PT 425 - Lift/Tilt handle Not Working Right

Piedmont3 · Aug 29, 2006

I need some help.
I jumped on my PT last night to move some things out of my way in the shop. It started fine. I grabbed the mower deck and went to tilt it back to latch the quick change plate and it wouldn't tilt. I released the handle, then tried to raised it a little, wouldn't raise very easy. Then tilted it, tilted fine.
Set it down out of the way, went to get the forks, to move the rest of the stuff. wouldn't tilt, wouldn't raise, just barely lowered. I released the handle again. Tried again and it worked fine.
After I got done doing what I started to do, I went and looked at the under side of the handle, I couldn't see anything wrong. everything connected as I think it should be.
The handle seems to be loose in the hole that it comes up through.
I started the PT and held the handle tight in place with one hand and moved it with the other hand, and everything seemed to work fine.
So I think I just need to tighten it..., but I can't see any way to tighten it.
What am I missing?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

J_J · Aug 29, 2006

Jeff, The only thing you can tighten is the three gang valve to the body of the PT. The knob can also be tighten if it is loose. The handle has a roll pin through the shaft and the body of the assembly. Underneath that, there is wobble plate which connects two of the valves. There is a pin through each valve stem with a cotter pin. The machine doesn't have to be running to check things, While looking at the top of the valve itself, work the levers forward and back and left and right, to see is the correct action is being performed. How do I know this, I had to take my three gang valve out for testing, with no manual available. Although mine is a 1445, I think the lift and tilt circuit is the same, I am sure someone will let me know if it is not the same. Maybe it's a glich that happens occasionally.

One more addition, if your lift and tilt is on the same circuit as your steering, the steering has priority. When you are not steering, it passes the fluid to the lift and tilt circuit.

Marks481 · Aug 29, 2006

I had a similar problem. What JJ just described was the source of my peoblem... with the steering wheel cranked all the way to one side, the steering circuit got all the hydraulic oil, and the klift/tilt wouldn't work.

Piedmont3 · Aug 30, 2006

Thanks guys,
I had heard about the steering having the priority, and have seen that happen many times when trying to steer and lift at the same time.
This time it was different. I was sitting still in front of the different implements and just trying to lift or tilt. I will check the three gang valve to see if it may be loose on the front wall of the PT.
It may be this weekend before I get to look at it.
Thanks again for the help.
Jeff

J_J · Aug 30, 2006

Piedmont3 said:
Thanks guys,
I had heard about the steering having the priority, and have seen that happen many times when trying to steer and lift at the same time.
This time it was different. I was sitting still in front of the different implements and just trying to lift or tilt. I will check the three gang valve to see if it may be loose on the front wall of the PT.
It may be this weekend before I get to look at it.
Thanks again for the help.
Jeff

I forgot to ask if the hydraulic fluid level was correct.
Were you running low or high rpm's. Look in you hyd tank to see if you can see any air bubbles, or foaming

Piedmont3 · Aug 31, 2006

Hydro fluid level was good.

I didn't check the fluid to see if it was foaming or bubbling.

Are you thinking that maybe there is a problem with the pump itself or the joystick valve that may be causing the joystick to not work correctly and the fluid to foam or bubble?

J_J · Aug 31, 2006

Piedmont3 said:
Hydro fluid level was good.
I didn't check the fluid to see if it was foaming or bubbling.
Are you thinking that maybe there is a problem with the pump itself or the joystick valve that may be causing the joystick to not work correctly and the fluid to foam or bubble?

If there is foaming or air bubbles, that would mean that the pump is sucking air from somewhere. This will cause low performance or not work at all. A pressure gage is your best bet for diagnosing hydraulic problems. Just tee in the pressure where you want to test. I use quick disconnects in different circuit, and just plug in the gage for any test. On my 1445, I determined that the steering pump which also handles the lift and tilt, was only working at about half capacity. Nothing was leaking, so it must have been wear. My unit dates back to the early 90's.