07 TC30 hydro leak

[Elviscaretaker]

Hey, I'm new here and want to say hello in advance.
I just bought a 2007 TC 30 HS with FEL and BH. 318 hours on it and while I looked for any signs of leaks in the snow below it before I bought it... get it home clean it up (1st mistake) and looks like I have hydro fluid coming from between the motor and bell housing.
No cracks that I've seen and I looked hard at that after reading older posts. Levels are fine but when I called the guy back he admitted to changing fluids, just not the filters.
So, long story short.. is this familiar to any one? Could a plugged filter cause pressure to build and? I have new filters to try out, and fluids but curious what the opinion is before I split the thing and see if it's a seal. Leak isn't that bad but leaks drive me up a wall

 

[Elviscaretaker]

No love here or just not enough info?
Think I'll tear it down in a few weeks and see what it is. Any advice on that since it'll be my first split? Figure it should take a day to 2 days to get back together, just need to make sure I have any of the possible parts (seals) before hand.

 

[thclimer]

Leaks are not supposed to occur that's why when you get a leak no one is happy. I guess it's a question of can you live with it? I hate them myself. Here is a story for you.

Car has a really bad oil leak but the guy doesn't care much about the car its only a beater and he doesn't want to spend any money on it. So everyday when he drives it to work and parks he puts a catch pan under the engine to catch the oil that drips out while he is at work. Just before he leaves he picks up the catch pan and drains the oil from it back into the engine. Not through a screen or a paper towel, just right back into the engine and drives home and when he gets home the catch pan goes right back under the car to catch the leak. Obviously he could stand a slightly larger leak than most of us.

Good luck fixing your leak, let us know where it was coming from and if you can take a few pictures that would be great too.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I plan on the photo's I'm not experienced in tractor repair but also not afraid to pull something apart and figure it out.
Now I just need to get the possible seals and find the time. Figure I'll use my 2 engine hoist to support the halves when separating them then stand them. Also tying to make sure to have at least a second set of hand available since I figure that these part will be pretty heavy to jockey around.
My tolerance of leaks is pretty low. My daughters (though they know how) refuse to check their oil and the son-in-laws are worthless in this area so if the burn or leak, I tend to take care of it immediately. Now with the tractor, I'll be storing it sometimes with a brother, he's useless also but he'll also use the thing when he has time so I'm worried he may cause some damage if it's ran low.
A "guess" of how bad it is would be an once +/- per 30-45 minuted of running. Not horrible. Last time running it though, seemed like it was leaking less? Go figure.
I had a friend like that, the difference was his car leaked and he didn't give a crap. He would just stop by my place and fill up his quarts with used oil. Claimed my used stuff was good enough.... The thing ran many years with him doing that until some unlucky soul stole it. They must have felt pretty bad for his as when it was recovered they had fixed a bit of the problems the car had. Luck is what you make but in his case...

 

[Glen Watkins]

Hey Elvis just poking around in here and saw your post. Just curious if you have a service manual or are you just planning on winging it? Good luck with the tractor!

 

[Elviscaretaker]

Just my owners manual. So, unless I go get one I'll be winging it. The main thing I need to know is the torque specs and the owners has it. At least for bolt type.
Problem now is finding the time! I'm running up next week to the closest NH dealer to me (not that close!) and I'll order the seals then and see how long they will take to get in. Going to start off with the front on the bell housing and while I'm in there, the rear main just to be safe. O joy! But a few bucks and hours vs what they "guessed" the cost at. I'll do it myself.

 

[Caliche]

Did you check the existing torque?

 

[Elviscaretaker]

Not yet. Part of me is thinking it won't be at the correct torque anyways. Bolts sometime loosen up and other times feel like they have tightened (froze). Good idea though, get a reference point instead of matching up bolt patterns.

 

[LarryD]

Not to promote internet sales but I've had very prompt response from Messicks.com, and always the right part. PartsSpring is also an advertiser here. Usually a few days and I'm in business.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I'll look into those. Don't mind internet sales as they screws you both ways for most things around here.
What part of the Island are you? I'm out in the Freeland area a bit., otherwise, across the sound.

 

[LarryD]

I'm north of Oak Harbor on Strawberry Point.
I know who you're going to get your parts from locally and they OWN the NH franachise around the sound. Just saying you might save a dime. :thumbsup:

 

[Elviscaretaker]

Yup, they are the only game in town. Been going up to Mt. Vernon so far..
Just looked up Messicks, I can only find filters and such listed. May just need to get more familiar with their web site to find what I want though. Going to check the other one out right now...
By the way, nice area.

 

[LarryD]

I didn't see any gasket listed in their parts diagram but I have called them to verify an order I was concerned about. Very knowledgable and helpful. Some here use the parts diagrams as a sort of poor mans shop manual but not me!:laughing:
I bought my property not knowing there was a very nice map showing the various noise zones. We get an occasional EA6B and newer 18G but we're outside the flight patterns for the most part. Then again, most folks say it's just the "Sound Of Freedom".

 

[Elviscaretaker]

My cousin was one of those buzzing overhead there for years I like seeing them but all we get over here is the dreamliner of the 747 beluga flying overhead, the Beluga is still a pretty awesome sight though.
Glad you pointed me to the web sites. Going over the diagrams , I shouldn't have a hydro seal leak where the fluid is showing. I think I'm going to start looking at the top of the motor to see if a line is the issue before yanking it. One issue is that all my fluids are clean at the moment so maybe, engine oil? Should be some soot in it though...

 

[LarryD]

I've got an '03 TC33D (same engine as yours) and it doesn't leak a drop. I know cause it sits on a smooth concrete floor. I would think with the hours yours has the original seals would be fine, but we never know what kind of life it had. You did mention the seller changed all fluids and filters didn't you? Most stories regarding major hydraulic leaks on the TC series include 3 point backhoes and cracked cast iron housings. Any chance you saw a backhoe sitting on the property of the guy you bought it from?
I like to take a small garden sprayer with a hot Dawn dishwashing soap mixture (low pressure) to clean the engine. It really helped me chase down a coolant leak I had from one of my hose clamps.
There are a some VERY knowledgable people on this site and if you pinpointed the spot (pics?) that is leaking You may get valuable tips on a cause.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

He did the fluids, at least before I picked it up. The filters on the other hand, he was lazy about. 146 hours was the last filter change. 305 the fluids... So, he wasn't big on it.
I do have a backhoe on it, no cracks or anything of the such from the bell housing though. Have the full frame on it so that should be safer. He used it as a backhoe most of the time. The leak is minor though at this point. The leak is tracking down from between the motor the bell housing? Here is 2 photo's.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

This is what the rest looks like.

 

[LarryD]

OK, so I forgot the "BH" in the first post...gotta start taking more of that Ginko stuff.
It doesn't look like an abused rig, maybe neglected on the fluids.
There is a well documentd thread on splitting a NH, not a 30 but I woud think proceedures would be similar...I'm just not having any luck finding the thread.
Maybe JC-jetro remembers it.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I remember a thread about that. Think it's a few years old. Just looked and can't find it again. That was the one though that got me thinking it's not that bad of a job. Looking at the schematics, it doesn't look bad.

 

[LarryD]

Good memory, I have trouble remembering yesterday.

This is the TC24DA split I was thinking of. Probably lots of related procedures to your project, if you decide to do this now.