Cylinder or valve problem ?

[Reg]

As a GENERAL question; how do you go about figuring if "leak down" is in the cylinder or the valve block ?

e.g. If you leave the loader up and it creeps down overnight.
It might not be a huge problem, other than you shouldn't do it for safety reasons, they probably all do it a bit, but on the hydraulics troubleshooting question how do you figure if it is leaking past the piston or past the valve ?

Same with the hoe boom. Sure, I should either put it down or pin it up, but how can I figure out if it is valve or cylinder piston leak down ?

Assuming there are no puddles, etc.
(-:

 

[kennyd]

They way I do it is to raise the FEL or boom and rest it on a jack, then remove the hose or QD nipple on the side of the cylinder that is NOT pressurized, then carefully lower the jack...if you get fluid out of the hose then the fluid is bypassing the seals in the cylinder.

 

[john_bud]

What kenny said, except run the ram all the way out then remove the other side's hoses. Then extend the ram more (pressure relief will operate, don't worry). If you are leaking past the seals, it will come out the open port. Do both at once and see if both are bad or just one.

it's 99% cylinders. Probably be safe just rebuilding them yourself. easy to do.

 

[Zebra5]

If possible swap the hoses to a diiferent valve, if that solves the problem you know it's the valve.