Jared F
Member
I own a scat trak 545 mini ex. with 1300 hrs on it. It sat for a year in a field and was neglected by me due to economical reasons (i had another job and no work for the machine). I performed the usual maintenance (greasing, oil/filter change, coolant change, etc) before putting it back to work. I used it for about 10 hrs of some digging and concrete removal on the first job in a year and 3/4 way through the job she started to leak hydraulic fluid from the bottom plate. Upon inspection i found that the check valve (#4 in pic2) was leaking about a cup of fluid every 5 minutes. To get the job finished (a crew of workers was waiting on my completion) i got a plug and plugged screwed it into the check valve hole (i know...i know what was i thinking?) After buttoning up the plates I cranked it up to hurriedly finish and it still leaked. This time i noticed it was leaking from the pinion gear around where the shaft meets the body, so i assume its the shaft seal or something similar. I am not sure if it was leaking prior to putting a plug in the relief/check valve but it sure leaks now about the same amount of fluid. the fluid that leaks is only barely warm. I am mechanically inclined, but by no means a mechanic and i do have a basic understanding of hydraulics. I have two questions (well more than two but lets get the basics):
1- The obvious problem of fixing the leak but more importantly:
2- What caused it in the first place?
I have yet to take the Slew track drive assembly out to inspect it because i want to figure out the cause of the leak first. I was lifting and "slewing" some heavy pieces of concrete and trying to use the bucket to break concrete and the biggest no-no was i was slewing the bucket to push dirt and concrete chunks around. I was pushing the machine to its limits. I know slewing is not the preferred method of pushing dirt. Might i have tripped the check valve then by plugging it blew out the shaft seal?ointhead
One other thing that may have contributed to these issues was that as it sat for a year, some rats made house in the undercarriage and it was full of sticks and stuff, i mean FULL. Maybe a stick punctured the seal?
As a man of limited resources ($$$) i am trying to troubleshoot this problem myself but have no qualms with taking the slew unit and having someone rebuild it. There are two seal kits available: one is the "motor seal kit" and the other is a "seal kit" as explained by the parts manual that i have. The company that sells the parts said that the motor seal kit has to be ordered from Europe with a 35 day lead time. The other "seal kit" is $342 and the check valve (if it is stuck/broken) is $735
I will attach a pic of the schematics in hopes that someone might have some advice as to where to start. Any help is appreciated. These forums are a God-send. Thanks in advance, Jared F
1- The obvious problem of fixing the leak but more importantly:
2- What caused it in the first place?
I have yet to take the Slew track drive assembly out to inspect it because i want to figure out the cause of the leak first. I was lifting and "slewing" some heavy pieces of concrete and trying to use the bucket to break concrete and the biggest no-no was i was slewing the bucket to push dirt and concrete chunks around. I was pushing the machine to its limits. I know slewing is not the preferred method of pushing dirt. Might i have tripped the check valve then by plugging it blew out the shaft seal?ointhead
One other thing that may have contributed to these issues was that as it sat for a year, some rats made house in the undercarriage and it was full of sticks and stuff, i mean FULL. Maybe a stick punctured the seal?
As a man of limited resources ($$$) i am trying to troubleshoot this problem myself but have no qualms with taking the slew unit and having someone rebuild it. There are two seal kits available: one is the "motor seal kit" and the other is a "seal kit" as explained by the parts manual that i have. The company that sells the parts said that the motor seal kit has to be ordered from Europe with a 35 day lead time. The other "seal kit" is $342 and the check valve (if it is stuck/broken) is $735
I will attach a pic of the schematics in hopes that someone might have some advice as to where to start. Any help is appreciated. These forums are a God-send. Thanks in advance, Jared F