PT-425 50 Hour Service Issues

[BigDaddyEureka]

Hi all,

So I'm doing the 50 hour service...changed the engine oil and filter, the air filter, lubed most all of the chassis points, and lubed up all the linkages good, and then.....

1) We reached the @#^* hydraulic oil filter. It's pure eeeeeeevvvviiiilllll. None of my wrenches will move it, and there's basically almost no room to turn it once you've got good contact. Rubber gloves and turning results in popping my shoulder off the bone (old farming injury, it happens sometimes) but no motion. I could drive a screwdriver or an awl through it, but I think it would just result in jagged, torn filter housing and still be stuck. Can't remove the filter base because even if I removed the outlet hose, the inlet from the tank is a union that can only rotate with the filter off the housing. I'm sure it went together just fine in the factory...

2) Removed the center covers to reach the front pivot grease point and discovered....no zirc. There's a metal plate like for the rear one, but the location where the zirc should be has no zirc....and no threads for it....just a blind hole! Upon closer inspection I'm not convinced the rear one really works right either (although there is a zirc there and I've used it before). Up front there's what appears to be a blind hole that isn't tapped, and looks like it SHOULD have a zirc...but nada. For now I've lubed both ends of that link with white lithium I can spray into the joint directly and it sounds MUCH better, but still that's not really what I wanted to do.

Ideas anyone? I've got a few but no options I really like...

 

[ponytug]

Congratulations on getting most of the way through the service...yeah, the filters are hard. It isn't you.

I mostly change my hydraulic filter with a 1/2" drive strap wrench on a 30" breaker bar. It just turns it without crushing the filter if I try to ensure that the top of the strap is right at the edge of the filter mount. Once it starts to loosen, I get the strap out of the way to keep it clean and unscrew it by hand.

Someone, I think it was @MossRoad, put me on to putting an empty gallon size ziplock under the filter before starting the removal process. It catches the oil that leaks out and provides a clean way to get the filter out without dripping oil everywhere.

When you install the new filter you want to get it on really tight to prevent air leaks. So yes, the filter are on hard, and then as a result they are hard to undo. I have 24" serrated channel lock pliers as back up, though they do make dedicated oil filter wrenches that size and larger. The problem I have and you probably also have is that there isn't much room. I have a 36" 3/4" breaker bar on standby, but I have never used it.

On #2, my first instinct is to call Terry and see what he has to say. My second thought involves drilling a hole to tap the zerk, and large enough to provide future access to the zerk, but I am not sure that you want to be drilling holes there.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, once I get the hydraulic filter cracked loose, I put a zip lock bag around it and then unscrew it so any drips go in the bag. I also put a layer of paper towels under that area before I start to catch any drips.

Stuck filters are no fun. Have you tried tightening it some more before loosening it? Sometimes that works. One, because it breaks some tension in the threads, and two, because I frequently have problems with righty-tighty lefty-loosey when I'm looking at something from the opposite side!

If there's a hole with no zerk in it, you gotta wonder if someone missed something at the factory, of if it's been discontinued. My 2021 manual said there were zerks in locations that I could not find. A phone call to Terry and they stopped putting them in that location. So check with Terry to be sure.

You might be able to use a push-type grease gun in the hole if there's no zerk, until you decide if you want to tap it for a zerk.

Or you can get press-in zerks that just press into the hole, no threads needed.

 

[m5040]

My PT018 does not have room for the front fitting on that center link with the cover on. PT intended to move the rear fitting to the front, grease, then back again.
I don't think spraying white grease into the hole will do what needs to be done.

Make sure you have the bleeding process procedure in your mind before you call Terry, you might have more questions. I remove the spark plugs so the engine turns over easily when priming the new filter (I prefill the filter so I don't have to crank the engine as long. If you want to do this, make sure you only fill the filter through the side holes and not the center hole)

 

[cqaigy2]

(I prefill the filter so I don't have to crank the engine as long. If you want to do this, make sure you only fill the filter through the side holes and not the center hole)

I'd not heard this before, why the side holes and not the center?

 

[MossRoad]

I'd not heard this before, why the side holes and not the center?

Me neither. I just fill them all and shake/tap it a bit as I go to get the air out until I can't fit another drop into it.

 

[ponytug]

The idea is to only have clean filtered oil coming out of the filter.

The inside is the filtered side. Fresh oil has been known to have debris in it. If you just fill via the outer holes, then the oil that goes to the charge pump will have been filtered.

It is a good idea for all filters in my book.

There are some non-spin on hydraulic cartridge filters for which the flow is inside out rather than outside in. You can usually tell because the metal support screen or mesh is on the outside of the filter. If in doubt, read the manual...

All the best,

Peter

 

[MuncyBob]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but are you waiting to lube every 50 hours?

 

[BigDaddyEureka]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but are you waiting to lube every 50 hours?

Oh no, I've been doing other regular lube every 10 hours or fewer. At 50 hours is the first "big service" for the hydraulic oil filter, the forward center pivot, etc.

I decided to change the engine air filters as well as the oil and filter anyway, even though Koehler says you can go 100 between changes. I figure oil and filters are cheap and engines are expensive, so as long as I was in for the big service I'd do the whole enchilada.

Once the "required" stuff is done, I have a couple of upgrades I plan to do too. More on those later once we get the other work done...

 

[BigDaddyEureka]

Thank you everyone for the input! Ordered another filter wrench that may help.

The idea I had that I didn't voice right off is to "work it hot" by changing the hydro filter with the oil hot enough to turn on the cooler fan. Not my idea of a good time, but sometimes the hot oil causes things to expand and loosen up (which is often the source of many leaks too). I could maybe just break it loose hot, then wait for it to cool off before taking it off the whole way. Don't really want to cook myself if possible!