NX4510HST FEL6010 Joystick cable

[ritcheyvs]

I have a 2012 CK20S HST with 232+ hours, very few hours per year, around 35 to 40. So I was using the loader to clean up the road shoulder that washed on our land (county refuses to maintain a ditch that crosses our land; different story) when I lost up and down function of the loader. Bucket would go down but not up. No "springy" feel in the stick. After talking with the dealer and lots of time digging on the internet (Thank you TBN for being here) it seems reasonable that I've got a broken cable.

Dealer is 40 miles away and will do the repair - in his shop, can't fault him for that - but I have no way to transport the tractor. After doing some more digging I think I can do the repair but I have some questions:

1. Can this be done off the tractor? It seems it would be simpler to remove the cables from the valve body then lift the joystick assembly out, replace the cables then drop it back in and re-connect the cables to the valve body.
   
2. What about adjusting the cables? I'm assuming that's done at the joystick block. Is it simply adjusting them so the sliding lock engages and prevents motion?

Seems to me that a failure like this with so few hours on the tractor is unreasonable. I'm out of warranty and will have to eat this but it just seems wrong that it happened so soon.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

On my DK45s, you can remove the two through bolts below the joystick and lift the whole joystick block up where you can see what's what.

Then you can examine this end of the mechanism to see what's broken.

Some owners have reported the "balls" on the cable ends have broken (they are replaceable). Some have reported a cable break.

The valve end of the cable may be harder to access if that's what you need to do. On my DK, there is an access plate in the floor. I haven't done it, but it appears two hydraulic lines need to be removed to access the control cable connections to the valve. If you do work on the valve end, I recommend a good washing (and drying) before disconnecting anything, at least if yours is dirty like mine.

With luck, your problem will be simple to fix. Maybe a lost screw or broken cable-end ball. Cheers.

 

[bherr]

Thanks to all who responded to my questions about my loader cable problem. I disassembled the system Friday afternoon and discovered the cable itself wasn't broken but the connector between the cable and the valve. Access to the cables and valve on the CK20 is simple since they're just under the floorboard with nothing in the way.

When I took things apart there was a small amount of water that was in the cable and it had worked its way down to the cable/valve connection. The connector and the surrounding "barrel" are both made of zinc and in this case it's a practical example of why boats use zinc attachments to reduce corrosion below water. Galvanic action between dissimilar metals caused the zinc to degrade to the point where it broke in half under load. The attached photos show what it did and should have looked like. Another thing to note in the pictures is that the ball end of the cables is the completely steel ball; it's not the plastic coated part that has caused problems

As to the repair process, it went smoothly with the exception of re-inserting the pins that join the cable and the valve. The fit is really tight and took some time to get right. I'll admit I used a Dremel tool to grind a chamfer on one pin to help get it started.

The other thing that took some patience was adjusting the cable. Since I didn't need to detach the upper end of the cable everything was done under the tractor. The cable's stiffness makes it really important that the barrel screws on freely so that adjustments don't fight the cable and barrel being misaligned. Patience paid off and the system works like it did before the break.

Again, thank you to everyone who replied with suggestions.

Bill

 

[Mike O]

Where did you get the end piece for the cable?

 

[Bigfish50]

Hi All,

I've just encountered a similar issue with my 2017 nx 5010HST open station tractor (~240hrs) and would like to ask a question. While my joystick controller is still allowing full control of my loader bucket after using it today I did notice there is a lot of excess play in the side to side action of the controller which curls up or dumps the bucket. Didn't notice this level of play in the controller until today and I thought there might be a bolt or screw loose somewhere in the assembly. I took the joystick assembly off the tractor and did not see anything that was loose per se. I did find the hex head bolt that holds on the "dummy" ball & pin but it did not appear to be loose from what I could tell. (didn't have any allen wrenches in the field). That dummy pin does move very freely so hoping something didn't fall off. Anyhow, based on this thread it appears I may be able to adjust the cable to pull the extra play out of the joystick so my question is this.. Adjustment is made at the joystick controller or at the joystick control box under the tractor? I have a FSM but it was not clear on how the adjustment is to be made. Any help much appreciated.

Thanks!