Really appreciate you posting this video. I just picked up a mid 70s C500-HY40 for my home mechanic shop, and I am eager to restore it and correct the years of neglect. Your video helped give me a feel for what to expect before tearing into the job.
I know this is an old video but can you explain how the clutch brake system work? I’m going to replace my clutch and brake master cylinders and the lines go into a cylinder that’s mounted behind the mast. Btw this video was great really appreciate you taking the time to make such in depth videos explaining how to work on these old things
On the C300, the right brake pedal operates the brakes as usual. The left pedal operates the brakes but also shuts off the fluid supply to the transmission, essentially putting the lift in neutral. This is supposed to give additional safety and fine control. For instance, you could ease up to a truck with a load, step on the left pedal, and rev the engine to raise the load quickly without applying power to the wheels. The left pedal is commonly referred to as an "Inching" pedal. The C500 worked slightly differently, but I sold that lift shortly after this video was made and don't recall exactly what the difference was. I think the pedal functions were the same but there was a difference in the master cylinder arrangement.
Actual, I got this wrong. I don't use my C300 very often, but I did yesterday. On the C300 both pedals are on one bar, so both pedals activate the brakes and the inching valve the same way. It's the C500 that has separate pedals, with right pedal activating brakes as usual and left pedal activating the inching valve also. Now I recall that the C300 has one master cyinder and the C500 has two master cylinders.
Bought a C500 a few months back for my home shop. Starting to tear down for brake repairs when i found your video. it showed me just what I needed. Getting parts ordered this week. Thanks for the video. After the brakes I have to take lift cylinder out... really bad leak. But enjoy working on things and need a lift.
@@sierraspecialtyauto7049 yes did that on mine, but only did the lower half. Top didn't seem to be leaking and cap was welded in... so I left it alone, Well after about a few uses the lower side is great, but now the main upper is leaking... just enough to cause dripping. so going to see in a few weeks if I can just get this done without removing the whole cylinder again.
I have a C300-40 from the early '70s. It's giving me brake trouble so thank you for this video. I checked the fluid and it was low, which I topped off, but now I think I got some air in the lines because it goes right to the floor and will barely engage, for some reason in forward gear only, so I'm going to try bleeding them first before tearing into it like this. This gives me enough info to get started. I'm suspicious I might have one or both wheel cylinders bad though, or maybe something going on with the transmission lockout. Things I've already fixed on this machine: 1. Full teardown and rebuild of the lift cylinder, fabricated up a new steering cylinder bushing out of a hunk of aluminum I had in the scrap pile, 3. New distributor/conversion to electronic ignition, 4. Modernized the LPG fuel system by converting to an early '90s Impco vaporizer and throttle body setup, 5. Installed an actual canister air cleaner on the engine off of a lawnmower application, 6. Rebuilt the wiring harness from scratch because the insulation was all but gone on the original wires. It was all hacked to pieces anyway and a bunch of stuff was wired wrong, like they had the hour meter wired straight to the battery (so no idea how many actual hours are on the machine). Still left to do is that the tilt cylinders creep pretty bad so those need attention, this brake issue now and the bad distributor overheated the engine so it needs a new head gasket. The engine is tired but it still runs pretty good otherwise. If I can get it to stop drinking water I should be in good shape.
I have one I just got that has no brakes either. Pedal goes straight to the floor. Inching pedal works fine though. I opened the master cylinder reservoir and filled it since it was empty but still no pedal pressure even after bleeding master cylinder. I think this is what’s next for me.
@@rabbitsFeetProd I bought a new master and put it on about a week ago. All fixed now. The amount of crud in that reservoir and lines was about as bad as I've seen on any brake job I've done. Bled the system pretty thoroughly and the pedal feels nice and firm. The inching function works flawlessly now. Master cylinder said "Made in USA" on it, so it and the fluid may have been original to the machine since the '70s. Hopefully the slave cylinders keep holding up because those require removing the final drives to get to. Based on what it looked like when I bled the system, I may have gotten lucky and all the moisture and rust stayed with the master. It is pretty low in the system, so gravity would be on my side there. Not the end of the world if the rest needs attention but pretty involving.
Good to see you up again, seeing you rebuild wheel cylinders reminds me of being a teenager with more time than either brains or money so I was rebuilding them on my old cars and truck. Didn't know of the brake cylinder assembly lube at the time, just honed using alcohol and assembled using brake fluid. Was an interesting repair to watch.
Hi, Everett. Brake fluid is fine for assembly (and even for honing) if the cylinder is going right into service. the brake fluid will wash out the lube anyway. My work done for customers often sat on the shelf for months or years before installation--that's where the Assembly Lube works better.
Your wife seems to be quite accommodating about tool/toy acquisition...ask her again. My wife, also a teacher (retired after 33 years in elementary grades) is also quite willing for me to buy tools. This lift will be for sale soon, but I don't think it would be appropriate for your yard.
There is nothing worse than working on a small fork lift. I have a lot more faith in brake cylinders that you rebuilt than offshore new ones. Keep up the good work. Hope you saw warm.
Hello Joe, nice vid and job well done. Mine is a C500 Y40 PD, sn 355... I would like to fit a shifter, but I am not quite sure on the hydraulic layout? There is already an Eaton valve on the right hand side, but no leverage. So wonder, whether this is a valve for a shifter, which I can use buying the missing parts. Regards Heinz
Thanks for sharing your knowledge via RU-vid. I’m doing brakes on my Clark C300 and didn’t anticipate a giant puddle of oil when I removed the hub assembly. Could you fill me in on the oil type that I should be replacing this with.
Hello good sir, I was wondering if you could elaborate a little about the adjusters. The lift I’m working on, when disassembled the adjusters were loose. Did not have the pin on the locking but, rather just some punch marks. They worked loose, and was wondering if there were torque specs listed in the manual? Or any specific instructions. Thank you and happy new year!
Joe, thanks for the video, it's been awhile :) Thanks for showing your cylinder sleeving, nice work. Where did you buy your brass sleeves? I would like try that in my home shop - thanks!
The sleeves came from tube stock purchased in 10'-14' lengths from a supplier in Chicago. I used to buy $3k-$4k worth of tube every couple of years. I don't know of a practical source for the home shop. Thanks.
@@sierraspecialtyauto7049 Thanks, a 10' to 14' length would be a bit of overkill :) I see I can get one foot lengths of one inch tubing in .025, 032 or .065 wall thickness from McMaster-Carr, what would you recommend? Thanks Joe!
@@kisoia You're looking at .032" or .065" to get IDs in 1/16" sizes, which is what you usually need. Years ago I could get .032" wall tube in 1/16" increments from 1/2" ID up to 1-5/16" ID, but many of the even 1/8" ID sizes are no longer available. Even ten years ago I was having to use .065" wall tube for many sizes.
Thank you for the video. You mentioned the intensive instruction on the self adjustment guide. The lift I am working on is the same as shown. The last time the break job was done they rebuilt the cylinders which ended up seizing and shoes road up pinching and tearing into the rubber cylinder dust/ piston covers. My question is could this auto adjustment pins best be put in at the 3oclock positions vs the 12 o'clock. The shoe appears to be able to accommodate that arrangement and the oblong slot on the shoe appears to have the pad travel more in mind. I hope you can understand my translation. Thank you.
Thanks for the video. Can you provide any advice or insight of how to dislodge the wheel bearing housing and drum from the transmission housing after removing the bolts? I have tried to pry, push etc but it doesn't want to loosen.
@@sierraspecialtyauto7049 Yes I removed all 10 nuts, 5 outside and 5 inside, 2 were somewhat difficult. Should this assembly just simply slide away from the differential housing or do you have a method or process to pry this apart? I sure appreciate any help. This is a first time for me. Thank you
@@capndavid2001 There may be sealant keeping the parts stuck together. It's been long enough I can't remember for sure, but there may also be close bearing fits that have to come apart. Try working a putty knife or similar tool between the parts.
Thanks, Gary. One of these days I hope to have a lift more like yours. This one is OK in my yard when the ground is dry and hard, but the least bit of rain shuts me down.
Hi and thanks for sharing your expertise. I would like to fit a siteshifter to my Clark C500Y40PD. Is there a vid on that topic, too? Kind regards Heinz
My C500 has sideshift but is not a Y model. I don't know if the Y would be different. Comparing the C300 without and the C500 with, it looks to me as if it would be a LOT of work to convert. Parts from a forklift boneyard would make it a lot easier.
Hello, good morning. I have a Clark C500 and 50, I am from Argentina. I need information on a specific part that I am missing. I would like to know if it can be manufactured.
I have the same machine, it has been parked for about 3 years with the parking brake on. I went to move it and it seems as if the parking brake doesn't release. The actual lever moves but I think the pads aren't releasing. Any ideas how to release them?
That will be a frozen cable, I think. I had to take my parking brake cable off and work on it for a long time to get the inner cable moving in the sheath and get penetrating oil all the way through. Probably took an hour or more.
You have a brudi side shift on there? I have 79 300 I I have a bad trans leak I can’t find it I’ve been having a hard time even change the o ring in between the drive trans ... still leaks
THANKS TOO MUCH FOR THE VIDEO! VERY USEFULL FOR PEOPLES FROM ANOTHERS COUNTRIES LIKE ME! CAN YOU TELL WHAT KIND OF FLUID USE TO FILL THE BRAKES IN THIS MODEL OF FORKLIFT?
The recommended fluid is DOT 3, which is standard glycol brake fluid. DOT 4 would be acceptable. DO NOT use any kind of petroleum-based fluid. Thanks for your kind comment.
I’m looking at a 1979 C300-50, serial 356, it has a leaking front main and a minor leak in the back that could be a water pump, but unsure. Are parts for this lift hard to find and is the front seal a huge deal?
Main seal leaks aren't too big a deal if you have the engine out. I'd hate to have to work on them with the engine still in the lift. See my video at ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l_HfgcCH0NU.html for coverage of seal replacement. I've been getting most of my parts from store.hgmforkliftparts.com/
@@sierraspecialtyauto7049 I ended up buying this C300-50. Would you happen to have a shop manual I can purchase or make a copy of yours? I'll gladly pay for your time, expense.
I agree. Replace with new when you can ... IF you can. My living trailer has hydro-vac brakes. It's wheel cylinders are obsolete, and not one NOS unit could be found. Some guy in California (Los Angeles) quoted what I considered extortionist prices to recondition the bore on the old one. I could understand the liability involved, but this price was beyond reason and my wallet. Just getting the quote had me puckered.
@@sierraspecialtyauto7049 Not at this time, anyway. I got away with honing it and replacing the seals. I'd have to take things apart to get the part numbers again. It may change later this year, I intend to hook up and test them, as it seems that just letting them set is one of the worse things you can do. Now that I've got the machining equipment, I can fashion an adapter for a power bleeder and do a proper flush of the fluid, that may bring out any problems that have developed since then. It's been about 15 years since I did that work.
On my C300, there is a hole in the side rail about six inches to the right of the gas pedal over the master cylinder. The C500 has two master cylinders. I don't recall exactly, but they are along the side of the transmission-probably under the floorboard.
I'm guessing you mean "do not spin" as in the wheel doesn't turn. If the lift has been sitting for many years, my guess would be the shoes are rusted to the drum. If this happened suddenly on a lift that was in service, I would guess a problem in the final drive such as a broken gear.
@@sierraspecialtyauto7049 I am busy getting everything done so it will stay on the list of things to do for awhile. Did you turn the drums before you put them back on?
I've had good luck with HGM Liftparts at store.hgmforkliftparts.com. You can look up Clark dealers at www.clarkmhc.com/Home/DealerLookup. There are other places you can find with a Google search for "forklift parts".
