1430 Major Oil Leak

[Robert259]

I had a major oil leak on my 1430, but I couldn't figure where it was coming from. I cleaned the engine compartment, filled it up with oil and ran it hard for a few minutes. I lost about a quart of oil and it appeared to be coming from the rear end of the engine. I turned out that the oil pan had a crack in it.

When the engine was removed, I found a hydraulic hose with a connector on one end only; however, there was no place for this hose to connect, so I figured that it must have been one that was left over when the tractor was built.

There is less than 1 inch of clearance between the bottom of the oil pan and the bottom of the tractor. I think that the this hose worked its way under the engine and caused the crack in the oil pan as the engine bounced and vibrated during operation.

I thought that this might be helpful should someone else have a problem.

 

[toy]

The hose that you are talking about isn't the one that is supplied with the machine to purge the air out of the system after you have changed the filter on the hydroulics. When I got my pt they never said anything about this hose being in the engine compartment until I asked about the hose.

 

[MossRoad]

Toy has a good point. My unit shipped with a spare hydraulic oil filter and the air-bleed hose in a plastic bag stuffed into the engine compartment. Had I not opened the compartment at the shipping terminal, I would have left it in there until later.

How long have you had the unit?

 

[Robert259]

I bought the tractor in April, 1999. I was given the purge hose when I bought the tractor and it is made differently from the hose that I found. The purge hose had a 90 degree fittiing on one end and a standard fittiing on the other end. The hose that I found had a fitting on one end and appeared as if a fitting had been put on the other end but had come off. I haven't changed any hoses there. The only hoses that I have changed are the steering hoses and one for my stump grinder, all of which are significantly longer than this hose. I think maybe they make a lot of the hydraulic connections prior to installing the engine (more room) and in the process had a defective hose and just left it in the engine compartment.

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting. Our purge hose has a straight fitting on one end and nothing on the other end.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Mine has an angled fitting on one end and nothing on the other. (And is just a skosh too short to reach the tank, but I pump into a clear jar anyway to see what's happening.)
I suspect the offending hose was a bleed hose put in the engine compartment by someone other than the guy who handed one out.