Loader Has anyone else been plagued with leaking quick couplers on FEL?

kpbeddin · Aug 17, 2012

I was able to replace one under warranty, but have been noticing another small drip on another for several months. Today, it seems there are at least 2 that are leaking and one is almost a steady drip during operation. Has anyone replaced theirs with an aftermarket quick coupler? I'm not so sure I want to go with LS brand given the repeated failures.

Gary Fowler · Aug 17, 2012

I snatched two of them off the distribution block when the front tire caught the hoses because the dealer routed them wrong. I replaced them with ones from New Holland T2030 as they are the same size and LS dealer didnt have any. I dont know if all FEL couplings are the same size or not but they are expensive: male side was $26 each and almost afraid to price the female ones. Normal rear remote coupling can be bought anywhere for about 10-12 bucks for female and 6-8 for the male. But the answer is no, none of mine have ever leaked on the P 7010 but I have never had one unhooked intentionally.

bcjmmac · Aug 18, 2012

I had one that was leaking a bit. I figured it was likely dirt so uncoupled it, cleaned all the couplings out really well, & haven't had any issues since.

good luck

Gary Fowler · Aug 18, 2012

The seal is with a rubber o ring or flat style ring and if dirt gets inside or under the ring, it wont seal. The seals can be removed from the female coupling with an o-ring pick or even a small flat screw driver but be careful not to damage it. You should wipe the male clean before inserting and keep the caps on the female and swab them out if any dust gets inside. If it is leaking when uncoupled then the coupling valve seats are bad and the couplings have to be replaced. I have never had one leak on any tractor in 45 years of dealing with them even with some abuse of not perfectly cleaning them prior to hook up.

bullbreaker · Aug 18, 2012

Gary Fowler said:
I dont know if all FEL couplings are the same size or not but they are expensive: male side was $26 each and almost afraid to price the female ones. Normal rear remote coupling can be bought anywhere for about 10-12 bucks for female and 6-8 for the male. But the answer is no, none of mine have ever leaked on the P 7010 but I have never had one unhooked intentionally.

Paid under $23 w/tax included for this set , from TSC Naples,Fl. Needed it to use with wet guage to check and bump up my FEL cap on my L3400DT Bota. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/128908-bump-up-lift-capacity-l3400.html

I found that though sizes on ends the same I could not just tap in guage and use female connector over my Bota male end. I had to unscrew Bota original and screw on set piece that came with coupling set. Did not take it back to TSC I'l just keep it for any future use. Never had one leak on me either or had trouble getting on or off.

Boone

kpbeddin · Aug 18, 2012

Thanks guys. I decided to replace an O ring in one of the female connectors and see if that fixes the problem. One thing I noticed on mine is that there is not only an O ring, but a teflon seal that fits with it in the same slot. The only O rings I could find were very slightly larger in thickness (~ 1/32 in. maybe) but the same diameter. At any rate the new O ring with the old teflon seal would install correctly, but made too tight of a fit to get the connector to snap on. I removed the teflon seal and replaced with another new thicker O ring. This gave me a very snug fit (much more than the stock stock setup). I feel pretty good about it and wonder if the teflon seat along side the O ring may have been part of the problem since the teflon is farily rigid and easily deformed. After I have had a chance to run for a while to check for leaks I will let you know how it turns out.

Gary Fowler · Aug 18, 2012

You found like I did that even though they look the same they wont fit. Some are just a tad too large in diameter,some a tad too small, some had the seat ring a little off, threads different etc. There are literally dozens of different hydraulic couplings and even with the mate, it is hard to get the right one from a place like TSC or in my area Atwoods. I got lucky with finding that my brother in laws NH had the same size but even after a 30 mile trip to the NH dealer he only had one and I had to have two. I bought the one and had him ship me 2 more for $56 delivered by UPS so at least I saved my gas.

Forfar · Aug 18, 2012

Yep, I had the a leaking coupler on the FEL lines. One tiny drip every couple of minutes. Put the wrench on it a got a 1/16th turn. Also noticed that the coupler was just touching the shoulder of the coupler below it. I slacked off the line clamps and moved it ahead 1/8th of an inch. Not leaking anymore.

kpbeddin · Aug 20, 2012

Well, after replacing the seal and O ring with a single O ring as stated above, it appears I have stopped the leak for now anyway. I worked about an hour purposely using the FEL to move and stack some old brushpiles and still could not get any leaks after getting everything good and hot. This makes me wonder what purpose the teflon seal along side the O ring serves,maybe added protection to the O ring from multiple disconnects? Anyway,I will keep an eye on things and if nothing else, I have at least a temporary fix for when the next significant leak develops.