Just Wondering

[Gary Fowler]

Terry: the teflon tape wont hurt you if you kept it confined to the threads and didnt leave any loose end hanging over the threads as long as you dont remove what you have now. Where you have problems is when you break all those connections loose say when a hose blows. When you take out the male end, small pieces remain in the female end and those are what gets loose and into the system and stops up the orifices and filters. IF you take a small brush like a rifle bore brush and remove all those small pieces and make sure none get into your oil system you will be ok. Next time just use the paste or a good graphite based thread lubricant. With all the hydraulic oil on the hoses etc. you could likely screw it in without any thread lubricant and tighten it without leaks. The teflon, or whatever thread lube doesnt help seal the threads anyway, it just allow you to tighten them properly without turning or striping or galling a thread and allows you to remove them later without doing any damage.