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ASV SR80 funky loader behavior

Andy FitzGibbon

Active Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2024
Messages
30
Location
Elkins WV
My SR80's loader arms misbehave intermittently. Machine is fairly new to me. I don't have a lot of experience with pilot controls, though I understand how they work.

It lifts the arms fine, with plenty of power. If you push the stick forward to lower the arms, it lifts them a few inches instead, sounds like it hits a relief valve, then lowers them.

There was also once, picking up a large I beam, that it would lift, but not hold. That seems to have been a one-off as it's never happened again.

Tilt and curl work fine. The drive works fine too, although sometimes it seems slow to react. I've read here that was an issue with the SR80.

The loader joystick pistons are leaking some, which I will be fixing, but I'm not sure if that would be enough to cause the problem. The previous owner thought the main loader control valve was at fault, and gave me rebuild kits for it along with the machine. The main valve is not visibly leaking externally. I've got parts on the way to test hydraulic pressures.

The machine has some electrical gremlins that all seem like a bad ground to me... stuff will work, then quit, then work again. The ground connection under the cab is pretty scuzzy looking, but I haven't had time to take it apart and clean it yet.

Any advice is welcome! I haven't started tearing into anything yet because I need the machine to push snow, and it works well enough as is.

Andy
 

TVA

Senior Member
Joined
May 14, 2018
Messages
2,862
Location
USA
Not familiar with that machine, but if your boom cylinders have counterbalance valve blocks on them - I would look in to one or both of them bypassing.
CB valves adjust opposite from relief valves - the more you screw in, the less pressure they will hold. So someone could mess with them before.

Sounds like something bypassing to the other side on pressure spike or under heavy load.
 

Andy FitzGibbon

Active Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2024
Messages
30
Location
Elkins WV
Thanks for the reply. As far as I can tell, there are no counterbalance valves.

I neglected to mention that the load leveler doesn't work correctly when it's engaged... perhaps there's a connection there. Pilot hydraulics are new to me. Everything else I've owned or worked on has had direct controls.

Andy
 
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