Field Service
CSW Repair LLC.
Boise, ID
208.917.2872
Going to Sun Valley to fix cracked hydraulic hose
Last fall I wandered out to Hailey, Idaho to repair a cracked hydraulic suction hose on a JCB 510 Telehandler.
I had previously inspected this machine during a routine service and this was a follow up call to repair an issue I had found with the hydraulic system. The hoses in question were two suction hoses that ran from the machine’s hydraulic tank to the main hydraulic pump.
I drained the hydraulic oil into a garbage can lined with a clean garbage bag to keep the oil clean. I removed the cracked hoes and installed new ones. Since this job was far out of town, I brought a complete set of replacement hardware and installed that too.
I used a milwaukee transfer pump to pump the oil back into the machine’s hydraulic tank. Once filled, I fired the machine up and verified that it wasn’t leaking anymore. I then pressure washed the machine and cleaned it up for the customer. After the job, I headed back to Boise enjoying a delightful fall drive through the Wood River Valley.
Turbocharger failure on Sennebogen Material Handler
I headed out to Caldwell, Idaho, on a hot summer day to troubleshoot a Sennebogen 825D material handler with a customer complaint of “a blown up engine.” When I arrived I found a Cummins 6.7 with a massive oil leak and excessive blowby. The entire machine was coated in an oil mist.
I started the machine and noted that the engine smoked a lot while running, but otherwise it sounded good. My initial impression was that the engine itself was mechanically intact. So I started my troubleshooting process by ruling out an internal failure of the base engine. I plumbed in a pressure gauge to the engine oil filter base and checked the engine oil pressure.
The engine oil pressure was just fine. So, I removed the engine oil filter and cut it open to inspect what kind of debris was caught in the filter media.
Not bad for an engine with over 20,000hrs. Next I moved onto inspecting the turbocharger. I removed the turbo compressor outlet tube and low and behold, about a quart of oil came out.
Simple enough, the machine had a turbocharger failure. Next, I pressure washed the machine to remove all the oil and began further inspection. I wanted to determine the cause of the turbocharger failure. After removing all the engine covers and cleaning the machine, I found a hole in the intake manifold inlet tube.
Once all the replacement parts arrived I returned to the customer site and installed the new turbo, tubes, and the freshly cleaned air-to-air cooler.
Troubleshooting a Backhoe Electrical System
This winter I cruised up to Centerville, Idaho, coffee in hand, to troubleshoot a backhoe with a customer complaint of the transmission neutralizer switch not working
After confirming the customer complaint. I began by inspecting the switch, I swapped the neutralizer switch with the transmission kickdown switch and it made no change in the switch’s operation. I referenced the schematic and noted the parking brake switch also commands the neutralizer relay. Upon inspection, I noticed that the parking brake position switch was misaligned, which should cause a problem with the neutralizer circuit.
I bent the parking brake position switch back into shape but it also made no difference
Figuring it was something a little more complicated, I next looked at the fuse box. I noted the transmission neutralizer relay wasn’t getting a signal from the neutralizer switch. I manually overrode the relay but it made no difference. I inspected the wiring behind the display panel so see if there were any obvious issues. I unplugged the main cab wiring harness connector and noticed a terminal wasn’t fully plugged in. I looked up its wiring number, it was for the headlights…. so not our neutralizer issue. Still on the hunt.
I looked at the fuse box some more. I thought it was really odd that I could override the transmission neutralizer relay, but the machine would not shift into neutral. The transmission neutralizer relay wasn’t receiving any signal but also would not enable or disable the forward or reverse relays. I was very confused. I referenced the wiring diagram (below) and saw that the wiring to the forward and reverse relays goes through the transmission neutralizer relay. It all made zero sense.
It seemed to me if the neutralizer wiring or relay had failed then the machine shouldn’t move at all. I was confused, I figured the machine must have some type of bizarre short that was allowing the forward and reverse relays to still get power. I crawled down under the machine and gave the transmission wiring a look. I noticed a new valve body and some wiring repairs — my curiosity was peeked.
I investigated a little further and found a splice on the transmission neutralizer circuit.
The transmission neutralizer circuit had been bypassed and spliced directly to the forward and reverse circuit. The hardest issues to troubleshoot are human caused. The reason the transmission neutralizer didn't work was that someone had overridden it for some reason.
I called the customer and they then informed me that it had “broken” at some point years ago and that someone had “fixed” it. I contacted JCB and a few different online parts suppliers to source a new transmission wiring harness because the existing one was full of “repairs.” This machine was manufactured in 1999 and no wiring harness was available.
So this job ultimately had an uneventful end. Unable to find a replacement harness, the wiring diagram does not provide a connector pin out so I could not make a new harness. Though successfully diagnosed, I wasn’t able to perform a professional repair for this issue.