I purchased an older backhoe with water in the hydraulic oil. I have fixed the leak, bought now for the water already in the oil. I have been told the water, over time, will settle out of the hydraulic fluid and can then be drained from the bottom of the pan. anyone with experience with this or is the theory bogus? if truthful, how long do i have to leave the tractor sit before the water separates out? thanks in advance..
oil and water do mix
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tommu56
Elite Member
Yea it will settle but what happens in the cylinders and valves that have the mix still in in them = rust
Drain it put some inexpesive fluid in run it and drain it again and fill it one more time with the cheep stuff and out some recommended fluid in but change it in short order before winter.
tom
Drain it put some inexpesive fluid in run it and drain it again and fill it one more time with the cheep stuff and out some recommended fluid in but change it in short order before winter.
tom
Tig
Veteran Member
Agree with Tom. You may want to check out the 5 gallon pail of "tractor fluid" from Wally world. I used it to flush water from my machine.
DieselPower
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All of the water will never separate unless it is filtered out and that would cost more than new oil. Hydraulic oil is hygroscopic like most oils and can hold water in solution. Once oil and water become a emulsion about the only way to separate the two is using a water absorbing filter, through vacuum dehydration or in a heat evaporation unit. Probably the best thing to do is drain as much out as possible including out of the cylinders, refill with a cheap fluid and run it for a little while to flush the system and then drain again. Refill with whatever your oil of choice is that you plan on leaving in it.
tommu56
Elite Member
I would only fill it to the minimum level that might save you 5 or 10 gallons.
Or to a lower level and be careful to monitor cavitation and temp and cycle fluid let it sit cycle sit cycle sit cycle sit drain, repeat with next fluid change.
tom
Or to a lower level and be careful to monitor cavitation and temp and cycle fluid let it sit cycle sit cycle sit cycle sit drain, repeat with next fluid change.
tom
Soundguy
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thanks, guys. my worst fears have come to fruition....drain all the fluid seems to be the only right thing to do.
I haven't seen hydraulic fluid at Walmart. what do they call it and how much is it? i need about 25 gallons
In some areas, utf fluid is cheaper than hyd oil.
TSC has 5g pails of utf for 30$ right now.. occasionally sams has r/o hyd oil for 25$ per 5g.
dump in some transtune seafoam.. it will help grab water in soloution.. then when you drain this 'flush' oil out.. it should hopefully dewater it even more.
soundguy
Stimw
Elite Member
Hydraulic oil probably has detergents in it like motor oil does. That would let them mix.
As stated flush, use, flush and check, use and maybe flush again.
The trick is to get the fluid out of the cylinders. One side will still have oil in it. If you can, drain old oil then refill. Take the Hyd line off the side of the cylinder that is full/extended and CAREFULLY work the oil out into a container. This will save a lot of re-contamination of the new oil.
MAKE SURE that cylinders are at rest and not going to drop on you. It will be tricky.
As stated flush, use, flush and check, use and maybe flush again.
The trick is to get the fluid out of the cylinders. One side will still have oil in it. If you can, drain old oil then refill. Take the Hyd line off the side of the cylinder that is full/extended and CAREFULLY work the oil out into a container. This will save a lot of re-contamination of the new oil.
MAKE SURE that cylinders are at rest and not going to drop on you. It will be tricky.
i got a ford jubilee but what i done on the hydraulics was to drain it then put in about 2 gals of kerosene and i run it and worked the draw bar up and down three times. then i shut it down and drained it. it set overnight opened up so as to dry out as best it could. then i put in the lesser expensive fluid and cranked it and worked the drawbar a couple of times. i think it may mess it up if you was to work it too much with the kerosene cause there are seals and kerosene might be so thin that it gets the seals separating the different sumps to leaking. anywho then i re-drained it and filled to recommened specs with mobile fluid. it'd be ok to just use kerosene and not run it to flush the tubes and valves i suppose if you was concerned about the seals. if you go the heat route be advised not to get in a herry cause too hot and you got residue clogging them valves and looking at a rebuild. at some point, eventually, its going to come apart, but i hope to employ non-invasive therapy for as long as i can
DieselPower
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I would not recommend kerosene for flushing a hydraulic system. If any of the seals or hoses are not fuel rated they may soften, swell and leak or worse burst.