After 1002 faithful hours of service it was time to roll up my sleeves and go to work. Bob from Michigan Iron said don't skimp on hydraulic fluid so I used a good one. Side note, never attempt to drain hydraulic fluid without a great big drain pan. No problems there and I have religiously performed my maintenance by the book from day one.
the 1000 hour check calls for a new fuel filter so for probably the 5th time in it's life this tractor got a new one. After replacing all other tractor filters I proclaimed the job done and not a spot on my painted concrete floor. A later recheck and I discovered fuel oil was leaking from the filter body assembly. Suspecting a o ring issue at the filter glass oring nut connection, I shut the petcock off and reinstalled the clear filter glass and filter. The leak persisted so this time I investigated further. It appeared as though the leak was coming from the line from the tank and the connection at the filter body assembly. It did not take long to remove that hose and discover it had swollen over the years. It appears to be a metric but surely a replacement from the auto store will do. The old line has been replaced by a new 5/16" line and it still leaked in exactly the same spot or appears to. (right at the hose connection from tank to filter body,)
This line was fitted with two new clamps of the appropriate size as my second attempt at stopping the leak was a failure because I used too big a clamp and it could not make perfectly round clamping surface. Regardless. the leak persists at this same location so either this is some odd ball metric sizing fuel or the filter housing is cracked. I will have to remove the piece to inspect. The outer spring designed to prevent kinks was also refitted to the outside of the line as original. It slipped on a bit tighter but there are no kinks. Could this new fuel line sizing be wrong it sure looks to be the same and has to be as close as can be that my eyes detect.
Any others have a problem with replacement of simple fuel line before? New and appropriately sized clamps in place, clamps slid to tighten at perfect place new replacement line slid firmly onto tube connectors. I need to remove assembly as a last resort and check for leaks or cracks yet.
rimshot
the 1000 hour check calls for a new fuel filter so for probably the 5th time in it's life this tractor got a new one. After replacing all other tractor filters I proclaimed the job done and not a spot on my painted concrete floor. A later recheck and I discovered fuel oil was leaking from the filter body assembly. Suspecting a o ring issue at the filter glass oring nut connection, I shut the petcock off and reinstalled the clear filter glass and filter. The leak persisted so this time I investigated further. It appeared as though the leak was coming from the line from the tank and the connection at the filter body assembly. It did not take long to remove that hose and discover it had swollen over the years. It appears to be a metric but surely a replacement from the auto store will do. The old line has been replaced by a new 5/16" line and it still leaked in exactly the same spot or appears to. (right at the hose connection from tank to filter body,)
This line was fitted with two new clamps of the appropriate size as my second attempt at stopping the leak was a failure because I used too big a clamp and it could not make perfectly round clamping surface. Regardless. the leak persists at this same location so either this is some odd ball metric sizing fuel or the filter housing is cracked. I will have to remove the piece to inspect. The outer spring designed to prevent kinks was also refitted to the outside of the line as original. It slipped on a bit tighter but there are no kinks. Could this new fuel line sizing be wrong it sure looks to be the same and has to be as close as can be that my eyes detect.
Any others have a problem with replacement of simple fuel line before? New and appropriately sized clamps in place, clamps slid to tighten at perfect place new replacement line slid firmly onto tube connectors. I need to remove assembly as a last resort and check for leaks or cracks yet.
rimshot
