Hydraulic Stop Leak

[timwil]

Has anyone used Hydraulic stop leak. My brother uses it in his doser and back-hoe and swears by the stuff. He gets at O'Reilly's in 5 gal buckets.

[3RRL]

That's interesting, I've never heard of hydraulic stop leak.
I presume it is supposed to"stop leaks" then?
How well does it work? How often does your brother go through those 5 gallon buckets?

[MrJimi]

It softens and swells your rubber seals , don't sound like a good thing to me
for a long time

[Soundguy]

I've use dit in 'known' leaky system as a bandaid to get by.

For instance.. I picked up an antique loader that had been setting in a field for ? decades? Thankfully hte prev owner had greased the rods, and put 'some kind' of oil in the cylinders and capepd them off...

Well.. when i got it all installed.. bled and refilled.. the main lift cyl weeped pretty good... I neede dit for immediate hurricane cleanup work so put some lucas stop leak in it.. not sure if it was atf stopleak or pow steer stop leak.. but I'm guessing it's the same any way.

Leak virtually disappeared for 4 months or so. then finally re-emerged.. this time.. comeing out in a stream... I bti the bullet and pad the 90$ to get the 50 year old cyl repacked... It's dray as a bone now and hold up under weight for as long as I dare let it..

Soundguy

[JerryG]

I wouldn't use it in anything. It is just like putting stuff in a radiator to plug the holes. If you have a hydro or a transmission with hydraulic clutches, you don't want anything that can swell seals, plug passages or contaminate clutches or you can have a very expensive repair. Any hydraulic leak needs to be repaired properly because you wallet and health are at risk.
Older tractors with dry clutches and standard transmissions might be able to use it without damage as a temporary measure.

[DieselPower]

The only product I have first hand experience with is TRC's Seal Saver Plus. They have been selling it for a few years now and so far all of the customers that I have sold it to have been very pleased with the results. I mainly sell it to construction companys, large industrial companys and golf courses. To date I have not had anyone that had any problems created from it's use. It does not appear to have any negative effects on the performance or life of wet clutch/brake systems. It also contains a additive booster package.

Now personally I have never really pushed the sale of such products. TRC makes a few additive type products that work well but personally I would rather see a customer have the equipment repaired and then use a good quality lubricant that contains seal conditioners to maintain it.

[Soundguy]

Jerry brings up a good point. The tractor in question i used it on has a seperate hyds only sump, and seperate hyd pump just for the lift and laoder hyds... no oil shareing with the trans or diffy like in some common sump machines.

soundguy

I wouldn't use it in anything. It is just like putting stuff in a radiator to plug the holes. If you have a hydro or a transmission with hydraulic clutches, you don't want anything that can swell seals, plug passages or contaminate clutches or you can have a very expensive repair. Any hydraulic leak needs to be repaired properly because you wallet and health are at risk.
Older tractors with dry clutches and standard transmissions might be able to use it without damage as a temporary measure.

[Farmwithjunk]

Stop leak products in ANY form don't set well with me. They're like putting extra bailing buckets in a leaky boat instead of fixing the leak. In an emergency, I suppose it could get you through for a time, but in the long term, I'd prefer to fix the problem rather than mask it. Band aide fixes have a way of coming undone at the worst possible opportunity. And that doesn't even address the possibilities of damage to components in a hydraulic system caused by exposing them to what is basically an incorrect oil mixture.

[D7E]

Sounds like a "BAND AID"to me , If a hydraulic system leaks ,Fix it because it's going to let you down .
I've used rad stop leak in an "emergency" and some times it works but with a rad you can't see the problem and some times don't know where it's coming from . But a hydraulic system is pretty simple and oil leaks are messy and obvious . What are you trying to stop leaking ,If a hose is gone it's"GONE"and if it's a fitting they are cheap or if your a fiddler use thread tape ?
Why mess with this stuff ,Only a small amount ends up where you want it ,The rest is in your filters and pump and on a new machine if found on an oil analysis could void any warranty.

[fordman41291]

would this stuff work in a clutch slave cylinder? the seals are goin out and it leaks, there is still pressure in the system but it gets annoying after a while because the clutch wont disengage because the system doesnt have enough pressure in it because it leaks.. any suggestions?..