hydraulic leak

[STLfirewood]

I have a small hydraulic leak on my skid steer that I am trying to chase down. I recently flipped the cab and cleaned the whole belly area out. Do they make a dye for hydraulic fluid that you can check with a light to try and find it? If so where can I get it.

Thanks Scott

 

[ASEMASTER]

yes they do

most good parts stores can get it for you and then use a black light to see the die,they sell a whole kit but it can be costley, the die will work in any fluids. you can also use a strobe light to see a leak if you know where to look for it.

 

[sawinredneck]

First a couple of things. How old and what kind of machine is it? (I know it's a skidsteer, but not much else)
How bad is it leaking?
I've had customers complain that a machine would leave aquarter sized spot on the garage floor over a week. VERY hard to find!!!
Clean the machine as best you can, then pressure wash it, take off all the covers and wash out all the nooks and cranies. It probably needs this anyway. Most of these machines only have a few places for oil to come out, so just becase it wet there, doesn't mean thats where the leak is.
Then run the machine and get it hot. Run the boom and bucket controls, work everything good. Pull it in and open it back up. Once it's all clean and the residual oil is gone it's not hard to track them down ussually. Look for a spot, then wrap your hand around the hoses and fittings in that area.

 

[ASEMASTER]

never ever

NEVER EVER use your hand to find a hyd. leak if you get injected with hyd. fluid you will more than likley loose the finger or hand from infection. NO JOKE

 

[sawinredneck]

NEVER EVER use your hand to find a hyd. leak if you get injected with hyd. fluid you will more than likley loose the finger or hand from infection. NO JOKE

I said to "bring it inside", meaning to shut it off.
I've hunted them on a running machine, but I don't like it, nor do I recomend it.
And yes, ASE is right, hyd. fluid under pressure will inject right into the blood stream, if it doesn't cut something off.

 

[TIMberbear]

It will also pollute the blood stream and once that happens REALLY BAD THINGS start. Use a mirror and cardboard.Never flesh, even gloved, to find leaks. Now, what kind of skidsteer? Model? Year? Is the engine long ways in the frame or side to side. Alot of variables that you have to know to get a good diagnosis. Can be a hose, loose fitting, bad o-ring, bad pump seal, the list goes on and on. The more info u can give the better and easier it will be to try and help.

 

[STLfirewood]

It's a John Deere 260 a 2001 model with around 1000k hours. I cleaned the whole underside of the machine (under the seat area around the motors) Man that was dirty. I haven't used it a lot since then. I'm going to check again tomorrow. It goes through about 2 gallon every 8-10 hrs.

Thanks Scott

 

[TIMberbear]

Ok now your engine and pumps are longways in the frame. Your main valve assy should be directly behind the foot control pedals.now with it losing that much oil you should be able to see it dripping when you shut it off from running or see oil hitting somewhere IF it pretty clean. Do u run an attatchment using the aux hydraulics? This could be an optional place for a leak as well. All of this looking and checking goes easier with 2 people than 1 but 1 person can do it, but you need 4 weight rated jackstands to get the wheels off the ground to keep it from KILLING YOU!!!!!!!!!

 

[grandpatractor]

Another trick that I have used it if you know the general area and are trying to pin point it. Spray ether or brake cleaner and then blow it of with a air hose. It makes everything clean and dry and easier to follow the oil trail.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Moving oil will carry dirt away with it. Until you cleaned it you could have looked for the clean place, or the wet spot.

It is a lot easier to work on clean equipment than caked on crud. No arguements there. Sounds like everybody is sending you in the right direction to find it.

 

[ssupercoolss]

you can use the dye that is used for a/c work. however with the size of the hyd. resevoir, you would probably end up having to put alot in. works ok on engine leaks, in the 5-6 qt range.