FEL valve leak

[rirri]

After using my FEL for about an hour to clear 20"+ from the driveway, the bucket refused to move. I could raise it up and down, but it wouldn't dump or curl. I managed to get it to move by dragging the lip on the ground while moving the joystick. Unfortunately, the control valve started spewing fluid each time I tried to curl the bucket (no leaks when dumping).

What did I do to the loader? Do I need a new valve? If I could just get the cover off of the thing I might be able to see where the leak is coming from. Anyone know how to do that?

I have a BX2230 with LA211 FEL with a 3-position valve.

TIA,
Rich

 

[Usta]

It could be a simple fix similar to my experience. You first have to see exactly where it is leaking.
I had a small squirting leak in my main hydro block and it was just the rubber "O" rings where the fittings screw into the main hyd block. A dollars worth of "O" rings from the Kubota dealer and a half hour of my time fixed it . My main block is located under the battery on my BX2660.

 

[leonz]

Depending upon where the leak is-

If the four way control valve is leaking and its not leaking from one of the hose fittings- you have a bad seal on one side of the gimbals or a broken spring which it sounds like the oil can exit as the gimbal is allowed to go to far in travel.


As long as you do not retract the bucket you will not lose any more fluid;

I know that does not help now but until the valve is taken apart to fix the spring in the gimbals.


I am unsure if simply smacking it with a 2 by will free anything if the spool and spring is stuck fo the retract portion of the valve.


another possibi;ity is a piece of dirt or rubber from a hose stuck in the valve-

The oil in the cylinder circuits is captive at all times unless you move the valve gimbal.

I am unsure if swapping the hoses would help to clear it for you but you might just find some debris in the hose fittings too.

 

[wawajake]

Do a search on hydraulic leaks here and you will find a few posts from BX2660 like me or other BX owners that have had faulty orings in that valve sometimes it is pinched at factory + shows up months later as problem or sometimes other reasons, I had mine go twice , fortunately I was on warranty. Im glad our "Usta poster above tells us it is easy to do ourselves too. If I remember rgiht someone even posted a blow up picture of valve so you can see the parts

good luck

 

[rirri]

Well, I have the loader working again. I found a bad o-ring in the control valve, replaced it, and the leak was fixed. Dealer wouldn't sell me a single ring so I to get a $50 "seal kit". At least I have rings for the next leak.

Fixing the leak didn't get the bucket moving, though, so the 'bota sat in the snow for a few days. It finally occurred to me to check the hose couplings for the loader and, sure enough, one of them was just a tad loose. I clicked it into place and the loader came back to life.

Such a simple "fix" should have been caught within minutes instead of days, which is why I was too embarrassed to post the solution until now.