Hydraulic Water mix in BX2200

[RYM]

I知 Long time viewer first time poster looking for some valuable help. I just purchased a 2003 BX2200. Not my first Kubota. Had a b8200 once, wish I kept it. Anyway, following day I did a thorough check over. Noticed the hydraulic filter was original. With 548 hours on it I decided it was well past due and purchased a new filter. The hydraulic oil that is pouring out from the filter port is the consistency of coffee with extra cream. I have checked EVERYWHERE and referenced the manual and cannot see or think of where this much water could have entered from. Suction line and screen verified tight and clean. The previous owner left his tractor outside quite a bit. I have new UDT oil to flush it out but waiting till I resolve this before replacing with the better SUDT. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Mine stays outside all the time here in the rainy Puget Sound, and I have never had water in the HST in over 1000 hours, but I run it and work it hard often which boils all the water out probably it it does get any.

You never know what previous owners have done. May be he topped off the fluid with water, anti-freeze, or who knows what. Main thing now is get it out.

Here is something that may work: Probably take several fills, refills, strainer cleaning, and filter changes to get rid of all residue. Run it around to warm it up and work all the hydraulics a lot to circulate well between changes. if you are Kubota brand loyal for lubricants, do the flushing with cheaper fluid like NAPA 85-405 then fill the final with your Kubota SUDT-2. Take samples often afterward to monitor. Some of that gunk will still be working out for several hundred hours. It May work and you luck out; otherwise, if you bought it cheap enough it might pay to take it to a dealer and have it professionally disassembled and cleaned. They will then identify if any damage has occurred. There are a lot of small passages, orifices, and such, plus close tolerances on parts. A complete rebuild or replacement will cost more than you want to pay; make you wish you bought a new one.

Ron

 

[RYM]

Thanks for the reply. I'm following through now with a fresh fill of cheaper udt and filter. So far after a half hour of operation very little evidance of contamination. I'm waiting for the old oil to settle out as this should indicate how much water there was in it. Its starting to get cold here in NH so getting the fluid hot will take more time. Although it is inside I placed a small heater under to help it warm up. Probaby after 20 hours or so ill drain and refresh will new of thw cheaper oil. For $6000 This came with a loader, kuhn 32-105 tiller and balast box. I figure i can spend the extra to be extra safe!

 

[puckgrinder85]

That's pretty low hours for the year, going by how much we used ours and the hours it had on it. I could see condensation being the main culprit if its only a little bit of water. It doesn't take much to turn a lot of oil into a milkshake. I too would just flush it with cheaper fluid and the final fill with the recommended fluid.

 

[nc redneck]

I think you have heard good advice. I bet end of this story turns out to your advantage if everything works now. Put 25 to 50 hours on it drain, new filter and kubota fluid. It will probably outlast you.
Good Luck
Scott

 

[RYM]

So I drained the old oil and added new oil. That was in November. Only 4 hours of use between mid November and mid April I decided to check the status of the oil. After letting it sit a week I removed the drain plug and was very surprised to see how milky white it came out. AT first there was a small amount of settled water followed by just the way I like my coffee, extra milk. Much like the first time I drained it. Can anyone tell me where so much water could be coming from? Is there a vent port I can check for a missing filter or line installed incorrectly? Found nothing in the manual. It sat outside but covered during this very short period. Is it possible this is just a result of the loader rams flushing out? I知 adding new fluid again today. Supposed to rain too?yikes !!!!

 

[JimRB]

A friend had a MF135 with milky fluid. Torn gear shifter boot. I thought it used gear oil instead of hydraulic fluid. In any event we put a new gear shift boot on before the oil change. I suspect it should have gotten another oil change after some hard use but I do not know if he did that. I can't recall if the manual steering column also dibbled into the transmission or not. Tractor sits in a nice dry shed now so it is not taking on any major new sources of moisture besides condensation.

 

[davesl708]

So I drained the old oil and added new oil. That was in November. Only 4 hours of use between mid November and mid April I decided to check the status of the oil. After letting it sit a week I removed the drain plug and was very surprised to see how milky white it came out. AT first there was a small amount of settled water followed by just the way I like my coffee, extra milk. Much like the first time I drained it. Can anyone tell me where so much water could be coming from? Is there a vent port I can check for a missing filter or line installed incorrectly? Found nothing in the manual. It sat outside but covered during this very short period. Is it possible this is just a result of the loader rams flushing out? I知 adding new fluid again today. Supposed to rain too?yikes !!!!

Does you BX have a FEL? The fluid in the lines and cylinders may still have had bad fluid in them. My BX is also an 03. Never have this issue. There is a red vent cap above the trans fill cap. Could it be missing?
Also, is the tractor getting fully warmed up at each use or are you having short runs?

I bought my BX used and the previous owner never did change the hyd. fluid. Took me two flushings to get the crude out.

 

[RYM]

Yes it does have a FEL. the red vent cap is still on and rubber boot is tight. Just took the filter off to change it as well and saw the inside walls had blown out. So thats a good ( or not ) indication there was more water penetration since the last flush. I saved some of the contaminated oil in a glass jar to see if it will settle. After a week of not using the tractor it seemed to not have done so as I would have though. I was wondering if water of that extent could leach in through the line couplings during use, most notably the return lines??? Everything else I can get to is tight. Im at a loss. Will not use it now untill I can confidently resolve this. Tomorrow I will call the not so local Kubota dealer again and see if I can pick his thoughts. Back to fixing my Mac book. At least I know where the liquid in it came from !!!

 

[J_J]

Yes it does have a FEL. the red vent cap is still on and rubber boot is tight. Just took the filter off to change it as well and saw the inside walls had blown out. So thats a good ( or not ) indication there was more water penetration since the last flush. I saved some of the contaminated oil in a glass jar to see if it will settle. After a week of not using the tractor it seemed to not have done so as I would have though. I was wondering if water of that extent could leach in through the line couplings during use, most notably the return lines??? Everything else I can get to is tight. Im at a loss. Will not use it now untill I can confidently resolve this. Tomorrow I will call the not so local Kubota dealer again and see if I can pick his thoughts. Back to fixing my Mac book. At least I know where the liquid in it came from !!!

If your tractor is kept outside, a hot or warm hyd cyl can cool and draw a vacuum, and if raining, suck in water.

Loose boot covers on the shift lever.

Condensation would take a long time to build up a lot of water.

Once the fluid is emulsified, it will not separate easily .

You can get the water out, but would be expensive.

In winter, if your filter freezes, you could be in trouble, especially if the hydrostat uses that filter as a suction filter.