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Winter woes felt all year long
The harsh weather of last winter and spring may be fading from your memory, but your equipment can feel the lingering effects through the rest of this year.
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Battery terminal corrosion that developed during winter shut down the hydraulics on a skid-steer when the system voltage dropped below the level needed to run the electronic control systems. Photo by Scott Nesbitt |
When your machinery malfunctions, make it a practice to check out all the parts of a subsystem, especially the electrics and electronics, before you start the old “replace parts until it starts” routine.
A colleague recently brought a fairly new (still under warranty) machine into the dealership. It would start fine, but then seemed to be intermittently running out of fuel while working.
The dealer figured it was a problem with the fuel pump, and dumped a lot of labor and money into replacing that $200 part. Still no go.
It turned out to be a $10 fuel pump relay that had apparently suffered a cracked circuit board during a hard freeze snap during winter.
All it takes is a microscopic break in a chip, printed circuit, solder joint or corrosion on the contact points in a relay to set up a problem where normal machine vibration turns the circuit on and off. The real problem was spotted when a smart technician hooked a fast-responding voltmeter into the fuel pump circuit and found the real problem.
Batteries took a pounding from a cold winter followed by the kind of extra-humid spring that occurs in many parts of the country. Cold causes the battery posts and cable terminal clamps to shrink, opening up gaps that allow moisture to penetrate and corrode the connection.
The same kind of moisture attack can reduce current flow through the connectors and grounding connections found throughout the machine.
This winter crud can cause enough resistance to drop system voltage below the level needed by the electronics. In early spring here in Georgia, we’ve seen situations where the hydraulic systems have stopped working properly because of problems in the electronics, not the mechanical parts of the hydraulic system.
The freeze-thaw cycle also seems to have generated a lot of moisture in fuel tanks that were stored half-full during the winter. We’re seen several machines that were trying to run on water. Luckily, none suffered diesel fuel pump damage as a result. But when taking a back-to-basics approach to troubleshooting, it won’t hurt to siphon the bottom of your fuel tanks and replace filters if you had a lot of cold weather alternating with warm, wet periods.
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