water in hydralic system on 2240

[mpearson3]

Bough this tractor last week. Changed all fluids, now hydraulic oil is milky. what's going on cracked block? oil cooler problems? JD 2240 3 cyl diesel

 

[Jerry/MT]

Condensation is the usual source for water contamination in the hydraulic fluid. If you changed fluid, did you warm up the tractor and exercise all the hydraulics (3 pt, loader, backhoe, etc) before you drained it and after you drained it? You'll have contaminated fluid in the actuators. You also have to let a lot of these drain overnight to get all the old contaminated oil out. Some folks add denatured alcohol to the old oil to get the water out.

 

[JimRB]

Hydraulic oil is usually on its own system meaning the pump is not inside the engine so a cracked block is not the issue. Does the tractor have a good shifter boot? Do the steering components including the steering column have good seals? Was it parked out in the weather with bad seals? Did you change the oil when the oil was hot? I would assume if you had bush hogged a field for an hour to get the hydraulic fluid hot, more of the moisture might drain out with the change.

I saw a Massey that had milky transmission oil. We redid the steering column replacing some bad bearings. We also put in a new shifter boot so rain water would not flow into the transmission. Changed the oil and the tractor headed south 250 miles to reside in a parked garage. I assume it is not acquiring any more water besides a wee bit of condensation which should evaporate with any good brush cutting adventures. Most of the water could have come from the dealer who pressure washed and painted the tractor before my friend had acquired it.

 

[Tx Jim]

Check to be sure hyd oil filler cap breather isn't plugged. Also as previously mentioned are gear shift boots not cracked.

 

[mpearson3]

shifter boot is junk, how much water does it take to make oil milky?

 

[Tx Jim]

It doesn't take much water to turn oil milky. I've seen several JD utility tractors hyd oil contaminated by water that leaking in around cracked shifter boots.