Swing bearing play Hitachi ex200

[Huband1]

I am looking at a 1998ex200-5 with 11,400 hrs. I was lucky enough to call a service outfit to ask about an inspection and it turns out they did one on the machine 2 weeks ago. The report was e mailed to me with several issues present. The swing bearing play is noted as R - .060", Front 0.070", L .060" and 0.080". The mechanic noted this as "worn out". Does this spec out as totally pooched and needing immediate attention or would I get a bunch more hours out of it?
A note was made that the pump drive had "no oil" ..... I don't even know exactly what the pump drive does, but this can't be good.
The service manager took my number and said the mech will give me a ring, but I haven't heard back yet.
Can anyone help explain the findings please.
Regards,
Alan

 

[dozer12216]

If those are worn out figures, there are a lot of excavators in dangerous situations. My EX 270 probablly has that much movement. I hope it makes it through clearing 50 acres.

 

[Huband1]

I hope to be able to talk to the mech. that did the inspection, the machine is not new and I do not expect the machine to be in like new condition. I just don't want to purchase something and end up sad and sorry in a short amount of time! Anyone else know what the specs are for slew bearing on such a machine? This may well be a value that the rest of the world is happy to work within, but is not acceptable as a factory spec.
Alan

 

[7379df]

I agree with dozer.. I have an 1998 EX 300 with 13,000 plus hours. This has been a great machine so far. Mine seems very tight but im sure if you break out the calipers there would be some play. A note on the pump drive, When I bought machine I went through and fixed a few leaks and the pump drive seal was one of them. (where you stated was no oil) The pump drive is what turns the pumps. On the ex 300 there are 2 pumps and the drive is what rotates them via gears and a coupler. When I got in there I replaced the seal and to be safe the bearings. I bought seal for around $4.00 and the bearings I bought on Amazon for for 28.00 and 42.00 versus John Deere price at 110.00 and up each. They were exact brand that machine came with which were NTN Brand. Also if its like the ex 300 setup and has 2 pumps the main gear in the middle will most likely be very sloppy fit on the splined shaft. The cost of new gear and spline were ridiculous so I made a brass shim to stop the back and forth movement and this helped quite a bit. Also while your in there you need to replace the old coupler with a new one. I bought mine on ebay for 179.25 and worked great. One last note... I check the pump drive oil almost every time I start up. Hope this helps.

 

[Huband1]

Thanks for the reply 7379df, glad to hear the pump drive can be a relatively easy/cheap fix. I am trying to picture the engine/pump layout, are the gears for speed change from engine to pump or is it for direction change? Is the pump at 90 degrees to the engine? Any way, I hope to be able to talk to the mechanic to hear what his thoughts are on this machine as a not new machine. I am not planning on putting it into production, probably will need less than 500 hours to do the work I need it to.

 

[finaldrive]

 

[tctractors]

I have a swing bearing to change on a Hitachi EX 200 or 220-5 for a customer in a week or so away, I think the new bearing cost around £2800 to site plus a few coins for this monkey to stuff it home, the best way to check the bearing is "on the rock" by lifting the bucket off the ground about 6 ft and dropping it to around 3 ft from the ground, the rock you see then on the bearing will soon clear up this issue, the main dealers do have a set spec' on the lift of the bearing, I use the Volvo standard D.T.I. measurments if I am sent to inspect an excavator, but I always do the on the rock test before I get my D.T.I. gauge out, allow a day or a day and a half to swap out the bearing and clean out the grease path etc.
tctractors

 

[Huband1]

Hi tctractors, what do you mean by "a few coins" for install? I did manage to talk to the Wajax mechanic today and he said the bearing was pretty much at the upper end of the range for wear limits, I asked for a ballpark quote on replacement and the part was around $6000CDN and total cost to do the work around $20K.... that's a fair quantity of coins!!! Something else the mechanic mentioned about the machine was general wear in boom pins, but noted the boom cyl. rod end pin was worn and loose in the boom itself. What would the repair procedure be for that?
Huband1

 

[mitch504]

Finaldrive, your PM box is full.

Huband 1, unless you accidentally added a zero to the right of the decimal point, I don't think I'd be too worried about those numbers, unless you are looking for a high production machine. 14k for a day or two labor sounds pretty excessive. (unless they are going use enough mechanics to do the whole job with no lifting equipment at all )

 

[spitzair]

This is for a 200-2 but should give you a good idea of what you're looking for... I would imagine the specs would be fairly similar... The first page shows the specs, the second is the procedure to check it...

 

[finaldrive]

Fixed! Thanks

 

[Huband1]

Thanks spitzair, if those specs are appropriate for a -5 machine, 4mm = 0.157" and that would show the bearing as having some reasonable life left in it. I called another outfit on the island to get a ballpark quote for a slew bearing replacement, but I haven't heard back yet. By the way, I found a post on another site that you wrote about your electrical woes..... I am glad you have the problem solved and were able to write about it in such an entertaining way. I am trying to research the loose boom eye pin issue.
Huband1

 

[finaldrive]

If you need a new one we stock them.

 

[Shimmy1]

We ran an old 1080B Case about three years with about ½" slack in the bearing. We had a hose connected to one of the grease fitting ports up in the cab between the pedals. Greased it while spinning couple times a day. Something to think about anyway. It cost us $14,000 USD back in 2000 to have it changed.

 

[spitzair]

Thanks spitzair, if those specs are appropriate for a -5 machine, 4mm = 0.157" and that would show the bearing as having some reasonable life left in it. I called another outfit on the island to get a ballpark quote for a slew bearing replacement, but I haven't heard back yet. By the way, I found a post on another site that you wrote about your electrical woes..... I am glad you have the problem solved and were able to write about it in such an entertaining way. I am trying to research the loose boom eye pin issue.
Huband1

Thanks for the kind words, it was quite the process trying to get the electrical woes sorted out. In the end it was very well worth it as now I've got a great machine... I ran a Hitachi 150 at one time, it was just a straight 150, essentially a -1 I think, and it had a few little computery type things such as a slow travel mode that would actually throttle the engine down when you went to travel, but the pumps and valves where all the magic happens weren't computer controlled. It was a tough, reasonably reliable machine, just worn out, couldn't keep the tracks on the darn thing, but otherwise not a bad machine, which helped me decide to buy the 200-2. That and the fellow who sold it (the 200-2) to me was the most honest person I've ever dealt with in the heavy equipment world and didn't hide anything at all from me!

 

[cutting edge]

First, that machine is NOT worn out. A little loose,yes,but not worn.

Second,a new bearing is not 6 grand.....call around to the dealership with the deer in their logo,or tmar even. Labour should run 3 grand tops.

whadda they want for it?

 

[Huband1]

Thanks for the reply cutting edge, I am not unhappy to hear the bearing has some life left in it. I contacted a different parts supplier and was quoted $3,000 for a new bearing, much better! Another note made on the report is the machine is apparently a grey market machine. Is there some way of checking the serial number of the machine to verify if it is grey market? Some posters claim it not a big deal and others say to run away from anything grey market. Does anyone have any thoughts on the boom cylinder rod end pin being loose in the boom? If I can get the price down on the machine, it still may be suitable for my application. I am a pretty can-do kind of guy, and do have machining/welding skills if the repairs are possible.

 

[tctractors]

Wow,if you look in the Shop talk spot at my thread about popping off sprockets, you will see a few snaps of the bearing I fitted to a Hitachi ?? just a couple of weeks ago, as for the cost well the total bill for labour, traveling etc plus the fact I did it with another mechanic, it was his job but he did not know how to do it, so I had to do a bit of tuition on the task, I have done around 30 or 40 of these bearing swaps upto CAT 245 size plus I do have the pic's of most of them, oh back to the Total Bill £950 + 20% Tax, in the past I have done them for around £600 on 20 tonners, its not hard work all you need is 2 jacks, timber baulks, and the key to start the engine plus a brain to get things done, its easy Coins for me I dont know what CDN's are but a £1000 of our washers would get it swapped and I would tie party balloons on your boom, as I said the best way to test the roller ring is on the rock.
best of luck. tctractors

 

[cutting edge]

Another note made on the report is the machine is apparently a grey market machine. Is there some way of checking the serial number of the machine to verify if it is grey market? Some posters claim it not a big deal and others say to run away from anything grey market.

Speaking as one of the poor guys that has to try and find parts/fix these machines, DO NOT BUY A GREY MACHINE.