Cylinder Seal Bad?

[Jibber]

I was moving some earth and noticed a lot of hydraulic oil on the right side of my LA 723/Loader bucket. It was literally squirting out from the bucket cylinder seal on the right side. I looked at it and it appeared that a lip of the seal had flipped over and was protruding from the seal retainer cap. I was able with a small screwdriver to push the seal back in and it went in easy enough that I don't think I damaged the seal. I noticed a little more oil on the cylinder while working, but it may have been residual oil.

My question: A day later and no puddles. Should I still go after a warranty claim on this or are these kind of seal problems normal and I'm not likely to have a repeat problem down the road. The loader is about six months old (as is the tractor, an L3130HST). The dealer I bought the tractor off of is a hundred miles away.. I do have a more local dealer but I'm not sure he'd be too happy that I went elsewhere for a better price.

 

[rbargeron]

Cylinder seal leaks are not all that common - they are usually pretty tight.

My guess is that the seal is now damaged and the leakage will return when you lift something heavy.

Rather than trailering the whole rig, the cylinder could be removed and sent back to your dealer for seal replacement. Installing the seal is easy and you could do it yourself, but there may be some other factor that made it fail. Best to talk the situation over with your dealer - see what he wants to do.

 

[Jibber]

That was my feeling.. that it might present a problem in the future.

I've never removed any cylinders from the loader.. but I can guess that would be easier than moving the whole tractor to the dealer/shop.