# Western Mark 3 cable operated, plow won’t angle left.



## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Some guy t-boned my plow on the passenger side.
He hit the plow so hard, he spun my truck sideways.
It's a 1978 K20, 3/4 ton, 8' bed.
Now, the plow won't angle left. I can't even push it left by hand. It raises / lowers just fine. Will angle right, but not left.
when I push the joystick to the left, I can hear the pump straining.
Could the force from the impact caused a internal valve failure?
The framework that bolts to my truck is bent, as is my truck frame, but nothing that would cause this issue.
Would someone please advise me what needs to be done to fix this ?


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

That's too bad.
http://library.westernplows.com/westernplows/pdffiles/13523_080092.pdf


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Nice rig BTW


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Pics of the damage?


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

dieselss said:


> Pics of the damage?


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

The lift arm is supposed to be in the center of my grill / hood emblem.
The heavy duty framework that bolts to the truck frame is bent & twisted.
It looks much worse in person. The front wheels are offset quite a bit now too.
This truck is my work hoarse. I plow with it in the winter, & haul tons of firewood / gravel / whatever.
It’s not my daily, but I need it !


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## jonniesmooth (Dec 5, 2008)

Nice truck. I think the ram is bent.
Or something the ram moves.


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Can you pull.the rams and try and move the blade by hand?


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

jonniesmooth said:


> Nice truck. I think the ram is bent.
> Or something the ram moves.


Nope. Ram is not bent.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

dieselss said:


> Can you pull.the rams and try and move the blade by hand?


I'm going to remove the hose & coupling on the driver side turning cylinder tomorrow, & see what happens when I move the blade by hand to the left.

Right now, when I try to manually move the plow to the left it won't budge. But, it'll go the other way, no problem.

I've had this plow for 30 years. I've had issues with it in the past, but never anything like this. I know I can fix it, I just haven't figured out how yet.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

This morning I disconnected the hydraulic hose at the driver side angle ram. I was able to easily turn the plow all the way left.
So........
I’m guessing that there is a problem with the valving ?


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Most likely the pressure relief as it is not holding pressure


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## Hydromaster (Jun 11, 2018)

If you swap the hoses does the problem switch sides?


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Or cushion valve


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Pulled the " cushioning valve block" off & now I can't get the two brass pipe plugs loose, or the two caps for the cushion valves.
Letting it soak in my parts washer tank.
Always somethin !


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Yea those probably haven’t been touched in a while


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## Mdirrigation (Dec 12, 2003)

make a claim on his insurance


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Mdirrigation said:


> make a claim on his insurance


Yes sir !


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## Lockman75 (Nov 21, 2020)

That's a Beautiful Rig you've got there . You've gotta soak the piss outta those Plugs, maybe even Heat. Ask me how I know .


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Lockman75 said:


> That's a Beautiful Rig you've got there . You've gotta soak the piss outta those Plugs, maybe even Heat. Ask me how I know .


How do you know?


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Well after a few hours of soaking, I removed the assembly, cleaned & wiped it down, wrapped it in a couple clean shop towels, and put it in my upright deep freezer, for overnight chill.
If I can get it out of there before my wife sees it, I’ll give it another shot tomorrow.
I’ll start with the brass pipe plugs.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Get square drive sockets.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Well, the freezer trick didn’t work for me.
Nothing will break free.
Not the two brass pipe plugs, or the 2 cap screws over the cushioning valve ports.
I’m either going to have to drill them all out, or look for a replacement block assembly.


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Try a little heat. Can’t hurt at this point


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Easy with it. It will work


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## Mdirrigation (Dec 12, 2003)

go on facebook market place , I just looked , used pumps are running around 200 bucks . I saw 2 in Pa . There has to be some close to you


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

I got my hands on a replacement cushioning block this evening. Will disassemble tomorrow for clean up / inspection. I’ll have to order gaskets.
Things are looking up.


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## Lockman75 (Nov 21, 2020)

How do you know?
2001 Chevy 2500HD 8.1 Western Ultramount MVP Western 500 salter

1999 GMC 7.4 Western 8' Unimount Pro Western Proflow salter

Well........When I started mine , The lift valve , with a slotted head , was litterly dissimilar metal welded shut. I attempted to drill it out & ruined the housing in the process.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Lockman75 said:


> How do you know?
> 2001 Chevy 2500HD 8.1 Western Ultramount MVP Western 500 salter
> 
> 1999 GMC 7.4 Western 8' Unimount Pro Western Proflow salter
> ...


Oh, wow, that's a bummer !
I didn't want to drill mine because of that possibility.
The only way I would try that would be to secure the block in my vise, bolt the vice to my drill stand table, & then try it. Yeah with the slot, the drill will want to walk.
I'm going to keep my original block, just in case I may need it in the future. I am curious to see what happened inside there.
The guy that T-boned my plow, hit me so hard he spun my truck around. I'm sure that threw one hell of a shock thru my hydraulic system.
Now, I'm playing the waiting game for gaskets & o-rings. Should have parts by 1st part of next week.
I was thinking about making a gasket out of paper, & using a skim coat of rtv. But, I don't want any future problems, so, I wait.


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

Whenever I see or hear of a plow that has a angle issue,with no mechanical problems evident, cause by an impact that tried to angle blade,I always suspect a bad coupler,first. Have seen lots of them go bad.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

With mine, the plow would do everything except angle left. So I removed the hose & coupler from the left cylinder, & then I was able to push the plow easily, all the way left. No coupler leaks, & the ball inside the hose moved off it’s seat when I applied pressure with my finger.


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

There are 2 parts to each coupler.Will leave an explanation from a plow repair shop.
they are rated at 3000psi. Now, the Crossover Relief Valve on the E-47 opens when the pressure in one of the hoses reaches about 3800psi. That doesn't necessarily mean that the pressure in the hose is 3800psi, it means that is when the valve pops open. The pressure in the hose can easily reach 17,000psi, depending on how fast the vehicle was moving when it hit an immovable object. Scary, huh? Sometimes it only takes exceeding that 3000psi rating once to cause a ball type coupler to fail, and only allow fluid to pass through it in one direction after that. When fluid tries to flow in the other direction, the damaged coupler acts like a check valve. That is why in the Troubleshooting Guides from Meyer they often suggest to "replace the Couplers" when there is an angling problem.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

When I disconnected the left hose at the coupler, I was able to easily push the ball valve off it’s seat. What other way is there to check ?
I thought it was ok. Could I be wrong?


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

I’m thinking of the hose end only. I didn’t even consider the female side of the coupler.


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

1978K20 said:


> I'm thinking of the hose end only. I didn't even consider the female side of the coupler.


Bingo!, you can always leave it out,for testing and such,if you have the right pipe fittings laying around.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

I located all the parts I needed today locally. So I bought a set of new couplings, and a rebuild kit for the angling valve. I put it all back together. Now everything works, but the angle action is too slow.
I adjusted the cable as much as possible, but I think maybe the gap is too big inside the valve body. Never done this before. I will probably remove the valve body & try to set the gap tighter by removing or changing the shims.
It was prolly just a damaged coupler all along !
I had my plow action set fast, before my truck got T-Boned.
Thanks for your help MB !


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Glad you got it fixed!


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

Hang intere, and remember to research before replacing parts.


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## 1978K20 (Nov 30, 2005)

Today, as much as I regretted it, this afternoon, I walked out to my truck and ran the plow thru another round of functions. I don’t understand, but, the cycle time was dead on!

Did something “seat in” overnight maybe!
I don’t know, but I’m happy with it.


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

Not sure. Temperature play a role?


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

Might have been some air in it that worked it's way out. Best bull line I have at the moment. If she's working, leave it be.


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## jonniesmooth (Dec 5, 2008)

I'll take lucky over good every time.


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## Western1 (Dec 4, 2008)

GIDDYUP


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## Lockman75 (Nov 21, 2020)

Glad you got her back up to speed....Nice Rig.


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## Mountain Bob (Nov 12, 2017)

Cool,glad you are usable. Oh, you should see how slow older myers units swing when below -20,lol!


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