problem with FEL spool valve on L3010

masalser · Feb 13, 2012

I'm having a problem with the FEL on our L3010HST. The arm up/down spool valve has gotten less and less smooth to operate over the last 6 months and yesterday when the down action was pushed all the way forward the spool valve seemed to get jammed in that position. I was finally able to get it back out by rotating slightly back and forth on the spool valve while pulling up on it. I noticed that when I got it back out the valve seemed to work fine, but the spool wouldn't go into the float position. Then, after playing with it for a while it did go back down to the float but got stuck down there again. The same rotating motion was able to get the spool back up.

I assume this means that the detent that holds the spool in the float position has just gotten worn out. Does anyone have any advice on this? Also, my repair manual doesn't include any information on the FEL, so I don't have any kind of an exploded parts diagram for the spool valve controlling the FEL. Can anyone scan a diagram fro me? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

masalser · Feb 13, 2012

FYI the loader is an LA481, and I looked around on a google search and saw that some others have had a similar problem with their float position, but there wasn't much info on the fix and I couldn't find any parts diagram.

kevincook · Feb 13, 2012

I had a similar problem with mine several years ago. It ended up being rust/dirt in the detent. The mechanic opened the valve up and cleaned it up. It worked as good as new. My valve is actually getting sticky again so I'll have to get it cleaned again.

Kevin

Bl8tant · Feb 14, 2012

Very easy fix. It's most likely the detent that's hanging up. Just remove the end cap on the spool....clean, grease the heck out of everything and put the cap back on. When I first got my new-to-me L3830, the valve would not go into "float". Did the above procedure and good as new. That was 2 years ago.

masalser · Feb 16, 2012

Thanks for the advice guys. I will let you know how it works out when I take it apart.

masalser · Feb 23, 2012

You guys were spot on - I took apart the float detent and it was filled with a paste that basically looked like mud. I had bought the float detent parts group so that I would have parts on hand if anything was broken, and so I ended up replacing the float detent parts, greasing them, and closing it back up. Now it works perfectly. Thanks for the help. Also, if I hadn't had the parts it would have been pretty simple and fast to take it apart and clean the old parts.

I would say it is about a three hour job from start to finish to disconnect all the hydraulic hoses, disassemble the float detent, clean it, and then reassemble and put it back on the machine. You could probably even do it without disconnecting the hydraulic hoses by just unbolting the valve and moving it up so that you could get to the detent, but I was worried about losing ball bearings if I did it that way. If I ever have to clean it again I will probably do it that way. Done that way you would save yourself at least 45 minutes.