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Recent content by joelx777

  1. joelx777

    Bucket question - John Deere 490e

    I own a 1996 John Deere 490e excavator. It has a 32" bucket on it with teeth. I just bought a farm and need to trench in a mile of 10" water mainline, and the seller recommended I do it with a 18" bucket to avoid tearing up the fields too much. My question - how do I go about finding an 18"...
  2. joelx777

    Dr. ZX communication problem with John Deere 490e (Hitachi 120 equivalent)

    I bought a new to me Palm Pilot Tungsten online and I am unable to get it to connect to my excavator. The four prong plug that came with it looks similar to the receptacle on the excavator. I tried it both ways and am still getting a notice saying "communication problem" when I click start. I...
  3. joelx777

    John Deere 490e Thumb Weak After Operating 1 hour

    Thank you! I swapped these valves and now the weakness has moved to thumb up. I could live with it since thumb up is not a function I need a ton of power on, but I am going to buy a replacement anyways and get it working. I think the auxiliary relief valves are the same thing as the main...
  4. joelx777

    John Deere 490e Thumb Weak After Operating 1 hour

    Thank you. I see the parts page also says there are two circuit relief valves. I have a screenshot below from the manual with what I believe are the valve locations, is this correct? My plan is to swap these two valves and see if the problem shifts. Do you agree this is a good approach?
  5. joelx777

    John Deere 490e Thumb Weak After Operating 1 hour

    I'm back again! I appreciate all the help I received solving my last issue with the John Deere 490e boom being weak. My issue now is that the thumb became weak today and a couple of days ago after about an hour of operation. It would not hold my grading beam any longer. The hydraulic system...
  6. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    @fastline @mg2361 @excavator @Jason Klassen @Diesel Dave plus Matt from the Pacific Northwest Hillbilly youtube channel - Thank you all so much for helping a stranger out on the internet! I have fixed the weak boom down issue now. The root of the problem was a failed circuit relief valve. I...
  7. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    @ I put the new valve on and took the old valve off - I would like to find someone to repair it or find specs for it so I can repair it myself. Any recommendations?
  8. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    Good news! Ebay refused to refund my payment to the scammy Dr Ex seller who never delivered, but Paypal did refund the payment!
  9. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    I ordered a replacement valve on Amazon but it looks slightly different than the one I had. See the two attached photos, the yellow one is the original, the grey is the new one. It looks like the circles / holes are lower on the new one, but it could be because the original failed?
  10. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    I ran the machine for a couple of hours tonight filling in my trench. I really don't like that the control valve temperature reached 175. I just bought this Chinese valve, hopefully it works okay. It arrives Tuesday. https://a.co/d/0Luarkq
  11. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    Ok, so big updates and questions: Weak boom issue: The boom now remains strong when the machine is fully heated up. I had swapped the circuit relief valves between the boom down function and the bucket dump function. Now the bucket dump function is weak. Buying a new one from Pape will cost...
  12. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    I went on a wild goose chase in Tacoma WA yesterday looking for these bolts (M27 hex head 250 mm long 3.0). Tacoma screw didn't have it, nor did the six others I called. I will order it online probably. My friends dad who was a heavy equipment mechanic, now retired, very generously lent me his...
  13. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    Sooo.... I was using the excavator to fill in the trench and everything was going well. I drove around a sand pile and heard really loud clanking sounds coming from the tracks. I got out and looked around and everything looked fine. So I drove a little further and did a full check. Behind me, I...
  14. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    Ok, so I swapped the bucket dump relief valve to the boom down relief valve spot. I moved the boom down relief valve that I disassembled and reassembled to the now vacant spot for bucket dump. I tested the machine and all of its functions except for propel and nothing leaked or failed. I did...
  15. joelx777

    Boom down randomly becomes weak when warmed up - John Deere 490e excavator

    Thank you, using the air works in combination with a metal ground stake worked to pop it out! Everything looked fine to me in there. I replaced a couple of o-rings, but I'm going to leave all the plastic ones in the pre-built gaskets alone. My plan is to go out and pull one more pressure...
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