Some help with my new (to me) Case 580C

[hatch789]

I have a (new to me) case 580C Backhoe / Loader Serial Number: 8984780

Several questions for you guys as I rebuild stuff that was abused or broken on my new baby.

1. My power steering cap does not have a dipstick on it. To buy a new one just for the dipstick is crazy. I will have to make a little tool and go fishing for it, but in the meantime if someone could please measure theirs for me and tell me at what length the marks are on the dipstick; I would be most grateful. With the information I'm hoping someone can give me, I can make a dipstick for myself if mine is truly gone and not just loose in the reservoir.

2. My power shuttle button on the floor is not working. It won't press. I assume this is OK until I get a chance to fix it. My tractor moves properly with the hydrostatic drive handle on the left of the steering wheel, so this button would only really be needed if I was traveling on the road or something and wanted to shift gears while moving. At least that's my understanding. So if you guys could confirm that it's OK to leave this item go for now that's great.

3. I don't appear to have any Diff button or switch near my gas peddle. Did some models just not have one of these? If I did have a button and it's gone now, can I tell which "mode" my tractor is in right now? Like if I lift the back tires off the ground and try spinning one tire by hand will the other go the same way if it's in DIFF mode "ON"? I will try to remember to do this test tonight. Also is it bad to leave it in a certain mode for extended use?

4. I have rust (yes rust) flaking off of the inside of my fuel tank spout. This thing must have sat around for quite some time without being stored properly. The rust isn't too bad and I'm hoping it's just up on the neck of the gas tank and not all over inside on the walls where it had condensation over the years. I was going to take a "narrow space cleaner" nozzle and carefully suck the loose flakes off of the inside of the neck but there's no good way I know of to get the loose rust flakes out of the tank. My only thoughts were to fill the tank and siphon it out filtering it repeatedly to try to remove as much as possible. Thoughts or suggestions here are welcome.

5. If you look at my 3rd pic you will see that the backhoe bucket is set up right now with the link pin in what I believe to be the more "powerful" digging position (the lower hole). Am I right in this assumption that the lower hole will provide less swing radius of the bucket but be the more powerful setting? If I swap it to the upper pin position I should be able to nearly close the bucket against the dipper arm but I believe it would then be less powerful for digging and break-out force. If someone can clarify this for me I would appreciate it.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions as I rebuild my new baby. So I will post here as I go along. My first task is replacing the master cylinders. They are both shot and I have ZERO brakes. No emergency break either. So I have to fix that after the hydraulic brakes are fixed.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Congrats on the new toy! I grew up running a 580C so its been a few years but I think I can help a bit.

2. The handle on the left side of the steering wheel is not a hydro-static drive. Its a direction shuttle. It only controls forwards and backwards directions. I'm thinking the button on the floor is actually the diff lock. I'm stretching my memory a bit here though. The only way to change gears is to stop the tractor and shift the floor stick into 1-2-3-4 then stand on the throttle.

5. I believe that the pin placement in the bucket has less to do with digging power and more to do with the intended use. I.E. Trying to dig a vertical wall or trying to load into a truck. Each would require the pin in a different position.


If there were several variations, disregard my comments about the difflock. You should get handy at running the hoe with one hand and steering with the brakes or front tires with the other while you push your self out. If you have never ran a 3 stick hoe (in this case 4 with the e-stick) your in for a learning curve. Its not that difficult when you get onto it, but making it look fluid is challenging.


BTW, we love seeing people's projects sitting at our computer!

 

[DJ54]

The dipstick on my 480C, which should be the same, is 5-1/2" long, from where it rivets on, inside the cap. Low/add mark is @ 5". Full @ 4-1/2".

If you're meaning differential lock, mine is a, approx. 1" diameter pedal near the foot throttle. If the diffy lock is engaged, you'll not be able to steer well. If it turns easy, then it's unlocked. Mine was frozen up where the linkage underneath the floor pan goes into the housing. Took it off, and used some solvent to get it freed up, then removed, and coated well with never seize, and put it back together.

If that one has been frozen up, possibly a PO just removed the pedal when doing some work under the floor panel. There is only like a 1/4" bolt through the yoke to hold it on to the linkage below. You should be able to look underneath on the right side setting on the hoe, forward of the brake housing to see the diff lock. You'll see a bell crank attached to a 1/2" or so shaft going into the diff lock housing.

Might be an idea to find an OEM repair manual for it. I found mine, a near new one on ebay. They are very detailed, and take you through repairs step by step, with actual pictures.

You can find parts at Case Construction: CASE Construction Equipment | Heavy Equipment | Case Construction. Click on parts in top menu, and do a search by model number. Select which 580 you're looking for. Select your model, then look for parts by section of the machine. If you select a dealer near you when getting started on those pages, it will give you the price of said part. You can copy and paste the number to a search engine, such as Google, and check pricing on aftermarket parts.

I bought most of my aftermarket parts from here: Remanufactured Transmissions, Torque Converters, Engines - Joseph Industries Quality parts, & friendly, knowledgeable, person you'll be talking with.

 

[hatch789]

Awesome, thank you very much for the dipstick information. It's not worth buying a new one just for the stick. I'll make one with the info you gave me; so thank you again!

I will have to get some pictures of my flooring in the tractor. Maybe I don't have a Diff lock? Because there doesn't appear to be anything outside of the little button slightly to the left and back from my leftmost brake pedal.

I did get a service manual as well as parts and owners manual (all on CD) from ebay last week. It's a pretty good quality so I should have everything I need there.

So anyone have any better ideas for me on the fuel tank? As I stated above: The rust isn't too bad and I'm hoping it's just up on the neck of the gas tank and not all over inside on the walls where it had condensation over the years. I was going to take a "narrow space cleaner" nozzle and carefully suck the loose flakes off of the inside of the neck but there's no good way I know of to get the loose rust flakes out of the tank. My only thoughts were to fill the tank and siphon it out filtering it repeatedly to try to remove as much as possible. Thoughts or suggestions here are welcome. I am going to get a "jiggle pump" from Harbor Freight. They're perfect for this to repeatedly siphon and clean things out.

Anyone know where I can get the molding for my front and rear windows? I found a place (gave them the specs) for my front windshield to be cut. 150 bucks isn't a bad price, right? But the darn molding is going to be 100 bucks! I was floored by that. Advice here is appreciated.

 

[boggen]

shop manual, parts manual, operators manual.

shop manual is what you will most likely want, much better diagrams of parts, and detailed step by instructions most likely. and of course most expensive.

for myself i prefer the old "paged book" vs CD. i can take out pages if need be, and move it around the shop, granted having a laptop you could use the CD. and using printer to print pages out... but half the time for me, i end up in chair in the house, or at a table, or on a bar stool in the garage looking through it.

double check all your filters, fuel, air, engine oil, and hyd filters. your air filter most likely is a double filter (one outer, and one inner filter)

also double check and clean out all the radiators / coolers. 1 or 2 normally in front, and then possibly a transmission cooler near rear of engine or below rear of engine (some place around there)

for the ford 555C TLB i have, i have clutch button on the FEL (Front end loader) to dump power to the transmission, for quicker FEL work.
i have another button on the shiftter lever by stearing wheel (to go from forward or reverse), and then i have a button on the shifter, for dumping clutch when changing gears.

i think the FEL joystick clutch dumping is a little bit more different than the other 2 buttons in how the clutch is dumped...

you may have 4 oil locations, engine oil on side of engine, hyd oil reservoir some place in front around the engine, then possibly a couple locations inside the cab, for transmission and then rear end. (at least i have those 4 locations)

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for differential lock, i have on the floor button right between my legs/feet. i have to hold it down with a foot to keep it in differential lock mode. i think it stays in lock mode until a press brakes or left off throttle, ((arghs, it has been a while since i had to use it))

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gas tank should be going directly to a couple fuel filters on side of engine (one for water, other for debris/muck). and most like a fuel shut off valve right after gas tank, and before the filters.

you should be able to unscrew the hoses / remove pipe clamp and drain tank right from that location.
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double check to see if you have a "glow plug" or if tractor requires ether, or other for cold starting in the bloody cold winter months.

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power steering, once ya get it filled up, and start tractor, work the steering some (fully turning left, and fully turning right) and turn it off, you may have some trapped air that needs to be worked out of the system.

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if tractor been seating for some time, i feel for ya. having to re-grease everything multi times, till ya finally work out the rust and old grease.

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you may want to oil up the throttle cable, (foot pedal in front) and cable that runs to the back lever, for when ya 180 in the seat operating backhoe.

take it easy on the extenda hoe portion. extending out put a lot of extra forces on the hoe.

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i realized you got tractor chained down good on the trailer, but it almost seems like tire pressure might be low in the tires.

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radiator water/antifreeze level check, get tractor running for 5 to 15 minutes enough for thermostat to kick on, and then turn on heater full blast for a few minutes, shut tractor down and wait for it to cool off and recheck your water/antifreeze level. if seating for some time, air pockets might have formed in the heater lines.

 

[DJ54]

You might want to have a look here, and see if they have what you need. Trim Lok - #1 Source for Plastic and Rubber Trims and Seals You can find a sales rep in your area if you look in the menu at the top. Saw a couple in PA.

Here is a link to McMaster-Carr McMaster-Carr who is a sales rep. Brought up the page with what they have. You can look and see what matches yours, and see the price.

On the Case Construction parts online catalog I looked up the molding, and it shows IIRC, the front windshield length to be 129.4". Might want to double check that though.

 

[hatch789]

Thank you Boggen for your reply, some very good and useful information on old tractor restoration as well as cautions! I will take your advice to heart. My foot pedal by my brake is the "Clutch Disconnect Foot Pedal". I do not know if I have the Diff Lock pedal. I'll have to search around the gas pedal and see what I can find. It's so dirty and full of leaves in my cab, I have to vacuum it all out and clean it up! The Diff Lock pedal may just be hiding under crap. LOL

DJ54, thank you for the Trim Lok link they have a lot of good stuff on there. So can anyone help me identify what type of molding I would need to get from Trim Lok for my windshield. They sell 100 foot rolls for the same price as I would get 10 feet from an old Case supply house... if I can even find the old molding. Yes it was something like 129.4" in length (10 feet approx.) but it was like 120 - 150 bucks depending on where I called... and that was IF they even had it. If I simply get it from Trim Lok I can spend 130 bucks and have 100 feet! - Enough to re-do all of my windows. I like that. I just have to find the appropriate molding that will work for my tractor. Anyone have a piece of molding from their 580C that they could get some pictures for us and/or measurements? In the parts manual the molding cross section looks like Trim Lok LK1615 or perhaps LK1663. Help or advice here is most appreciated.

OK so here's a techie question for you ...I took my old dashboard console out and stripped it down, cleaned all contacts and checked all gauges. I was quite surprised (and pleased) that everything still worked. All lights, all gauges, EVERYTHING. The biggest problem is that the old (paper thin) printed circuit "board" (if you can even call it that?) on the back of the panel is becoming embrittled. I've already broken off 2 of the little tabs where the 18-pin connector plugs in.



The only thing that I can think to do here is re-route everything with manual wires but that seems painful. I may consider clipping the wires at the connector head so that it can stay plugged in permanently from here forward; thereby preserving the fragile state of the circuit board. I could then attach one side of a new 18-pin connector to all of those loose wires and obviously connect the other end of the cut wires to the partner of the new 18-pin connector, being sure to make all of the original pathways available. Then I would just de-couple at the new 18-pin connector if I ever need to work on things and the old connection would stay installed and safe. Seems like some tedious and careful work but I'm not sure what else to do. Suggestions are most welcome here!

 

[boggen]

fiddling with a couple wires, ok, but redoing entire dash... i would see how much it would be for new circuit board.

those couple tabs you broke off, you might be able to remove the clear insulation of the wire, and then do a little bit of a soldering job. and by pass the 18 pin connector for those couple wires. granted i hate soldering myself. i can do it if i have to. but by no means a pro.

all the connections for lights and switches, looks like they are regular rear light on vehicle and trailer. were ya push in and twist... that there is the rough one.

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for windows, i used plexiglass. and silicon. and never looked back.

i do have one issue for my front window. i goofed a little bit on the middle, when cutting the plexi glass to shape. and because the cutting was not perfect, i ended up getting a split straight up through the middle. i had some scrap plexi glass. so i cleaned the window. drilled some holes. and sandwich the split with the couple pieces of scrap and some clear silicon. *shrugs* it doesn't look pretty, but with crack being in middle, it does not effect my side views of looking down around engine and looking at the FEL bucket. it took a few months for the whitish of the silicon to cure and become clear.

i can't use front windshield wipper, but *shrugs*, its easier to clean the front window with side steps on each side of tractor, vs side and rear windows.

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on another note:, you might want to grab ahold of the muffler "the very top" piece, and spin it, so it shoots the fumes / exhaust directly out to the side. for me it has helped get majority of the fumes from coming back on me, and into cab.

 

[hatch789]

Yeah I looked at buying the new circuit board and they don't sell it separately from what I can tell. When I called Messicks, a local dealer here, they quoted me $850 for that console as a unit. I was like OK NO Thank you! I will solder or run wire for the messed up tabs. I think my idea of running a few wires manually will solve most of my issues. But if I ever need to remove that main plug again I risk breaking even more tabs.

I will have to play around with more ideas for that. But no way I'm spending 850 bucks for the console!

I will turn the muffler deflector to the side when I get or make a new one. That one is shot. Right now I have a bucket covering it so rain water doesn't get down inside while it's not in use.

Also, one quick question. I can't find anything on google to help me answer this. Is it OK to leave the hydraulics under pressure for a week or 2? I have the back wheels off the ground with the stabalizers and it has not come back down. Kind of surprised me but the thing is still up in the air both back tires no problem... for a about a week now. Normally I thought that all hydraulics slowly relaxed (leaked) to a relaxed state. So this was kind of new to me. It's also a lot newer machine than I have had in the past. 1979 is really moving up in the world for me compared to a 1956 old ford that I had or a 1969 IH that I have still.

 

[boggen]

get some blocks under it, and release the pressure. if anything for a safety reason. all it takes is one accidentally hit to a lever and things go bad. or maybe hammering on something and everything quickly goes down hill form there.

ya i use out riggers to lift rear up to deal with a tire change, but once lifted up i put something under and then let things back down. i just don't trust hydrualics.

that includes raising the FEL (front end loader) up into the air so i can access the engine compartment. i am always a little shady the lock that slides on the one of the FEL arms hyd cylinders is going to come off, and pin me good.