Leaking front end loader cylinder

/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #1  

Kenneth in Texas

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
470
Location
Pretty good ways from DFW, Texas
Tractor
Kubota L2800 4wd, FEL
kubota L2800, almost 10 years old. Tell me please where is the best place to get a seal kit AND how big a job to install it? Never worked on one before but looks straight forward :)
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #2  
Local hydraulic shop would be where I start. Should be able to match up by size.
Assuming this is a gland seal leak that is causing oil to leak on the ground??
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder
  • Thread Starter
#4  
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/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #5  
I had my local hydraulic repair shop do mine. Vetted them first with a local grading contractor. They constantly need some sort of hydraulic repairs and know who is good. Many advantages IMHO - they have tons of experience, all the right special tools, equipped to do piston/rod straightening and polishing if needed, know sources for high-quality aftermarket seals and bushings, TEST the finished repair, and WARRANTY it. And all at a cost about the same as just getting the parts from the OEM.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #6  
I'd start by taking it apart And going to a hydraulic shop.

There is more there than meets the eye. What you see that looks damaged isn't the seal that keeps the oil in. That's just a dust seal to keep debris and water out.

Take it apart. Could be a "packing", or could be some o-rings. Never had a Kubota cylinder apart so I don't know
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I'd start by taking it apart And going to a hydraulic shop.

There is more there than meets the eye. What you see that looks damaged isn't the seal that keeps the oil in. That's just a dust seal to keep debris and water out.

Take it apart. Could be a "packing", or could be some o-rings. Never had a Kubota cylinder apart so I don't know

a good 60 miles from one plus the aftermath from the hurricane has everything hopping so i will more than likely attempt this fix myself :( any suggestions of where to get the seals online at?

UPDATE NOW when i say "it leaks" we are talking 3 drops oil oil in 60 seconds ONLY when the shaft is not extended, not when the shaft is all the way out.
 
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/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #8  
a good 60 miles from one plus the aftermath from the hurricane has everything hopping so i will more than likely attempt this fix myself :( any suggestions of where to get the seals online at?

UPDATE NOW when i say "it leaks" we are talking 3 drops oil oil in 60 seconds ONLY when the shaft is not extended, not when the shaft is all the way out.

Your local dealer will probably have parts as cheap as any kubota parts dealer online.

Messicks is a good source for parts and diagrams. But my dealer is usually similar in price. And tax is cheaper than shipping usually unless its a really expensive part
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #9  
I had a similar leak on one of the cylinders on my 15 yr. old B2910/LA402 loader, this past Winter. I ordered a seal kit from my Kubota dealer, with the idea of rebuilding the cylinder when warmer weather arrived. In the interim, I added about 6 ounces of "Lucas Oil Hydraulic oil booster and sealer", which I bought from a local auto parts store. Within a couple of hours use, the leak stopped, and I haven't lost a drop of fluid since. I have the seal kit, and may need it some day, but for now, there aren't any more "spots" on the workshop floor, and the fluid level is staying full.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Re: Leaking front end loader cylinder-UPDATE

well the seal kit finally arrived, mine was a whopping $80 for what amounted to some rubber and nylon looking seals, now thats how you make money, you sell $2 worth of stuff for idiots like me for $80 :( but oh well what can one do.

Anyway, got the seals, read a bunch about it and watched some videos, didnt appear too tough and had read on some forums that it was a bear and take it to a shop etc etc etc. almost had me spooked since Ive never in 60 years put on a seal kit on a hydraulic cylinder before but nevertheless figured I would give it a try.

One of the most easiest things Ive really ever done, i was amazed how simple and straightforward it was, messy but very easy to do, took longer to round up the tools than it did to take the cylinder apart and re-seal it. Probably 30 minutes I was done taking it off, taking it apart and then putting it back together.

I did learn that my loader, the kubota La463 has a possible 3 kits that fit depending on what cylinders kubota put on it, of course my kit wasnt the cheapest one which didnt surprise me since nothing works out perfectly for me but anyway it came, its installed, it doesnt leak anymore :)

I must have damaged the wiper and the gland seal earlier in the week pushing some brush around. Had to be a small but very hard small stick that hit the wiper just right and pushed past that and into the gland seal, tearing both up pretty good. Amazing that the angle was just right that the stick hit the cylinder just right to go up into my cylinder a good inch or so and fit in an area the width of a dime :(

Here's some pics of the damaged seals in case some havent seen whats up in your hydraulic cylinders. The kit came with all the O rings and other seals and although the existing ones looked good (only 500 hours on tractor) I went ahead and replaced all them while I was in there.
 

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/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #11  
Yep, that would certainly cause a leak.

Glad you got it fixed.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #12  
Glad you have it fixed. I learned the hard way to. I repaired one cylinder and then the next cylinder I took it to a hydraulics place and it ended up $20 cheaper to have them do it as compared to me buying the seal kit and doing it myself.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #13  
I just took a cylinder from my LA463 to a local shop 1 hour and $128.75 later I took it home... Very reputable shop and quality work... I used them before on a John Deere loader and it was a little cheaper because it was not metric...
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #14  
Glad you have it fixed. I learned the hard way to. I repaired one cylinder and then the next cylinder I took it to a hydraulics place and it ended up $20 cheaper to have them do it as compared to me buying the seal kit and doing it myself.

Same here. I'm a DIY'er, but I farm that job out.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #16  
These Kubota hydraulic cylinder seal kits are expensive. The most pressing problem seems to be the rod seal, the one with the metal ring and the rubber seal nested inside. Trying to find a direct seal distributor where I can just by that seal. Has these markings: " WPS 1.250 1.690 0.187" which I assume are the dimensions but no clue what the WPS is. Also it has this number P01112 and the letters TCS. TCS is the manufacturer maybe? Gone to a couple seal distributor websites and they don't have anything with these measurements... any help would be appreciated.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #17  
Hook Industrial Sales in Ft Wayne,IN can fix any cylinder.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #18  
Just an educated guess, but the rod seal you describe is probably the outer wiper seal. That's probably what WPS means. If it's actually leaking oil from the rod the inner pressure seal is leaking and you'll have to take it apart to get at it.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #19  
I bought my last seal kit on ebay for my 1991 JD round baler.

On the difficulty of the job, I found 2 problems: finding the locking mechanism for the shaft portion and getting the packing to go back in the hole when finished.

If the locking mechanism is an externally visible snap ring, or it's obviously a screwed on cap, it's easy. Cleaning of paint and foreign material from the inside diameter of the cylinder helps in piston retraction. If the locking mechanism isn't visible externally, depress the piston and look on the inner side of the cylinder just below the open end....like シ" below the end, for an internal snap ring. Pop that out and the piston should come out.

My biggest problem getting it back together was the cylinders on a JD 152 loader...100 hp tractor. Took some imagination but got her done. Small cylinders no biggie.

Obviously the cylinder is usually removed from the tractor and both fittings on the cylinder are open.....can't pull the piston out of the cylinder if the lower fitting is plugged.
 
/ Leaking front end loader cylinder #20  
These Kubota hydraulic cylinder seal kits are expensive. The most pressing problem seems to be the rod seal, the one with the metal ring and the rubber seal nested inside. Trying to find a direct seal distributor where I can just by that seal. Has these markings: " WPS 1.250 1.690 0.187" which I assume are the dimensions but no clue what the WPS is. Also it has this number P01112 and the letters TCS. TCS is the manufacturer maybe? Gone to a couple seal distributor websites and they don't have anything with these measurements... any help would be appreciated.

TCS is the manufacturer in Taiwan, Cheng Mao, Precision Sealing Co.
PO1112 is the part number (letter "O" not zero)
WPS (I think you meant WPB) is the wiper style, cross-section and material (nitrile)
The cylinder is in inches (not metric)
1.250 is the shaft dia
1.690 (1-11/16 I know 1.687") is the OD of the seal or ID of the pocket in gland nut face
0.187 is the depth of the pocket in the gland nut face.

To search the web for a replacement, try 12501687 and 12501690 then look for the 187 depth

www_tcsoilseal_com will get you the oem catalog (replace the _ with .)

been there, done that... for the next guy
 

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