I had the main hydraulic filter on my Case come loose today and was wondering if anyone else had this happen. Loosened maybe two rounds. I caught it pretty quick but never had this happen before. Filter had maybe 100 hrs since it was replaced. Hoping I just didn't get it tight enough. Had to run machine for maybe 2 minutes after I heard the leak. Really figured it was just a hose. I tightened it back up and added oil but was scared to run it much until new filter gets here in the morning.
Had a hydraulic filter develop a pin hole in the top last year. First sign of trouble was hydraulic fluid hitting the windshield. This was on a combine so the fluid was arcing up from the rear of the machine to come down just in front of the cab.
My luck on some of the Cats I used to service was just the opposite. One 769D had two small spin on hydraulic filter inside the left frame near the front axle. It was always a struggle to not get them too tight. Finger tight then just a nudge with the strap wrench. About half the time they would be so hard to turn to remove the outer can would slip on the threaded center section. Then it took a few well aimed hit with an air chisel to break them loose. One thing on your's I might want to take a close look at is the threaded nipple in the head to be sure it has not worked loose. Had a spin on by-pass engine oil filter on a K-19 that the nipple would sometimes back out when the filter was removed, never came loose and leaked but always checked it when changing filter.
Had that happen a few times on a case backhoe hyd filter. Put a hose clamp on the filter and safty wired it and was fine. In my previous profession I was an aircraft mechanic so everything got saftied.
I'll have to look at the nipple and make sure it's tight. If it happens again a safety wire is a good idea. I'm Hoping I just didn't get it tight it's in kinda a bad spot. Skids seem to be pretty high maintenance. Now I know why the guys I had come out before I bought one charged so much. Its always something.
I agree with others, if it's the proper filter, hydraulic filters typically don't come loose, on the contrary, they typically are a struggle to pop loose. First make sure it has the proper filter. Second, maybe a vibration problem, make sure the filter base mount is secure. Aside from that, hose clamp and retainer wire is probably the best solution, but it's just uncommon for hyd filters to come loose.
The hydraulic filter under the cab on my dad's 446B would never stay tight either.........until we got a non-Cat Fleetguard filter. Go figure.
Update. When I took the filter off today to put new one on I noticed the o-ring was blown out in one spot. Maybe 1/8". Makes me wonder if maybe it got pinched or cut upon instalation or if it got cut when it came loose. This stuff makes me lose sleep. Anyway luckily everything seems to be working fine. It did drop 8 gallons of oil in about 2 minutes.
If the O-Ring was blown out just in one spot don't you think that could have happened when the filter came loose..? Was the O-Ring damaged in any way or simply blown out of the groove..? Is it a loose O-Ring or does it come installed in the filter..?
The filter o-ring is maybe 1/8" in diameter and held in place by a few crimps. I noticed the bad spot as soon as I loosened the problem filter. The blown out spot almost looked like you cut a section 3/16-1/4 inch long with a knife and then set it on top of the fiter right next to the groove it sits in. I wish I had pic. I watch my equipment real close and service it regularly this will probably drive me crazy as long as I own the machine. I did notice that all of the filter blocks are removeable on this skid. Thats a good thing because I probably over tightened them yesterday.