Ford 1700 Hydraulic Filter Clogging-photo

[DeanH]

I've searched on this and haven't seen a good picture with which to compare mine. I had assumed water in the hydraulic fluid would just appear milky, and not coagulate like this. It cleans pretty easy with diesel, but trying to figure out the source.

I followed the advice I found and mixed 50-50 diesel with tractor fluid and ran the unit around and used all of the attached hoses for 10 minutes or so. I then drained, and refilled. I am curious if anyone knows what causes this and hoping it's not bacterial related. Thanks, Dean

 

[RickB]

It took 25+ years to get there and it isn't going away in an afternoon. With all the oil trapped in cylinders, valves and hoses, expect to have to drain & fill the system and clean the screen multiple times to clean things up.

 

[rayikeo2]

I had that problem when my tractor sat outside all the time in the rain. I traced my contamination to cracked boots on the transmission shifters. When it rained some water would run down the shift rods into the cracked boot and into the transmission. These boots are cheap and easy to replace by unscrewing the knob and slide it down the shaft. The rubber gets stiff with age and it doesn't take much seperation to allow some water in through. It also takes some time to accumulate enough to cause the problem. New boots resolved my water entry point.

 

[JC-jetro]

I've searched on this and haven't seen a good picture with which to compare mine. I had assumed water in the hydraulic fluid would just appear milky, and not coagulate like this. It cleans pretty easy with diesel, but trying to figure out the source.

I followed the advice I found and mixed 50-50 diesel with tractor fluid and ran the unit around and used all of the attached hoses for 10 minutes or so. I then drained, and refilled. I am curious if anyone knows what causes this and hoping it's not bacterial related. Thanks, Dean

Dean,

Look at the first page of my thread from 6 years ago. Been there , done that department. I did use a paint tray, a cup of diesel and old tooth brush and brought the filter back to life. You will have much sediment in the floor of the diffy that really needs to be cleaned up. Read the thread and it'll give you some suggestion.


JC,

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/new-holland-owning-operating/88973-sos-i-have-my-first.html

 

[Jerry/MT]

I've searched on this and haven't seen a good picture with which to compare mine. I had assumed water in the hydraulic fluid would just appear milky, and not coagulate like this. It cleans pretty easy with diesel, but trying to figure out the source.

I followed the advice I found and mixed 50-50 diesel with tractor fluid and ran the unit around and used all of the attached hoses for 10 minutes or so. I then drained, and refilled. I am curious if anyone knows what causes this and hoping it's not bacterial related. Thanks, Dean

Many years of not changing the fluid and being exposed to condensation and lack of use will cause the water and oxidized oil to create the kind of crud you see on that filter. Work the tractor, check the fluid and replace the filter and the fluid regularly and you should reduce thre occurance of this problem.

 

[DeanH]

Many years of not changing the fluid and being exposed to condensation and lack of use will cause the water and oxidized oil to create the kind of crud you see on that filter. Work the tractor, check the fluid and replace the filter and the fluid regularly and you should reduce thre occurance of this problem.

Alright, glad to hear it's a water problem. Thing is, that oil is about two years old and has about 40 hours on it and that much time between filter cleaning. I did have a water problem due to power washing the tractor (go ahead, smack me!). I put in new fluid but did not flush the system, which I assume is where I went wrong leading to this again.

Thanks for the link JT-jetro as I hadn't read that thread with the photos buried inside. I'm still surpised how this stuff congeals.

Thanks for the point on the shift boots as well. I'll try and find some replacements. I do keep her under a tarp but obviously she can't be there all the time.

Thanks all very much, Dean

 

[JC-jetro]

Dean,

even with oil change you might still have a bunch of gunk in the diffy floor. if you look closely the filter screen sits higher than the bottom of the diffy. All oil returning to diffy lose much velocity and as a result things tend to settle. when i inspect the dip stick for oil quality it looked good till the time the dcreen blockage caused pump cavitation on my rig. I opened up the drain in the bottom of diffy and nothing cam out. I made a hook out of some stiff wires poked it in and brought out a dead rat looking crud right out of the bottom hole. I later mad a vacuum suction cup and thru screen opening literally vacu sucked about 2 quarts of crap from the bottom. I later opened up the cover in the transmission cover and it was clean. All the crud accumulated back in the diffy. change out of the oil is going to be at best marginal to pick up heavy crud in the diffy and I would not use any solvent myself to clean the diffy fearful of deteriorating gasket or seal.

JC,

 

[DeanH]

Dean,

I made a hook out of some stiff wires poked it in and brought out a dead rat looking crud right out of the bottom hole. JC,

Well, if that's the case, I'll be back in there soon enough. I have a pump for changing oil on my boat which may help suck it out when the filter is removed. I should have done a better visual inspection. I'll try your wire trick to see if I get more junk. Thanks for the comment, Dean

 

[Jerry/MT]

Alright, glad to hear it's a water problem. Thing is, that oil is about two years old and has about 40 hours on it and that much time between filter cleaning. I did have a water problem due to power washing the tractor (go ahead, smack me!). I put in new fluid but did not flush the system, which I assume is where I went wrong leading to this again.

Thanks for the link JT-jetro as I hadn't read that thread with the photos buried inside. I'm still surpised how this stuff congeals.

Thanks for the point on the shift boots as well. I'll try and find some replacements. I do keep her under a tarp but obviously she can't be there all the time.

Thanks all very much, Dean

You'd be surprised what you find in those sumps especially on tractors that are only used occasionally and hardly get their fluid changed. Heavy work will heat the fluid and a lot of the water will evaporate and come out of the vent. A thorough cleaning of your hydraulic compartment with some diesel to get the last of the crud off the bottom. (Don't run disel through the hydraulics, just spray it over the bottom to flush the heavy, gritty stuff out.

 

[DeanH]

You'd be surprised what you find in those sumps especially on tractors that are only used occasionally and hardly get their fluid changed. Heavy work will heat the fluid and a lot of the water will evaporate and come out of the vent. A thorough cleaning of your hydraulic compartment with some diesel to get the last of the crud off the bottom. (Don't run disel through the hydraulics, just spray it over the bottom to flush the heavy, gritty stuff out.

I'll have to look at the manual and see what panels I can remove easily to get access to do such spraying. As mentioned in original post, I've already ran 50/50 diesel/tractor fluid through it. It that was a mistake, the damage is done. Thanks, Dean