Hydro leak- Questions

[RadarTech]

Hey folks,
I have a small hydro leak and was wondering what the consensus was on how common this is and a few other questions.....
As a newbie and this being my first tractor, it goes without saying I had to ask all of you a few questions. I have read literally hundreds of posts on here and yall have really helped me alot!

Anyway, I found it on the outlet from the FEL on the Aux hyrdo plate beneath the HST pedal.

It looks like the dealer did not put enough Teflon tape on the fittings. The leak is a minor one, just enough to "wet" the plate, but I only caught it after 5 hours of work.

I got off the tractor to change the top link setting and just walking around a small drop caught my eye.

So now for the questions:

The tractor has 21 hours on it.
L3400 HST, LA463, Ag tires.

1. If I take the adapter off and correct it will it void the warranty?
2. Any idea how much UDT/SUDT I will be spilling?
3. any gotchas, or anything I should know?
4. Is this common?
5. If I don't use the Kubota Brand UDT/SUDT will that be a problem or a warranty killer?
6. What UDT/SUDT do you recommend?

THANKS!!!

Jim

 

[john_bud]

Try just tightening it up first.

 

[wushaw]

That fitting is at the bottom of the resivour so if you take it off you will loose lots of fluid.

If you do decide to remove it you can jack the ft. end up as high as a floorjack or whatever you have to and put some jack stands under the ft. axle for safety, this will put most of the fluid in the back end and you won't loose as much as you would if it was level.

 

[RadarTech]

I tried tightning it up a little. It helped some, but not completely..

I think I am going to call the dealer and see what they say...

Jim

 

[RadarTech]

Ok.. I called the dealer and spoke to the service manager and it is not a warranty issue. They told me to use Super UDT since that is what came from the factory.. can anyone confirm in SC the "factory" Super UDT?
I packed up a tool box, and went on down...

I went ahead an bought a 5 gallon container of UDT, as the dealer closest to the work site said they don't even carry Super UDT, as it is only used "way up north" near canada or Alaska... Comments? -- This might bring the firestorm...

I was prepared for the worst. put a bucket under unit. removed all pressure, put down a drop cloth, and even had a cache of shop rags...


After disconnecting the hydralic hose, fluid dribbled out maybe 1/2 pint. (I did park the tractor with a minor tilt to the left side).
Then found that the guess was right, there really was not a decent amount of teflon tape. See #44 below..
The images below-
43- before the repair.
44- the almost laughable amount of teflon tape next to the fitting..
45- after the repair.

And the result was 2 hours of work and not a drip at all..
During that time I moved a few rocks that had to weigh 400-500 pounds.
(lifted and taken 100 yards or so down the driveway to dump in a ravine.)
moved an old stump 40 - 50 yards. and moved 2 heaping buckets of gravel.


So I guess it was not bad at all- 1/2 pint of UDT, a 5 inch piece of teflon (2 1/2 wraps) and about 20 minutes of work.


looks like this does it...

comments?

 

[Bird]

I guess I'm a little surprised that the dealer didn't tell you to not use teflon tape. That's been discussed in the forums in the past and many people are strongly against the use of teflon tape; the reason being that if even a very small piece gets into the hydraulic lines, it can cause some serious problems. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with using teflon tape as long as you're very careful to make sure none of it gets out past the front of the threads.

 

[RadarTech]

I thought about that...
and I was very very careful where it went..

Funny thing I saw was that 2 of the 3 fittings had teflon tape on them just fine!

Jim