L185DT 3PT Arms Won't Lift

[wadeprunty]

Hello, I'm having an issue with my L185DT. The 3PT arms won't lift. I've never had an issue with them before, and they were working just fine a two days ago. I had the tractor off and parked, with a mower lifted in the air. I lowered the mower today and now when I try to lift it nothing happens.

The flow control knob under the the seat, I know it only controls the lowering of the arms, has a 17mm plug/bolt right under it, and I've pulled it and confirmed the fluid is flowing.

I used the fill plug to confirm the hydraulic fluid is at the correct level. All fluids and filters were changed a couple of months ago using OEM parts.

The lift arm lever feels nice and tight, no different than it always has. There is a breather pipe under the seat, if a dirt dauber got in there could that cause this issue? Does anyone know if that breather pipe just threads on and off? I don't want to try to turn it without confirming that first.

Also, my tractor has never had a front loader, so no extra hose runs to work through.

With this information, can anyone point me to some other things to look at? Maybe a process of elimination to work through? I'm fairly new to all of this, but I learn quickly...I've already rebuilt the front right axle.

Thanks!

 

[Russell King]

There is a feedback rod that connects the small lift arms to the valve inside the tractor case. See item 39 in this picture and make sure it is connected at both ends and isn’t very loose at either end.

You can try to remove any load from the arms and see if the arms will raise. That would indicate that the piston seal is leaking and can’t build up pressure to create force to lift.

You can also lift the arm slightly to make sure they can move up at all. Don’t move the arms up much since there is a loose connection between some internal parts that can cause parts to fall out of position under the condition of now down force on the arms.