Help! international 444 hydraulics quit working.

[Birch Hill Farm]

I have an international 444 that the hydraulics suddenly quit working. Both the 3 point and auxiliary valve have ceased to function. I used it yesterday to unroll a round bale and everything was working fine, went down this afternoon to unroll some more and it wont do a thing. It did this a few times over the summer but, after a minute of run time everything would suddenly start working, this time i let it run for 20 minutes and the hydraulics were still dead. I checked the fluid level and it was maybe 8 ounces low as it does have a slow leak from somewhere in the reservoir area. Adding fluid did not help. could it be air in the lines? the pump makes no sounds indicating its working. Any advice on what to look for? Please help I need to get this working.
thanks Jon.

 

[J_J]

You might try taking the OUT hose from the pump and place in a bucket and see if the pump is pumping.

If no flow, check and see if the pump is even turning.

Is the pump IN port flooded?

You might have to prime the pump.

 

[Birch Hill Farm]

Thanks! how can I verify if the pump is turning?

 

[J_J]

It is probably a gear pump, and if the engine is turning, then the pump is turning, and if the pump is good and the shaft splines are good, then there should be flow.

If the pump is external on the engine, remove a hose and place in a bucket, and if there is no flow, then check the input to the pump.

You could also install a 3000 psi hyd gage in the pump flow path and when you activate a valve lever, you should see some pressure build up.

 

[Birch Hill Farm]

Thanks! will check on that today

 

[Birch Hill Farm]

I looked for a filter, maybe it has been removed at some point? I followed the lines from the pump to where they go into the reservoir and valve body and its just hose nothing that could be a filter. I followed the bleeding procedure and had to add another couple ounces of fluid. After The bleeding procedure I walked away from the tractor and it the 3 point suddenly just went up and started working. I lowered the 3 point and took off the fill cap to check fluid level and this started pouring out.
The fluid does not look good or is it just full of air bubbles?

 

[J_J]

It looks like water saturated fluid.

Flush and change fluid until clear.

 

[Birch Hill Farm]

Its working now after a flush and refill and cleaning the partly clogged suction screen. Thanks for the help!