My name is Evan, this is the first time I've posted on here. Anyway, I'm trying to help a friend diagnose a couple of hydraulic issues with his Gleaner K combine. I don't know the serial # but he said that it is one of the last K's before the K2's came out. The issues are possibly related:

1. The machine is very slow to lift and lower the head. He sent me a video of it and it was probably 25 seconds or more for the head to lower from all the way up to all the way down. If it was only slow going up, I would suspect the pump, but since it is slow both directions, I think it is a flow restriction somewhere. Is there an adjustment for flow control in the valve? He did disconnect the linkage and operated the spool at the valve and there was no change. I told him to check the lines too to make sure there wasn't a spot that was crushed or collapsing, but beyond that or a valve problem I'm not sure where else to look with that one.

2. After about 10 minutes of the engine running, not working the hydraulics just engine running, he said that the pump/reservoir/valve were so hot you couldn't hold your hand on them. My understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong, is that the system on these is "open centered" so there shouldn't be any significant pressure in the system until you move the handle to lift. It sounds like it is dead heading somewhere in the valve stack and making the pump work all the time. 

My hydraulic knowledge isn't the greatest. He is a couple states away from me so I can't easily go look at it is person. He had texted me about it a couple days ago because I'm working on an E, so we were comparing systems over the phone. He said he was going to pull the whole valve stack off and have it checked out, he may have already done that. I appreciate any knowledge and insight I can get from people who know these machines far better than I do. Thank you again, Evan