Frozen valve on the SEE backhoe

[peterjankis]

I am in Arizona, and my FLU419 SEE has so many problems, I am not sure I will ever figure them all out. The leftmost valve on the backhoe , which is connected to the pedals for left/right movement, is stuck. I have disassembled the control tower box to get closer to the valve. I tried penetrating with Kroil for weeks now, I tried air hammering on it, tried prying it up, tried twisting. It is not moving at all. All other valves are smooth as butter.
What could be causing this, and is there anything I can do short of taking the backhoe apart. Removing the entire valve block seems to be a huge PITA.
Thanks PJ.

 

[Karl kostman]

I sure sounds like you have done everything that I would have done to try to free that sticking valve, unfortunately that only leaves one thing and that is to disassemble the valve itself. It could be any number of things from contamination to rust that got inside at one time, all you linkage is good and your getting full movement of the valve? if so then its likely something inside the body. It does suck but in the end you will learn about the valve and when fixed you will know exactly what your have!

 

[glcaines]

I had one stuck on my FLU419. It was severely corroded. I removed the tower like you did and took a wire brush wheel and cleaned all of the visible rust on the valve. I then put WD40 on it for several days and then hammered on it with a copper hammer. I eventually got it to move down about 1/16 inch. I then pried it up with a crow bar and hammered it down again, always keeping it flooded with WD40. I kept doing this until I had full free movement up and down. It now works completely freely and no leaks.

 

[The FLU farm]

Not that I remember what those two valves look like, but if they're like the ones for the outriggers, in my case it was only a matter of removing the cap at the bottom and clean out a minute amount of debris. That spool could be pulled up, but not pushed down.

Either way, as I recall, the swing valves are the easiest to get to.

I might have posted photos in the "owners" thread.

 

[glcaines]

Not that I remember what those two valves look like, but if they're like the ones for the outriggers, in my case it was only a matter of removing the cap at the bottom and clean out a minute amount of debris. That spool could be pulled up, but not pushed down.
Either way, as I recall, the swing valves are the easiest to get to.
I might have posted photos in the "owners" thread.

The one that was stuck on my FLU was the left outrigger. It was stuck up and that is why I hammered it down. It works great now.

 

[The FLU farm]

The one that was stuck on my FLU was the left outrigger. It was stuck up and that is why I hammered it down. It works great now.

It was the right side one of mine, but that depends on if you look at the vehicle from the rear in normal fashion, or from the front.
Not that it matters. You got it working.