HYDRAULIC LEAK

flINTLOCK · Sep 3, 2007

I was finished discing 2 acres for foodplots yesterday and put her away in the shed. When I turned her off, heard splashing sound up front. Got off to see hydrauliuc fluid dripping steadily from under the hood, behind right front axle. Popped the hood to see a few streaggler drips from the side cover of the radiator. Started her up, still only a few slow drips. But a short gusher ensued when I turned her off. Didn't have time to explore further and no schematic in manual to see what's under the cover. Any thoughts??

FULLPULL · Sep 3, 2007

I would check the hydraulic cooler in front of the radiator. On the Tc40d i had where the line hooks up to the cooler there was a small crack around the weld. I put on a new cooler and it was fixed.

jinman · Sep 3, 2007

It does sound like it could be the HST cooler or one of the lines going to it, but also on the right front side you might have a leak of the power steering pump, main hydraulic pump, or power steering cylinder(s). There are just too many things to guess-timate what it is. When you have more time to check, I'm sure you will find the source.

I don't know what would cause the gushing when the engine is shut down. If it was a radiator leak, I'd understand because of the momentary heat rise/pressure rise on turning off the engine. I'm not sure why the hydraulic fluid from either the HST or the main system would do that.

SkunkWerX · Sep 3, 2007

You can clean eveything off real good, start up, and shut down, and see if that shows where the leak is coming from.

Other method would be get a piece of cardboard , start up, move it around the suspect area to see what direction the squirt is coming from.

Good Luck.

Doc_Bob · Sep 3, 2007

Make sure you wear glasses and heavy duty gloves and sleeves when messing with any potential fluid leak. Fluid leaking under high pressure can be quite dangerous!
Bob

flINTLOCK · Sep 3, 2007

Thanks for the comebacks, guys. I'll probably end up schlepping it to the dealer for $$$.

Nasty135 · Sep 3, 2007

Flint, My neighbor with his tc29 just had the same exact issue, turned out to be the hydraulic rubber curved hoses between the hard line to the cooler in front of the radiator, was a pinhole split toward the radiator...

The $22 to replace both hoses is a little steep for a 5" piece of bent hose but it sure is cheaper than an office visit, and very easy to change....hopefully thats the problem...

dqdave1 · Sep 3, 2007

TC 40 does not use same cooler line setup as a TC 29. May be a cooler line crack though.

Nasty135 · Sep 3, 2007

dqdave1 said:
TC 40 does not use same cooler line setup as a TC 29. May be a cooler line crack though.

Yeah, I didn't know if they were they same setup or not but the syptoms are the same ,so it could be close...just a place to start looking...

FULLPULL · Sep 4, 2007

You might want to check with the dealer about the cooler if that is where the leak is the replacement is built alot stronger where the lines attach. It only takes a few minutes to change out.