L39 FEL won't Float

[Jim Miller]

My L39 has 1080hrs and the FEL won't go into Float. The FEL goes up, down, curl and dump - but won't go into the Float position. The joystick just stops when it should move far enough to go into detent. The last time I used the Float was about 6 monts ago and it worked fine. I can see the cable moving the control box valve and nothing appears to be broken or preventing the joystick or cable movement.

Any thoughts?

 

[k0ua]

My L39 has 1080hrs and the FEL won't go into Float. The FEL goes up, down, curl and dump - but won't go into the Float position. The joystick just stops when it should move far enough to go into detent. The last time I used the Float was about 6 monts ago and it worked fine. I can see the cable moving the control box valve and nothing appears to be broken or preventing the joystick or cable movement.

Any thoughts?

Well, I see you are in Kerrville, so it is probably not frozen water in it.. I am thinking you are gonna have to take the valve apart and see what is what.

 

[s219]

I bet the detent mechanism (usually ball bearings and springs inside a tube) is jammed up. Can happen for a lot of reasons (including water in the fluid collecting at that spot and freezing or rusting the mechanism) or just from wear and tear over time (viable with 1080 hours if you've done a lot of loader work). You can usually take the end of the valve off to access the detent mechanism to diagnose. Might want to look at parts diagrams (see Messicks) to get an idea what to expect.

 

[Jim Miller]

Thanks for the responses and I was hoping not to have to mess with the valve box - but - I guess that's the only thing left. I have looked at my L39 Shop Manual and the parts illustrations from Messicks. I can make sure all pressure is off the valve box and I see where the two bolts seem to hold the end of the Boom Control Valve (bottom of the 3 cables) - but when I remove that cover or cap -is all **** going to break loose? Any idea what I should expect?? I've just never messed with that part of my TLB before.