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Jd 540 hydraulic over heating

Started by henderson440, April 05, 2014, 09:20:22 AM

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henderson440

My father owns a couple of john Deere 540 skidders. One is an early 70's model. We've had issues with the hydraulic system overheating for a while now. There seems to be a hissing noise coming from somewhere in the dash. We've changed components, fluid, filters, screens, coolers, pump, with no luck. The hydraulic warms up even just sitting at an idle. Does anyone have any advice on these old John Deere hydraulic systems? Thank you

henderson440

We had issues with the steering valve a few years ago, replaced that with a good valve off a parts machine and since then it has seemed to overheat, could it be air bound?

thecfarm

henderson440,welcome to the forum. Hang in there,someone will see the title and help you out.
Check out this thread.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,13313.0.html
You will enjoy it.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

OntarioAl

Henderson440
My original reply to this post was lost ???? .
You have an internal hydraulic leak which is "by passing oil" creating lots of heat in the process.
I would hazard a guess that the exchanged steering valve may be the culprit.
Al
Al Raman

henderson440

Okay thanks, does anybody know where I could get a breakdown of the steering valve? I know they are over complicated but if I can see how they work I could diagnose where better with a heat gun.

deere540

Henderson440, if you don' have the technical manual, you can see the exploded view on the JDParts website.  It will show you the parts breakdown, but won't help you much on fixing it.  There are a bunch of o-rings, back up rings, and a procedure of precise adjustments that need to be made.  Oh, and you need a couple of special tools (guide plate and dial indicator) to adjust the valve before re-installing it in the machine. I rebuilt the steering valve on my 540 a couple of years ago, and I can tell you it is not much fun.  Not a job for a novice, but if you have the tools, tech manual, a clean place to work, and a lot of patience it can be done.  If you live near a tractor salvage yard the steering valve from a 3020 or 4020 should fit.  You would need to check the casting numbers to be sure.  Rebuilt ones are available for about $850 + core charge last time I checked. 

henderson440

does anyone have a flow diagram of this machines hydraulic? we replaced the steering valve with a good one off a parts machine and same thing. hissing sound down in the dash and goes away when the blade is lifted or down pressure applied.

henderson440

if i knew where the hydrualics went(what order the components recieved the oil) i could diagnose this better. thank you

snowstorm

buy a tech manual it will have everything you are asking about in it

Southside

I can tell you my 540 had a proportional / priority valve that provides priority hydraulic flow to the steering and brakes.  The blade ties into that as well and there is a bleed off line that runs from the bottom.  When it went bad I thought it was the steering valve as the machine would crab over on its own at times and loose blade or steering function once in a while, there was no rhyme or reason to it.  The internal portion of the valve gets worn and is spring loaded to return which causes it to stick in odd positions.  Sitting on the seat of mine that valve was on the right side, on the top of the components that are just under the hood.  It had 4 steel lines running to it if I remember correctly, and one plastic "spaghetti" type line that is the bleed off line that ran from the bottom.  If the hissing is coming from there I would suspect that is the problem.
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Green Man

I am new to this forum, but the heating was a long past problem for me also on a 540A. You described that the problem- noise went away when you raised and lowered the blade.
I had the same issue when I changed the selective control valve that operates the front blade.  When the original blew due to a cracked housing - I put a new one in that has 2 spools in order to add an additional circuit. This is a closed center system and has to have a closed center (no relief) valve installed in the valve. The hydraulic salesman said that I could just crank down the relief valve to accomplish the same thing. That did not work. I could hear a fast pulsating chatter noise and the return line coming from the control valve that runs to the bottom of the steering valve line was extremely hot.

Do not run the machine to the point of heating up the hydraulics too much as additional damage may result from who knows where. If this is where your problem lies you may have the wrong relief valve set up. I don't know if a cracked housing could bypass the closed center valve causing the same thing.

There is an old Star Trek episode where Spock's brain was put in a box with all kinds of hoses running to it. Making alterations on Spock's brain is not included in the tech manual. Good luck.

treeslayer2003

most after market valves can be converted to closed center with a solid plug.

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