Hate to revive one of my old threads, but I find myself in a pickle once again on my hydraulics.
Over the summer since my last post, I did replace my existing hydraulic pump with the new high capacity pump. This had a good (but not great) effect... My hydraulics worked, but still chattered slightly under load. I used the deere a few times over the summer to move some rocks and use the backhoe without difficulty, although not as great as it once was (pre service).
Life happened, and as life goes, the deere sat unused for several months as other priorities came to the forefront of my existence.
Well, living in new England, we're now slated to get a major nor'easter, so I thought I would move the deere into a location where I can use the loader to plow out the driveway (since the loader was working, for the most part, after the pump replacement).
murphy's law dictates naturally that the hydraulics are once again not working.
Today's symptoms: liquid appears milky but not milky contaminated, more milky from tons of micro-bubbles in the fluid. I have no lift whatsoever. In fact, I can take the bucket off my quick mount and physically move the pistons in and out of the cylinders by hand. Attempted to warm the fluid by lowering the 3-point after shutting the valve under the seat... no effect, no hoses got warm. Fluid level on dipstick does, though, appear full/normal. Backhoe inoperable as well. Disconnected backhoe from hydraulic system, no improvement.
Any thoughts on where I go from here now? I hate to arbitrarily replace the fluid, since the Hygard low viscosity will run me ~150 for the 6 gallons I need to refill the system if I drain it... but if I must, I must.
I'm not overly mechanically inclined when it comes to hydraulics on a tractor, so be gentle with me
Thanks, Mike