Case 580K fanbelt change

[troyharnish]

I apologize in advance for my lack of mechanical know-how, but I am just trying to do as much maintenance as I can on my own... and todays task was to be a fanbelt change, which I thought would be a breeze...

Opened the hood, lifted the tension pulley off to take the pressure off the belt, and managed to get the belt off the fan, alternator, and idler pulley (?correct terminology?), but can not get it off the lower pulley. I thought there would be room to just slide it off the front face of the pulley, that is not the case. Does one need to disassemble the front of the machine to change a simple belt?

 

[mitch504]

The hydraulic pump driveshaft runs off the center of the lower pulley, it has to be removed.

 

[gggraham]

Put the belt back on all the pulleys first. I believe it's a 5/8" wrench you need to remove the bolts from the pump coupler. Once the belt is back on use the fan to rotate the engine, you can only turn the fan one direction if you turn it the wrong way the belt will slip and will not turn coupler. Get the bolt so it's at the top because there is a slight indent in the engine harp to allow removal of bolt. Keep turning engine over until all 4 bolts are removed. Now use a pry bar....sometimes having two guys one on each side of the engine helps and pry the coupler back. Don't go back too far remember the belt is very slim and can slide through a narrow opening. Once you have the coupler back don't drive yourself crazy just cut old belt off. Start the new belt over the fan first. Let it hang loose once it is and push it between the coupler and the engine pulley. Once thats done put belt on all pulleys. Pry coupler back and line it up at the top. Start the first bolt but DO NOT tighten all the way. Rotate fan untill all bolts are started the tighten them one at a time. Sorry the Case portal was down so no pictures.

 

[Farmereinar]

ive done it before too, just get all bolts out of the pump coupler and you can slide the belt in sideways down through there after you get it separated a little

check your idler or your new belt wont last long, mine would grind down slowly because my idler was on its way out and slanting badly causing the belt to ride into the side of one of the pulleys

 

[amyliveshere]

had a dealer put a new belt on my 590sle 2 years ago.got old belt of but had to remove front of machine including rads to get it back together.cost a fortune
nick.................

 

[nova481]

I read somewhere that some mechanics hang a spare or two somewhere out of the way so you don't have to go through that again

Ron

 

[El Hombre]

Why not use one of those link belts? They make them for use on 3hp+ table saws, I don't think there's 3hp of load on a backhoe belt. You'd only be out $25, instead of hours spent working around an obvious servicing screwup.

 

[motrack]

I have installed many of those belts. I can do it in a hour easily. remove the 4 coupler bolts and slide the belt on the bottom pulley. Like someone else said make sure you tension idler in ok.

 

[Ando]

Not a hard job once you get into it. I removed my cooling fan and radiator shroud to make it easier and it still only took an hour and a half or so.
Link belts are out, it's not a vee and there is nowhere to store a second belt in-situ. I do a bit of generator work and see spare belts on engines.....they're usually too old and brittle to use.

 

[Mountainlion]

I took my fanbelt off my Case 580B and got a couple tips. If your fanbelt is loose you can't easily keep the engine form turning. I took an old file and stuck the tang between the pulley and the hydraulic hub to break loose the bolts. About half a trun and the bolts came out with my fingers. The shaft was almost touching the pulley and would not pry foreward so I loosened the mounting bolts of the hydraulic pump to get the belt out. It had a NAPA belt with yellow paint on it. The engine tag says SHORT BLOCK 377 so I assume that the engine was changed out and the NAPA belt was put on at that time.

 

[steve8]

I had a K but never changed the belt. I have done it on my L and it's a royal PIA. Make SURE you change the idler/tensioner at the same time is my best advice.
Good luck.

 

[mhobson]

Case 580K fan belt change

Hello, new member, I urgently need to change the fanbelt on my 1990 4 x 4 580k turbo and have been attempting what has been described in this post, however after removing the four bolts on the front crank pulley, I am having no joy at getting the hydraulic pump connector to move at all, the crank pulley and pump connector are still turning together as if they are still well connected, there is little room to work or lever. I have a small pry bar which nicely fits the small slot between the two and by levering or trying to hammer the wedge end of the pry bar, no movement. Is there more than the four bolts connecting the two or is there a clever was of separating them? I am also concerned that if and when I get the belt in place how difficult it may be to line up the four bolts with their threaded holes in the crank pulley afterwards. I look forward to your suggestions. Regards, Michael

 

[Grady]

It is a good idea to lube the pump coupler splines when ever pulling it apart. There is probably a recommended product, I don't have the manual handy. Anti-Seize might work. If yours has seized, you might be able to loosen the pump mounting bolts and pry the whole thing forward enough to get the belt in. If you want to fix it right, you'll probably need a new coupler. That won't be fun.

 

[Mountainlion]

I took off the grill and loosened the pump and pulled it forward a bit with the lines still attached. I think i used an allen wrench to locate the holes to line things up again. Be sure and check to see if the belt fits before you put things back together. I did not and my belt is too large like the one I replaced. I hope you have small hands.

 

[Tinkerer]

Dirt and / or rust may have the splined shaft on the pump seized up and preventing it from moving. Ypu will most likely have to loosen the hydraulic pump mounting bolts and slide it forward. It would be a wise decision to free up the hub and pump shaft to prevent more problems. Here is a picture of what you are working with.

 

[mhobson]

Thank you to grady, tinkerer and mountain lion, OK nobody before mentioned splines, now it starting to make sense, I have no manuals myself. So I have soaked it in WD 40 in the vain hope it may budge a bit tomorrow, but failing that I suppose I have to remove the grill and radiator to get to the pump to loosen it. I am a bit annoyed that the pump was replaced just before I bought the digger 6 years ago, had it been me replacing it I would have lubricated the splines with moly grease before fitting. See what happens tomorrow. (Play a bit of oxy onit?)

 

[Tinkerer]

Here is a link to a Case publication that has huge amount of useful information for your 580K. It shows different views of the hydraulic pump and the location of the filter for it.

http://case580kbackhoe.com/

 

[fpgm04]

Here is a similar thread on a 580L and I put a picture in it when I changed my 580SK belt. It may give you some ideas on your K.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?28383-580sl-Fan-belt-replacement

 

[mhobson]

Case 580K fan belt change

Thank you to the members for their advice, without which the job would have been much harder, having said that it was a bitch. I have had much more enjoyable Saturdays. The splines had seized and despite copious amounts of WD would not budge. I removed the panels beneath the radiator grille and loosened the 4 x 19 mm (3/4") bolts retaining the hydraulic pump mounting plate. Working on my own it was a bit difficult and to hold the gap open enough to pass the fan belt in front of the crank pulley I had to put a pry bar in the gap and tension it by attaching it to the steering ram shaft with a cable tie. Most frustrating was trying to replace the four bolts connecting back to the crank pulley, there was not enough room to get them into their holes easily and I had to wind a thin wire around each bolt to stop them falling underneath. I have fat short fingers which made it worse and I lost quite a bit of skin and some blood, those fan blades are really sharp. But thank you again guys. I will be starting a new thread detailing where the top front bucket pivot, just in front of the cab has ripped cleanly out of the steel frame, I cannot believe it could do that!