From what I can tell, PT's are generally quite reliable, even if only because they are so simple that there aren't many parts to fail. You shouldn't be having so many problems. I get the feeling we're all missing something here. I worked on cars for over 20 years, and every now and then there would be one with seemingly inexplicable troubles. Usually it turned out that there was some simple failure behind it all that was so basic that nobody thought to check it.

The overheating problem seems to be a design issue. I see two choices: Find a way to keep the chaff out of the oil cooler; or add more oil cooling capacity. I do not agree with the claims that an additional oil cooler won't work. A cooler that is designed for both the pressure and flow will not cause a problem. Anybody who makes blanket statements that you can't add a cooler simply doesn't know what they are talking about. Adding a larger oil cooler is exactly like putting a bigger radiator in your pickup. If it can handle the pressure without restricting the flow, it will cool more. It's not black magic. If you can find out the maximum pressure and flow rate for the lubricating system, there's a cooler that will work. A little web surfing should find plenty of heat exchanger manufacturers and distributors (Like maybe Rapid Cool) that will be delighted to tell you what model should work.

The hydraulic fluid leak history makes me suspect something like a blocked return circuit. Big leaks often happen because of pressure spikes. If the fluid can't get back to the tank, something has got to give. If something blocks the return flow for a fraction of a second, that incompressible hydraulic oil will find a weak spot to blow out. Finding that may be time consuming, but a pressure gauge and methodical persistence should find it.

Another thought occurs to me - you might have something like a pinhole in a hose that only leaks significantly when the pressures are maxxed out, such as when the steering is at full lock, or when trying to climb a really steep grade. You could clean everything, and then simulate those conditions while looking for a leak. Be very careful - high pressure hydraulic oil can really hurt you.

Good luck.

Gravy

 

[J_J]

This is some advise that I offered earlier, but is very effective in finding hydraulic leaks. Go to NAPA, and ask for some leak detecting fluid for oil. Clean the whole machine/engine with detergents and a pressure washer. Run the machine. When you notice a leak, get a black light , and shine over every thing. You should see a greenish/yellow glow at the leak. It is usually 100% effective.

 

[MossRoad]

This is some advise that I offered earlier, but is very effective in finding hydraulic leaks. Go to NAPA, and ask for some leak detecting fluid for oil. Clean the whole machine/engine with detergents and a pressure washer. Run the machine. When you notice a leak, get a black light , and shine over every thing. You should see a greenish/yellow glow at the leak. It is usually 100% effective.

I've heard nothing but good comments regarding those leak detector kits.

 

[AltavistaLawn]

Gravy,
I think you're exactly right.

JJ,
Yes, I failed to post it, but I am going to add dye to the hydraulic oil, after we get it cleaned out.

Looks like a very nice day today (temps near 70) to go get dirty.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

AV,

I do not agree with the claims that an additional oil cooler won't work. A cooler that is designed for both the pressure and flow will not cause a problem. Anybody who makes blanket statements that you can't add a cooler simply doesn't know what they are talking about.
Gravy

I don't remember anyone making a blanket statement that a supplemental oil cooler won't work. I've considered it pretty carefully, however, and I don't think it's a practical solution. First, plumbing it into the system would take some careful thought. Maybe an adapter at the filter would work, but it would be important to know the flow rate there. More difficult would be location of the cooler so it got adequate air flow - and didn't itself clog with chaff.
So far for me, it is clear that the system has adequate cooling when the air is clean, so that's the focus. Sedgewood's filter has been a pretty simple and effective cure, as has mine, so please modify the statement to: "a supplemental oil cooler may work, but probably isn't the easiest or best choice."
AV Lawn: any more intelligence on the charging issue? I hope it turned out to be a bad connection. I don't have any suggestions on the hydraulics. I've not had your problem.
Best of luck, and have a good holiday.

 

[AltavistaLawn]

Thanks Charley.

Gravy was prob. commenting on my post where I posted I was told by the Duetz guys here (in Roanoke) that an aux. cooler wouldn't work, 'cause of oil pressure. (??)

I was told by them the correct brush kit will be shipped out by Deutz the first week of january, so the charging isn't fixed yet either.

After two hours of pressure washing today, I see yet another design flaw. I do not understand why PT didn't make the belly pan removable (like most equip., bull dozers, etc.) for cleaning and access.

Its going to be warm tomorrow too, so I'll work on it some then also.

Thanks for the posts, and hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.