FEL Bleeding down

[DONOTDELETE]

I have a kubota L3010 with kubota fel. the fel bucket was bleeding down and rolling forward while in use. took back to dealer who replaced the seals on the bucket cylinders. Unit still leaked down, so I took it back again and this time they replaced the control valve. It now bleeds down worse than before. As an example: If I am traveling even with the bucket empty, it will bleed down 1-2 inches every 100 yds or so. If I leave it in an up position over night , the bucket leaks all the way forward with no weight in it. Now I'm starting to get concerned that my dealer is part of the problem. He is telling me that this is normal (bleeding down at night). This tractor is less than two months old and has spent one of those months at Roach Kubota. Any suggestions or similar problems with kubota fels?

[jrlichina]

If they indeed replaced the seals on the bucket cylinders and replaced the valve there is no way it should be leaking down that fast. All control valves have an engineered amount of "leakage" which is used for lubrication of the spool and the actual movement of the spool(too tight can't move it, too loose you get leakage). They should have tested the cylinders for leakage before and after replacing the seals. If the cylinders are working properly, i.e. holding pressure then the problem is in the valve. That is unless you have a fluid leak on one of the lines that goes from the valve to the cylinders, there is nothing else in the system. Bleeding down overnight is somewhat acceptable, that is more or less dependant on tolerance stack up; meaning amount of leakage in the valve and then the cylinders. I would make them test the cylinders for leakage for starters. They could have damaged the O rings when they replaced them or there could be defects inside the cylinder like wall scratches that would cause excessive leakage. If they can't get the cylinders from leaking down in the acceptable range have them get you new ones. If that all checks out have them try another valve, you could have gotten a bad one. My gutt tells me it most likely the cylinders. Good luck!

[edv]

Try this simple test.....raise the loader.....disconnect the hyd line or quick connect going to valve.....If loader still leaks down you have a seal problem in cylinder....if you do not have a leak down the problem is the valve...

Most loader valves will leak down over time...really depends on quality of valve....10 inch drop over 1 hour is normal in many loaders..

Goog Luck.

EDV