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Kinda in a pickle here!!

Reuben

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Jan 28, 2008
Messages
450
Location
north central pa
I am going to post this with as many facts as possible to help with answers...........I was digging out for a bridge abutment with our JD 200D on a job I am doing. I was switching back and forth between the hammer and the bucket several times today and a few times after getting back in the machine the controls didnt work after engaging the lock out lever. I would either have to just flip the lever again or shut it down and restart it. I also noticed that the "rabbit" speed on the tracks quit working also. I had the hammer on and I was out in the middle of the road and I hopped out to move a traffic deliniator and when I got back in none of the controls will work at all no matter what i do. I checked all the fuses, wiggled wires,messed with different work modes on the display and nothing!!! The switch seems to be working in the lock out lever because it will not start is the lever is down as always. but when the lever is up it still starts just as it should.It is basically a new machine,it only has 600 hours on it. IT is 7:20 pm on friday and the machine is still on the road and the deere mech is not coming till morning. Any suggestions would be a huge help.Not only do
i want the machine off the road I would like to get my abutment dug out tomorrow.
 

heavylift

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Sep 5, 2009
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1,046
Location
KS
we had a deere that just quit.. well it think it was a deere..... but the entire machine shut down... only the radio would work.... It was the big round relay thing by the battery....
It took several days for the company parts changer NOT to fix it... It did take Deere several hours to find it... but they did..

I think they have komatsu that you have to flip the lever back and forth several times to get it to unlock..... another one of the who care if it get fix as long as it runs...
 

heavylift

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Also might want to check the voltage in the cab.... whatever it's suppose to be... to see if it close....
 

willie59

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Dec 21, 2008
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Knoxville TN
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Ya still in a pickle Reuben?

I'd be real suspicious of the switches operated by the safety lever. I think there's 2 switches in there. One would probably control starter lockout, the other probably controls pilot system lockout solenoid. Just my best guess. Kind of a pain to get to these components though. You usually have to take the left console apart. Don't know for sure, haven't worked on a 200D. It could be a switch going bad, could be whatever actuates the switch is getting out of position, or could be where switch harness plugs into wiring harness. Little bullet connector not connected properly. Hope ya find your gremlin. ;)
 

AtlasRob

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Feb 8, 2008
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West Sussex UK
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I bet a pound to a pinch of salt that the vibration from using the breaker has shook something loose, what where and how :Banghead
 

Reuben

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Jan 28, 2008
Messages
450
Location
north central pa
The mechanic showed up at 7am and by 10am he had the machine in so many pieces i was wondering how he was going to get it back together today.He was completely baffled. He had the computer hooked to it,ran all kind of tests.and everything came back okay. He took the valve body off from under the cab checked it and put it back together.he then tried it and it worked. He laughed and said I can only guess a piece of dirt in the valve. Personally i hate when something gets fixed and you really dont know how it got fixed. It could happen again...........
 

willie59

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He laughed and said I can only guess a piece of dirt in the valve. Personally i hate when something gets fixed and you really dont know how it got fixed. It could happen again...........


LoL...I feel your pain Reuben. That's why I'm convinced machinery is actually an intelligent life form, it knows when the mechanic shows up. I've worked on machines in the field and the customer would ask "well, what did you do?", to which I would reply "I didn't do a #%*@ thing, it fixed itself!". :Banghead
 

AtlasRob

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....... He took the valve body off from under the cab checked it and put it back together.he then tried it and it worked. .

You know where to look next time. :D I very much doubt it had dirt or grit in it, my money would be on its connector having been shook loose. Or a connector he split and reconnected in order to remove that valve.

Any ways its fixed now which is the important thing. I hear your frustration about how and why though :Banghead
 

Reuben

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Jan 28, 2008
Messages
450
Location
north central pa
You know where to look next time. :D I very much doubt it had dirt or grit in it, my money would be on its connector having been shook loose. Or a connector he split and reconnected in order to remove that valve.

Any ways its fixed now which is the important thing. I hear your frustration about how and why though :Banghead

HE actually ran wires to bypass it just in case there was a loose wire and it still didnt work.....and ya your right it is working.

If it was a lil peice of dirt it makes me laugh to think a lil tiny speck can bring a 20+ ton machine,a whole job site and my sanity to a screeching hault!!!
 

RobVG

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Seattle WA
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Could something be letting go in the breaker? If so, a quick look at your filter wouldn't hurt.
 

AtlasRob

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HE actually ran wires to bypass it just in case there was a loose wire and it still didnt work.....

You cant fault his reasoning............. sorry ;)

If it was a lil peice of dirt it makes me laugh to think a lil tiny speck can bring a 20+ ton machine,a whole job site and my sanity to a screeching hault!!!

At least you have kept your sense of humour, very frustrating though I agree.
 

jeff w

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Dec 3, 2009
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4
Location
Indiana
works "sometimes"

same as when something acts up but not enough to diagnose it. I think I'd rather have it quit altogether
 

Reuben

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Jan 28, 2008
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Location
north central pa
WEll It has done it four more TIMES!!!!!! One of the four it just started working on its own again.the other three the mech showed up and fixed it.On friday he took the selinoid valve off from under the cab and polished it up.He said that should fix it......(not holding my breath) I was under the gun so bad on wed that no matter what I could not have it quit so I just left the lock out lever down all day long. I just made sure I got in and out as carefully as I possibly could. (still upset me to have to do that because I am a safety freak). We will see what happens tomorrow.
 

AtlasRob

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WEll It has done it four more TIMES!!!!!!............. I just made sure I got in and out as carefully as I possibly could. (still upset me to have to do that because I am a safety freak).

Darn that is frustrating, at least you have a clue as to where to look now ;).

Last Wednesday the bolt that my deadman pivots on and locks the arm rest down at the same time as it pushes in the microswitch, broke! :Banghead

Its easy enough to replace ( I've done it before :rolleyes: ) IF you have your own vehicle with your tools and spares. Wednesday I had the wifes car, as a result I had to put a cable tie around the microswitch in order to work.
Luckily when I activate the (P) on my dash it kills all the servos so I didnt have quite the safety problem you had.

I was telling a mate about it today when he confessed, about two weeks ago he was not happy with the way his machine was running.
Set the dipper upright and the bucket flat about 3 feet off the ground. Having shown the labourer how to dig and dump the bucket to pressurise the system he climbed up on the back and lifted the bonnet.
The labourer climbed into the cab and caught his coat on the slew lever.

Luckily there was nothing within the slew radius of the machine else it would have been a very different story.
 

Reuben

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450
Location
north central pa
The deer mechanic put A new valve under the cab but it still keeps hanging up and will not engage or disengaged all the time. We have to be real careful getting in and out of the cab just in case it has not disengaged. THe dealer said he is going to swap it out with another 200D and take it in to their shop and completely flush the system. I have found that shaking the floor will almost always get it to work.

Last week I was At our pit,(which is in the middle of no where on top of a hill) hammering stone. The machine got stuck in the disengaged postion and would not work.So in desperation I stomped on the floor a few times and to my surprise it worked. A little while later I lifted up the lever to take off my jacket and the machine would not engage again. So I thought what the hell It worked once so I will try it again. keep in mind I thought I was the only one on the hill. After about thirty seconds of stomping my boots on the cab floor it still would not engage. So I stood up and started jumping up and down on the floor.After about a minute of that the door swung open and I heard a voice say 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!?"One it scared the hell out of me and two I was embarrassed as could be. The man outside my machine was a good friend and a retired operator. He was deer hunting near by and heard me hammering so he had hiked up to see me. He had been standing behind me for about fifteen minutes watching me operate. I dont ever think I have seen such a puzzled look on someone's face my whole life. I explained the whole situation we had been having with the machine and he still thought I was crazy. I picked up a rock about the size of a softball and hit the floor and thank GOD!! it worked. He shrugged his shoulders and said "I'll be damned" and off he went. I swear I will remember the look on his face when he opened that door the rest of my life
 

willie59

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Ohhhh how we wish your dear hunting buddy had a video camera with him. That is just dang funny! :lmao :cool:
 

Hendrik

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Mar 5, 2009
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Adelaide South Australia
The deer mechanic put A new valve under the cab but it still keeps hanging up and will not engage or disengaged all the time. We have to be real careful getting in and out of the cab just in case it has not disengaged. THe dealer said he is going to swap it out with another 200D and take it in to their shop and completely flush the system. I have found that shaking the floor will almost always get it to work.
Sounds like a dodgy electrical connection, time to get the multimeter out and start checking.
 
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