My Hydro puked! What now?

[john_bud]

Hi all and a Merry Chirstmass! Well, maybe not too merry for me... I went out to run my new L3410 HST (20 hours) today, as it was warming up it started to spew hydro fluid /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif. The temperature is about -10 F, but the tractor fired up with only a couple of cranks and after 30-45 seconds the idle smoothed out. I left it to idle at about 1400 rpm to warm up. I came back to check on it after about 5 minutes and to my horror I found a puddle of fluid under the tractor /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif. I shut the motor off and found that the leak was coming from either the hydro filter or a fitting near it. I think the filter gasket popped, possible? It looks like the best part of a gallon of fluid is on the ground. What a mess! /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

The fluid in the rear axle site glass is milky white and over the top of the glass. I will be calling my local dealer to come and take a look after the holidays, but I wanted to tap into this fountain of knowledge and find out what happened. I mean this isn't supposed to happen in cold weather, is it? If so, I am not a happy camper!

Oh well, I guess I will enjoy the season without taking the family on snowy hay rides /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.


John Bud

 

[M. Sullivan]

John,

Sorry to hear about this problem, I know how disappointing it is--had the trans go on my 2710 at 50 hours.

Would be more concerned about the white sight glass--indication of water in the system--than the gasket (assuming major teardown not required to replace). Temp should not be an issue if you allowed recommended warm-up, which it appears you did.

Let the dealer analyze, and trust in the final analysis Kubota will make it right--they did for me.

 

[john_bud]

Well the dealer came by today and picked up my tractor and took it away. (I wish there was an "emoticon" for crying!)

The shop guy that picked it up thought it might be an O-ring that shrunk with the cold and blew out. He put 2 gallons of fluid in and did get the loader to raise up, but most of the fluid came back out. I did get one last ride as I had to steer it onto the trailer as he winched it up. I am SO glad I have power steering. On the whole, it looks to be potentially a minor issue, but one well worth calling in the experts. I'll follow up once it is fixed.

Have a Happy and a Merry,
John Bud

 

[MarkV]

John,

Just doesn't seem fair to have a family member get sick at Christmas./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Hope it is a short stay at the Kubota clinic.

 

[DaveNH]

Cold O-rings.
Didn't NASA have the same problem a few years ago?
/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
Dave

 

[john_bud]

Hello All,

Things are starting to look up /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. I talked to my dealer today and my problem was a bad fluid filter. They think that the filter's O-ring was not put on correctly originally and with the cold weather it "popped loose". Also, the white site glass is due to the back of the site glass being white and fortunately not due to water in the oil. I am real happy to hear that! They are also looking into one of the R4's that has been weeping a bit of fluid from around the rim.

The tractor is expected back home tomorrow, maybe I should throw a surprise "Welcome Home" party?

Thanks for the moral support!

John Bud

 

[Bird]

John, glad to hear it's just minor, easily fixed little problems. Those things happen, but can sure scare you when they do./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

 

[john_bud]

Howdy all,

My tractor is back home and is once again working just great. My dealer did a wonderful job. After diagnosing the bad o-ring and re-sealing the rim on my tire that was weeping fluid (no tube because I am using the "windshield washer fluid"), they ran the tractor and made sure that nothing else was wrong. Well, they found something. An oil line under the hood had a loose clamp and it popped loose while running in the shop. I guess it pumped a bunch of engine oil out and made quite a mess. They fixed that up, checked and tightened everything down good, but it's dripping a wee bit of oil that was spilled from the leak. Nothing to be concerned about, but I can't really it up good until the temperatures warm up! Oh well.

I am glad that I have a good dealer close by. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Have a great holiday,
be safe - designate

John Bud