plow quit today (HELP ME!!!)

[D&T Repair]

Dropped my plow in customers lot, went to talk to customer, and returned to truck.
Went to raise plow......NOTHING.
No left/right/up/down.
The hydraulic jack stand won't raise either.
Nothing.
Bought new solenoid, replaced "old" one, and still nothing.
One inline fuse, checked and replaced it (wasn't bad...but still replaced it).
NOTHING.
Headlights/side markers work, but nothing else.
Power to solenoid = yes
Good ground(s) = yes
Fluid topped-off = yes
Checked connections (all) = yes

Help me out here!!!
Finally get to plow snow, and now I can't even raise the thing off the ground!

Oh, I did get it to raise, by propping the joystick in the raise position, and then jumping the small wire to the positive wire on the solenoid.....but that's all that I can get it to do.

Ideas?????

[wyldman]

If it went up when you powered the small solenoid terminal,then the solenoid,motor,and battery cables are all OK.Your problem is in the controller or wiring.Double check the fuses,and the plug under the dash.Also check for power at the controller itself,maybe the ignition feed wire came out of the fuse box ?

[D&T Repair]

Got it, it was the wire going into the fusebox (blew 2 fuses).
Now, I still have a problem.

The plow worked fine while testing it (down/up/left/right, etc).
As soon as I drop the plow and start to push snow, I blow the inline fuse (same wire).
Replaced fuse (again), and tested it in the air. Worked fine, until I dropped it and started pushing snow.

I assume that somewhere I have a positive wire grounding out, causing the fuse to blow....but what does that have to do with the plow pushing snow? I cannot get the fuse to blow, unless I try to push snow......

Now I'm totally stumped.
I guess I'll have to take tomorrow off, and trace every single wire to find the short (if there even is one).

STUMPED

[wyldman]

When the plow is in float mode (down),one of the coils will be energized,so it may be the coil,or one of the wires to it.

You can take an old headlight,and connect it across the fuse terminals.It should glow dimly when everything is normal.When the short happens,it will get bright.Now you can set it up on the dash,and go wiggle wires,tap on the coils,etc,until it lights up,and you have found the problem.

Could it also be something simple,like water or ice in the connector plugs ?

[D&T Repair]

You know, I did notice when I was checking the connectors (plug).
When I pulled the plug apart, there was a touch of water....but couldn't tell if it was there already, or from the snow that was falling (melting).
BUT, that sounds like the first thing that I'm going to check into....I'll pull the plugs apart, clean/dry them both, and put new dielectric (sp?) grease on both ends.

That makes complete sense :)

Hopefully, thats all that the problem is, as I was pushing (stacking) about 6' of snow which is WAY above the plug harness and alot of snow would have been covering the harness.

I'll have to come up with some way to seal-off the plug, although it seems fairly waterproof as it is.

I'll post my findings tomorrow.

Thanks a million wyldman, you've given me several ideas on where to look!

David

[D&T Repair]

Snow/water wasn't the problem.
I dried and cleaned the connections, and put dielectric grease on every connection possible.

BUT, I got it stop blowing fuses a few hours later. I basically took everything off and went through everything (was also a 1/2 qt. low of hydraulic fluid ). Didn't find any specific problems, but either way, put it all back together, and haven't blown a fused yet.

NOW THE BAD NEWS

Plow stops intermittently like there's a bad ground connection, or power conection for that matter.
Back to searching the wires :(

Maybe the wire that was shorting out has done it's damage, and worn the wire through so much as to need repairing! Now....where's that wire at....LOL

Time to cut into the harness so that I can see the wires (at all the "Y" branches.

I'll post what I find as usual.

[D&T Repair]

Checked all wires and connections, including under pump cover....all wires in perfect condition.

Found another possibility though~
The joystick.
As soon as push the slightest bit down, the fuse blows.
Everytime, the fuse blows, but ONLY when pushing the joystick down (to lower).

I'm thinking it's the joystick at fault here, and am on my way to pick-up a replacement (warranty) from out-of-town.

Will reply once I get the new joystick installed, and it had better fix my problem! If not, this plow is going back to the dealer for a COMPLETE refund.

David

[Rob]

Dave,
Sorry to hear about all the probs you're having...

While it is not what is causing your problem, I had a ground issue once. In back of the cover, the Ground wire comes out from under the cover and bolts to the A frame. That lossened up and I was getting a intermittent ground. So, sometimes it would move others it would sit. I was working on it at night and saw a spark, that's what got me going again so quickly. Like I said, you seem to have a worse problem than that becasue you're blowing fuses, but it may be something to look at while you're poking around to be sure it is good and tight as well.

Good luck getting it going !!

[D&T Repair]

No ground coming from the cover at all, it' sinside the cover bolting to the frame (newest model available).
Haven't figured out the problem yet, as I still blow fuses.
New joystick put in a few days ago.
New solenoid.
New fuse holder.
Checked ALL wires.....three times.

Guess I have to pay some company $65/hour to troubleshoot and fix it :mad:

[wyldman]

Maybe a bad coil ? IF the coils are interchangeable,try swapping them around.?If it now blows fuses when angling,then you know your problem is a coil.

Is the plow not covered under warranty ?

[D&T Repair]

Yes, covered by warranty....problem is finding a dealer that will repair it. ($65/hr+ labor charges not covered by warranty...parts only).

Angles just fine, raises just fine. Problem is when it lowers, or pushing snow.

Some say a ground connection, some say a float coil, some say it's wired wrong.

I did find snow/ice under the cover, probably from backdragging. I poured hot water under the cover (slowly, avoiding all wiring), to melt the ice, and since then I cannot get it to blow the fuse, but then again, there's no snow to push so that I can fully test it out.
Just working the joystick won't blow the fuse anymore, so we'll see.

This just sucks, this plow is less than 3 months old!
When it snows again, I'll test it and post the results (crosses fingers)

David

[D&T Repair]

Oh, as far as the coils go, I couldn't begin to tell you where they are, so I can't switch them, or what not.
No information in the manual, and dealers can't tell me (of course).

Can't find information online either~

[wyldman]

The coils should be somewhere on the pump unit.If they look the same,and will fit,they should be interchangeable.

The warranty should cover parts and labor no ? Most do.

[D&T Repair]

I checked into 2 dealers, they both said that labor is not included. I'll call Curtis today and find out.

Question?
You say to switch the coils, and see if it blows the fuse when turning the plow left to right...correct?
That way i can tell if it is the coil causing the problems?

There are two square "blocks" attached to the pump, maybe those are the coils.....there's nothing else but wiring and hoses, so I guess that those are the coils? (They are identical in appearance)

David

[wyldman]

There should be three coils,most use three.Just follow the wires,they will lead directly to the coils.

You can then disconnect the wires,and check for power in the float position,to find the correct coil.Then swap it for one of the others if they will interchange.If the problem goes away in the float mode,and trips the fuse when you angle,it's probably a bad coil (the original float coil).

[Rob]

Originally posted by D&T Repair
Can't find information online either~

David,
Have you seen these docs, perhaps they would be helpful to you ?

Curtis Docs (http://www.curtiscabs.com/Documents.html?Category=Tech%20Info%20%26%20Parts)

Good Luck !!!

[D&T Repair]

Now why couldn't I find those when I was looking on the Curtis site? LOL

One of those docs show the coils, and they are not interchangeable :(

I just went out and re-stacked a 6ft x 15ft. x 7ft. high pile of snow, flattened it out, and stacked it again. Didn't blow a single fuse.

Wonder if the snow/ice in the motor case was the cause....creating a short somewhere. If so, thats a definate flaw in design!
What, I can't backdrag anymore?

Oh well, as long as I can plow forward, I guess I can't complain!

Thanks for all the info Wyldman!

David

[wyldman]

I doubt it was anything in the motor,as the fuse has nothing to do with that circuit.

I still think it may have been ice or water in the grille connector.

[Rob]

I'm no where near as mechanically inclined as Chris so my only comments on the plug is that I have had some issue with the high beams not working when the plug is not perfectly snug. I loaded it up with Dilectric grease and it seems to have corrected that.
I would also add that I back drag with mine all the time. To the point that I have high centered the front end a couple of times and had to shovel under the plow frame to get out. So far, so good.
Glad it's working again for you, hopefully straightened out for good!

[Alan]

I know you said you have checked (repeatedly) all the wires, but I'd almost be willing to bet that somewhere there is a wire that has chafed through and is going to ground occasionally. There is some small amount of chassis flex when the plow is down that is not there when it is raised. Long shot, I know, and hell to diagnose. Try to trace the wire for the down coil and then figure out a way to run a patch wire from controller to coil. That would take the original wire completely out of the circuit. If the problem stays away you've found it.

Try to think through any difference in truck and plow positions between up and down and see if any part of the harness could be moving as the plow drops. Also check inside the controller box it that's possible, something could be moving (or have moved) and be shorting the down wire intermittantly.

Intermittant electrical gremlins are the worst thing going to troubleshoot. You never know if you've fixed it or if it has just gone away for a while.

Good luck.