I had a very odd occurrence yesterday while digging a hole for a new septic tank. I dug a steep ramp down one side so I could back down to dig with the backhoe, then turn around and drive down and get a scoop, then back out with a FEL bucket of dirt/rock.
Late in the job, the hole was about 6 feet deep and the ramp was getting really steep. I couldn't extend the ramp due to another pipe in the area. I started to spin while backing and pushed in the clutch and sort of free wheeled down hill a few feet. There was no impact or anything, but it was a lurch that triggered some strange things. The engine began to knock and smoke from under the hood, I lost tach function, I lost hydraulics, and I swear even the transmission was goofy but it's a gear drive and I'll admit I was in quite a panic at that point. I didn't want it to die in that hole. I managed to set the hand throttle and back out with help of the diff lock. Soon as I got up the ramp I shut it down and check things over. If I had to guess this episode might have lasted 30-60 seconds.
No external leaks, no oily mess on the intake, nothing odd on the oil, etc.
After about 15 minutes I started it up and all was normal again.
I was able to make another dozen or more trips down to finish the job with no repeats.
My only guess is the lurch at the bottom caused the fluids to rush forward/up and for instance maybe my hydraulic pump was sucking air. The tach not working and the smoking out the intake makes me think the cam/crank were out of sync but that's impossible. I'm baffled. I was very thankful it started up ok and I was able to finish my job with no repeats of this behavior. What do you guys think?
Late in the job, the hole was about 6 feet deep and the ramp was getting really steep. I couldn't extend the ramp due to another pipe in the area. I started to spin while backing and pushed in the clutch and sort of free wheeled down hill a few feet. There was no impact or anything, but it was a lurch that triggered some strange things. The engine began to knock and smoke from under the hood, I lost tach function, I lost hydraulics, and I swear even the transmission was goofy but it's a gear drive and I'll admit I was in quite a panic at that point. I didn't want it to die in that hole. I managed to set the hand throttle and back out with help of the diff lock. Soon as I got up the ramp I shut it down and check things over. If I had to guess this episode might have lasted 30-60 seconds.
No external leaks, no oily mess on the intake, nothing odd on the oil, etc.
After about 15 minutes I started it up and all was normal again.
I was able to make another dozen or more trips down to finish the job with no repeats.
My only guess is the lurch at the bottom caused the fluids to rush forward/up and for instance maybe my hydraulic pump was sucking air. The tach not working and the smoking out the intake makes me think the cam/crank were out of sync but that's impossible. I'm baffled. I was very thankful it started up ok and I was able to finish my job with no repeats of this behavior. What do you guys think?
