Hey guys another newb question, i had no problems with my gehl 4835 sxt until this weekend, had it parked outside for a while and it did dip below freezing a couple days but no problems with battery or anything. Had to get it up a hill which wasnt easy with the wet ground from night frost (lesson learned). So it took some wheel spinning and a winch but drovw fine after that hydraulics worked fine. I get it in the garage for the winter and next morning theres a gallon of hydraulic fluid on the ground, the fluid sight is dry. Starts up fine bucket goes up warning lights never worked right i think theyre bad. Looks like flluid may have come out of the 2 holes in the bottom of the painted surface near the rear as they look wet. The only other thing i did was wash the mud off the tires before i got it in the garage but i didnt get the water on any hot surfaces or anything. So before i go crazy with disassembly, any tips on where to look for and how to test for leak with refilling? Im really hoping its some sort of hose and nothing major. Thank you
...meaning what can i expect from the hydraulics while testing? obviously wont be anywhere near the bucket
What I would do first is wash out the belly of the machine as thoroughly as possible. A hot water pressure washer is ideal for this if you can get ahold of one. Then once everything is clean and shiny refill the hydraulic reservoir and run it around some. After that just tilt the cab up again and look for the highest wet spot to find your leak. I wouldn't want to try finding the leak with the machine running. That could get a little hairy.
And be VERY careful trying to find a leak!!! High pressure hydraulic oil can blast right through gloves and skin like it's paper which will give you blood poisoning!!! Best way is like jacobd said in the above post... give it a thorough cleaning then top off the fluids and check for leaks you man not even have to start it up if the leak keep seeping, but if you do don't run it very long just a few minutes should be enough to spot something.
Well that wasnt hard to find. Pics attached. The bolts are completely loose. Since i have zero hydraulic repair experience other than changing the hydraulic oil temp sensor so warning light would go off, anyone care to give me a step by step? Can i just close it? Doesnt look like any gasket in there, if needed maybe i can use a liquid type without taking it apart? Any ideas why this happened? As i said wasnt lifting much lately just sitting in the cold. Thanks
On second thought after cleaning there might be some sort of gasket or metal piece deeper in
Unfortunately I think you're going to have to take that all apart and clean it spotlessly . If you get any of that dirt mixture in the hydrostatic system you might as well start shopping for a new machine. Pump and motor combination could easily be over $5000. Maybe you could separate it enough to clean all the dirt out but don't take a pressure washer to it, that will just force the dirt further inside. If you saw the leak on the ground, you should have looked for the leak first and checked the hyd. oil level before starting it. Might not have been tightened properly from the factory. I had to have a motor replaced on my skid steer because it was leaking into the chain case ($2600 parts and labor) and the idiots that did the work didn't tighten the drive chain. The chain I could hear slapping around so got that tightened. Then after using the machine for about an hour stopped to look at the job I was doing. Got back in the machine, revved it up went about 5 feet and all of a sudden it wouldn't move. I looked around and saw oil everywhere. It looked like it could have been a hose in behind the hyd. filter. It was wet and the fitting had a little rust so I got a new hose even though I couldn't see a problem with the hose. Just out of dumb luck I tried to turn the hyd. filter and it was loose. The idiots didn't tighten the filter enough. I had to replace all the hydraulic oil that was just replaced. I will never have any work done by this shop again. I just recently had to get an oil pressure sensor from them. The parts manager said they'd have to order one in. I picked it up and it was the wrong one. (This is the same guy who years earlier said the labor to change the motor was about $500 but when I picked up the machine it was $1300) I talked with a different parts guy who pulled out the book and it showed 2 oil sensors. He looked at the other number and they had it in stock and it was less than half price of the other one.
I did clean out the dirt but didnt take the pump apart. Theres no way to drain the oil and replace it with clean without taking the entire pump apart?
if there was a big enough leak for the fluid to pour out then how do you know a piece of gasket didnt break off and go into the pump or what other dirt you pushed in while cleaning it...all you need is a grain of sand to get into the wrong place and its $$$$$$$$$$$$$ to fix....it may be clean as could be, but what are you willing to risk and how much.....you can try to fill up with hydraulic fluid with the pump bolts loose and see if any dirt comes out, but thats a gamble you would have to take....I dont know how long or difficult it is to pull the pump and make sure all is spotless, do you have a manual on that machine?.while your at it you may as well clean out the reservoir tank of any junk in the bottom, now that its mostly empty...
I agree and if it needs a new gasket has to come apart anyway. I know it sucks having to pull it all apart.
Ok thanks so the reason i was asking was i didnt want it sitting open for a week and since no one responded i decided it would be better to clean as is and tighten bolts. I guess i can loosen again and drain the oil through the opening since i added more to test for leak. One question, are you saying there must have been a gasket in there that must have disintegrated? Thanks