Help - Can't figure out how to fix hydraulic leak on Kioti CK2620

[kiotick2620_2024]

Hi All - I am new to the forum, and also fairly new to tractors in general.
I have a Kioti CK2620 that is about a year old (first tractor).
I have a leak from a hydraulic line connection where the hoses come up and connects under / to the right of the seat. Picture attached.
There are four lines that connect into this area and it is so tight I cant figure out how in the world to get a wrench on it and tighten it.
Anyone encountered this issue before? Advice?
Trying to avoid having to trailer to the dealer to fix a simple loose connection leak, but I am baffled by how inaccessible this connection seems to be.

 

[Racer4]

Crowfoot line wrenches would let you get that tightened up.

DURATECH 10-Piece 3/8" Drive Crowfoot Wrench Set, Flare Nut Wrench Set, Metric, 10-22mm, with Storage Rail - Amazon.com

DURATECH 10-Piece 3/8" Drive Crowfoot Wrench Set, Flare Nut Wrench Set, Metric, 10-22mm, with Storage Rail - Amazon.com

a.co

I bought some years ago and I definitely needed them when changing the lines on my backhoe. Very tight around the control valve block.

 

[dodge man]

What @Racer4 said, they are called tubing wrenches also. Picture a box end wrench with a slot cut in it large enough to get over the tube and then slide up to the fitting and tighten.

 

[kiotick2620_2024]

Thank you both so much.
I will order a set and see how it goes.

 

[oldnslo]

In some cases you may have to remove a line or two to gain access he problem. Just be 110% certain to identify which hose goes where so don’t create it doesn’t work problem…

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

When I bought my used Kubota, it leaked from the valve manifold. The guy who sold it to me said it was no big deal. He said he just topped it off once in a while. He said it needed some kind of repair or other. I think he said it needed new couplers.

The valve was installed so everything was very hard to access, and because I assumed this guy wasn't stupid, I figured I would just top it off until I felt like having a dealer fix it.

One day I removed enough stuff to get at the couplers, and I tightened things up. Leak gone.

Made me wonder if the previous owner had any idea how things worked.

 

[S854]

A couple months back I had a leak on my CK2610 from the very same place…

Unfortunately I don’t recall exactly all of the bits I needed to remove, however, I began with the plastic cover just as you did. The vertical metal panel at the rear of the floorboard (which houses the fwd/diff lock levers) also came off… it bolts on either side to the rear fenders…

I was able to access the entire valve at that point… all with standard wrenches…

I spent more time fretting on how I was gonna do this than I actually spent on doing it… like you said, I could see the leak, but I couldn’t reach it just from the top…

 

[Tinhack]

While you're in there, see if there's supposed to be a bolt in that bracket. It's the hole to the right of the plastic bushing. Might be a good idea to check the tightness of all the bolts in there.

Note: "Tubing" wrenches (AKA "Flare Nut" wrenches) are not the same as Crowfoot wrenches.

 

[S854]

While you're in there, see if there's supposed to be a bolt in that bracket. It's the hole to the right of the plastic bushing. Might be a good idea to check the tightness of all the bolts in there.

Note: "Tubing" wrenches (AKA "Flare Nut" wrenches) are not the same as Crowfoot wrenches.

P.S. To my previous post… yes… use a flare wrench on the hose connections! (I purchased a rather inexpensive set from HF last year for another project… good investment…)

Also, I “removed” the rubber boot from the FEL joystick… just remove the bolts holding it and slide it up the shaft… lets you see anything that might also need attention…

 

[dougtrr2]

Sidebar, but hydraulic related. When I was at Ellsworth my hydraulic guys came to me with a hydraulic problem. They told me an aircraft had a hydraulic leak and there was no way they could get to it. I told them, in that case we'll call Davis Monthan Air Force base and send the plane to the boneyard for scrap. With that leak we can no longer fly the plane.

That put it in perspective for them and they got it fixed. But they had to cut out five perfectly good lines to gain access to the leaking one, repair that one, and then repair the five they cut out. All the tubing was titanium, which has no "tweaking" ability. It has to be bent to perfect fit or it won't work. The lines are then connected with special shrink fittings that were stored in liquid nitrogen.

Doug in SW IA

 

[TimberFarm]

Sidebar, but hydraulic related. When I was at Ellsworth my hydraulic guys came to me with a hydraulic problem. They told me an aircraft had a hydraulic leak and there was no way they could get to it. I told them, in that case we'll call Davis Montana Air Force base and send the plane to the boneyard for scrap. With that leak we can no longer fly the plane.

That put it in perspective for them and they got it fixed. But they had to cut out five perfectly good lines to gain access to the leaking one, repair that one, and then repair the five they cut out. All the tubing was titanium, which has no "tweaking" ability. It has to be bent to perfect fit or it won't work. The lines are then connected with special shrink fittings that were stored in liquid nitrogen.

Doug in SW IA

"Monthan"

 

[dougtrr2]

Thank you, it took me three tries to keep the program from self correcting it. I finally had to right click and ignore the spelling.

Doug in SW IA

 

[JorgePR]

Sometimes the lines will have a small burr just where the seal should be, when you loosen it take a look see if the area may have burr smooth it out and retighten.

 

[kiotick2620_2024]

Update:I was finally able to get this leak fixed this week! It seemed to be way more difficult than it should be.
Thank you all - I followed the recommendations from this group and bought the metric flare nut wrench set from Harbor Freight (which was only 16 bucks) and luckily came with the 22MM that I needed. It is the biggest wrench in the set. I still couldn't get them to work at first though....

I had already taken the plastic cup holder / cover off (but that was probably not necessary as I still couldn't get to the hose connections from above in the end)....

I had to work from below the tractor on the floor up in the rear wheel well and remove all 4 of the hydrauilc hoses in the proper order; of course the one I needed to tighten was the most inacessible of them all and I needed the three others out of the way to get to it.
Once I had all the other hoses out of the way it was a bit easier but still not as easy as you would expect for a regular service item on a new tractor. I was a little reluctant to start removing all the hoses as I am not an experienced tractor mechanic... but it was easier than I thought and it all went back together easily and smoothly.

 

[S854]

Another job well done!