MF 1525 FEL Will not lower

[JPL]

I bought the 1533 with FEL 1525 in March of this year. I had the dealer pick the tractor up in June because the FEL was jerking when raising and lowering it. They replaced the front half of the valve. That created other problems so they ordered a complete valve for it. It went back into the shop the first week of July. Yesterday I was using the FEL to clear out some debri from a small creek. When I was done I raised the FEL all the way up and now it is stuck in the upright position. I will be contacting the dealer again tomorrow about this but I thought maybe someone out there may be able to help me understand why this would happen. Thanks,
Jory

 

[JerryG]

Jory,
Check all of your quick disconnects. There will be one that isn't connected properly. They can look connected and not be.

 

[MadReferee]

I had the dealer pick the tractor up in June because the FEL was jerking when raising and lowering it. They replaced the front half of the valve. That created other problems so they ordered a complete valve for it. It went back into the shop the first week of July. Yesterday I was using the FEL to clear out some debri from a small creek. When I was done I raised the FEL all the way up and now it is stuck in the upright position. I will be contacting the dealer again tomorrow about this but I thought maybe someone out there may be able to help me understand why this would happen.

The jerking was caused by a sticky or non-functioning load check for the lift spool. A simple thing to fix as it's only a spring and poppet. Replacing the front half of the valve (whatever that is) makes no sense. Ordering a complete valve is the "swap it out" brute force method of fixing a problem when the mechanic has no clue as to the problem. As long as it is under warranty it's not really an issue for you to worry about.

As Jerry said, check the quick disconnects. If they are ok and you still can't lower the arms, then swap the lift work ports for the curl work ports on the loader valve. This will at least allow the loader arms to be lowered.

 

[JPL]

Thanks, Jerry and Mad,

I checked the quick disconnects last night and they all looked okay. After reading your replies I went out and rechecked the disconnects and sure enough the A hose was not properly seated. I could not get the quick disconnect to seat properly so I had to use a rubber mallet and piece of wood to get the hose to seat properly. Thanks again for your help.

Jory

 

[CDsdad]

I had close to the same thing, bucket wouldn't dump. Turned out to be trash in the female side of the quick connect keeping it from connecting. They DO look connected even when they're not. Happened after 1st time I unhooked my FEL and hooked back up. Glad you got it going.

 

[JPL]

I got it working and went to have lunch. When I came back I found the other disconnects were not properly seated. I'm now having a hard time to get them seated. Is there a trick to get them to seat properly. I assumed they were just like all quick disconnects.
Jory

 

[JerryG]

Sit your loader down. Turn the engine off. Move the joystick to relieve pressure in all directions and then they should connect easier.

 

[JPL]

Jerry,

I had tried all that and I still could not get lines properly seated. I finally removed all of the lines and tried to put them on in different sequences and I finally found the sequence where I could get the quick connects to seat.
Thanks for your help,
Jory

 

[CDsdad]

... put them on in different sequences and I finally found the sequence where I could get the quick connects to seat.
Thanks for your help,
Jory

I asked my dealer if there was a sequence when I had my trouble. He said no and offered to swap the connections. This was before I found the trash and remedied the problem. Your dealer may offer the same if you keep having trouble. I am assuming it's still under warranty. I was told it takes about 15 minutes to swap all four connections.

 

[MrSteve]

CDsdad... With your problem I am going to assume you have the factory installed joystick... If this is correct you are having a problem I had with "1" of my connectors. The problem was the medal lines were stopping the connector from going all the way to open and all way back to close. What I did was spay wd40 on all the back sides and in the slip collar of the connectors and worked them in and out "allot", then I found I had to take a piece of wood and push up and down on the lines to get a bit of movement in them. After all that work, my problems went away. Worth the time if that will work for you.