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New Bobcat E42 - track won't stay tight, one zerk won't take grease

John Canfield

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
431
Location
Texas
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Ranching
Now have 15 hours on the machine and I'm getting more used to operating it but still a long way to go.

I've been aware of keeping a close eye on the track tension on a new machine (or with new tracks I suppose) but I wasn't going to check the tracks for another ten hours or so. I stepped on the track when I left he cab and it was loose - whoa, that ain't right. I added grease and got the tension correct and checked the other side which was fine. Something didn't smell right.

Rechecked the tension about an hour later and it was loose again, it probably drooped another 1/2" . Earlier in the day I heard a loud BANG from the machine, got out and looked around and all seemed okay. I thought maybe a rock got caught in the tracks somewhere and that was the cause of the noise but now I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the track loosening up.

When I was messing around with track tension I found another zerk I missed greasing yesterday, it was one of the pins on the boom-stick joint. It had the gray factory grease on the zerk (my grease is red) so that's how I could easily tell it was missed. Anyway My Milwaukee 18V grease gun could not force any grease in the zerk, even running on high mode. Never one issue greasing any of the other zerks on the machine. Any ideas here?

I wouldn't mind fixing it myself so I would appreciate any ideas you guys have.
 

elkjunkie

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Joined
Aug 7, 2018
Messages
45
Location
Washington
My track tensioner experience was with old water damaged/pitted pistons that destroyed tensio er seals. I doubt thats not your issue.
With stubborn grease fittings I always unscrew them to make sure they will pass grease, reinstall and try shifting the load on the pin (either hang the stick or put down pressure on it).
I love those m18 grease guns! I always thought they built more pressure in low speed though.
Good luck
 

hosspuller

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,869
Location
North Carolina
A few thoughts. Your tensioner is either loosing grease or something else is moving. That something else could be the track stretching (broken tension member) or a wheel mount moving.

Mark the tensioner to see if it moves after tensioning the track.
 

ITW

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Joined
Feb 8, 2019
Messages
121
Location
Norway
I would use the warranty and not mess with it my self.
But it's probaly somthing wrong with the seals for the tensioner, strange on an new machine, co could be an production fault.
 

John Canfield

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
431
Location
Texas
Occupation
Ranching
I did relieve pressure on the boom and stick yesterday and tried to grease it again but same situation. I'm going to unscrew the zerk today and make sure it's not clogged and move the stick in different positions. I tried the M18 Milwaukee grease gun in high and low and had the same result. I moved the mini-ex to my shop and I'll give it another try with my air Lincoln grease gun.

One other thing I can check with the track tension is to make sure the zerk is tight, the same zerk is used to release grease by unscrewing and tensioning by adding grease. At some point in production Bobcat switched from two zerks to one.

Warranty - yes, that's my ace in the hole. If I can't easily get this resolved I'll have them pick the unit up. Hate to see it leave the property since I'm right in the middle of a bunch of projects. Sigh.

Thank you everybody for the tips and help!
 

ITW

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Feb 8, 2019
Messages
121
Location
Norway
You should see some overflow of grease around the zerk if it's leaking around it.
If it's the seal you should see some around the piston.

But I have an leak on my tensioner on my Terex TC25 there the track is getting loose as soon as I have an stone ore something in the belt that makes it tighter, so the tensioner can't hold the pressure with load, but I never found greas on the track from when it's pushed out of the tensioner.
So I'm changing the seals on that one before the season start.
 

John Canfield

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Apr 27, 2009
Messages
431
Location
Texas
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Ranching
I noticed a huge blob of grease around both track tension zerks - I had no idea if this was normal or not. It didn't seem right but I'll know more later. Not sure how much of the cylinder I can see without removing parts.
 

ITW

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Feb 8, 2019
Messages
121
Location
Norway
If it was the cylinder you should find grease on the track, but I know my zerk are not leaking but I never find any on the track so no rule without exceptions
 

KSSS

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Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
4,319
Location
Idaho
Occupation
excavation
Those zerks on the tensioners are finicky, I assume because of the amount of pressure. It takes a lot of pressure from the operator to keep the grease gun on the zerk. Those grease lock adaptors on the grease gun helps. Also elevate the track in the air by putting the boom down on the side your adjusting, that reduces some of the pressure required.

Since the zerk apparently took grease at one time, I would assume that it is something that occurred after the fact. I am not sure if BC does that initial greasing at the factory or if that is part of the PDI. If it is don't at the factory, that issue may have been missed during the PDI. You could pull the zerk off and take a piece of wire or something and clean out the hole and see if there is something in the way and check the zerk when it is off to see if it will pass grease out of the machine.
 

John Canfield

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Messages
431
Location
Texas
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Ranching
Update:
There's no grease on the track, so that's a good thing. Swung the boom over and lifted the track and it's still good so maybe that was a fluke. I tried again to get some grease in the pin and I managed to get enough in to where I could see the factory grease on both sides. The air Lincoln gave up quickly (air pressure was about 85 psi) but the M18 did get a little in - best grease gun I've ever owned.

Talked to the BC dealer and he said to keep an eye on the track tension, he didn't seem too concerned about the situation. Then I explained the pin grease problem and he said there might be a sleeve inside that needs to be rotated a little. He was going to talk to his service manager and call me back. It didn't sound like there would be any problem getting one of their service guys to make an on-site service call. Now that I can see grease on both sides of the pin I think operating it will be okay.

I paid a ton of money to buy a new mini-ex compared to one with 1,000+ hours but I've got a warranty, a machine exactly equipped the way I wanted and piece of mind :).
 

John Canfield

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Had a call late yesterday from the dealer, a service tech in going to stop by in the next day or two.
 

John Canfield

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Apr 27, 2009
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431
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Texas
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Ranching
Tech just left and verified the pin wouldn't take grease, he's returning with a trailer to take the machine to the shop - they need to pull the pin (as I suspected). There is a two piece sleeve around the pin (I think he said it was two piece) that must be in the wrong position. (He likes my M18 grease gun, used it and left me a new tube of grease.)
 

John Canfield

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Messages
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Location
Texas
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Ranching
Dealer brought the machine back about 4pm, the delivery guy had no clue what was done and there was no info on the work order. Quite a bit of grease now exuding from the pin so I assume they corrected the issue. I need to double check with my grease gun.
 

Bls repair

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Jan 21, 2017
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Equipment operator,mechanic
I didn’t see this posted but you can release the tension on idlers so you can change tracks.Sometimes you loosen up grease fitting sometimes there’s a separate fitting to loosen . One could’ve been loose from factory,causing the track to loosen up.
 

John Canfield

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Apr 27, 2009
Messages
431
Location
Texas
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Ranching
The track tension is okay now, the speculation is an air bubble in the grease finally worked out. My E42 only has one grease fitting for the track, earlier E42s had a separate fitting to release track tension.

My major issue now is me, I’m so blasted slow and not as well coordinated with the joysticks as I want/need to be. It’s frustrating but I’ll keep working at getting better.
 

Bls repair

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What I tell all apprentices when they get on a hoe is to chase the rock . By this I mean get a rock about a foot square and push it all around to you away from you side to side when you can do this without thinking about it or digging holes try a smaller rock . You will be surprised how fast it becomes second nature.
 

John Canfield

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Apr 27, 2009
Messages
431
Location
Texas
Occupation
Ranching
Slow going. I had a few rocks of different sizes spread out and I was practicing moving them around and picking up with the thumb. I haven't had much time lately to get in the seat though. One thing I want to practice (a bunch) is pulling the bucket in while keeping it flat - that's three controls to coordinate at the same time.

One operation I'm having trouble with is using the thumb and positioning the bucket. I've been keeping the bucket too far out in the dump position when I operate the thumb and then I curl the bucket and put the thumb in bypass. Still trying to figure out the perfect bucket position when using the thumb (but I haven't put much time in this yet.) I have a dual lid grapple for my tractor and I got very good using it - hoping to get as good with the thumb.

When I had my dozer, it took me about 50 hours in the seat to get fairly comfortable operating it (but I still wasn't very good grading with it :rolleyes:.)
 

Bls repair

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When reaching out to pick something up try pushing thumb out with bucket in full dump position push against whatever you want pickup with thumb,close bucket till you have hold of it. When in close keep thumb up bucket about level to ground till you touch what you want to what to pick up close thumb.
See if this helps any.
Good luck
 
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