hube2
Veteran Member
This is about my Massey Ferguson GC1725M, but I don't really think it is specific to this tractor. Asking here in order to maybe get more input.
So this is weird to me. I have never seen cloudiness in the hydro fluid through the sight glass when checking fluid level either before or after running my tractor.
With winter I let the tractor warm up anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes before I use it. Recently I have developed a habit of looking at the glass after the warm up. This is something new. Until recently I would look at it before running and then again after shutting it down. It is when I look at the fluid after the initial warm up that I am seeing what appears to be cloudiness. I have tried wiping off the glass with my finger and this cloudiness appears to remain.
Another change is that I put a little red hydraulic fluid dye in to better see it. Just enough to give the fluid a pink tinge, but it is a dye recommended for hydro oil.
Anyway.
1) The fluid is clear before I start
2) The fluid appears a bit cloudy after sitting an warming up 10 to 20 minutes
3) After using the tractor, running PTO, moving the FEL, or anything that moves the fluid around for as little as 5 minutes the fluid is clear again.
4) Fluid is clear when I put it away, usually runs for at least 45 minutes up to 2 hours blowing snow and pushing, scraping, moving snow with the bucket.
I've read quite a few "cloudy hydro fluid" threads and my initial reaction on seeing the cloudiness the first time was that air was being sucked into the lines. But this doesn't make sense to me because it clears up after using the tractor for a short period of time. I'm thinking if air was entering from suction that it would remain cloudy.
It has been cold, below freezing above 0f when starting. Is it possible that the sight glass is just fogging up in the cold? That seems odd because it would need to be fogging up on the inside since I'm wiping of the outside and not having any effect.
Is it possible for air to get it when its cold but for it to seal up when it warms up? Maybe an o-ring on the suction line to be going bad? Even so, once the it's warmed up wouldn't the air still remain in the agitated oil for more than 5 munutes until it was given time to settle out?
Could this be a sign of condensation in the oil? And the water cooks out when it's warmed up?
I can't be sure if this has something to do with the dye making the cloudiness more apparent. I can't honestly say if I have or have not looked at the glass at this point in the past. I think I have, I'm a little **** that way. But the reason I've started making sure that I do is that I noticed the fluid was a little lower than expected after is sat for more than 2 months after getting it ready for winter before we got first snow here. I've been keeping a close eye on it to see if the level is going down.
Another thing I noticed regarding the low fluid after it sat is that the fluid level was higher immediately after starting the tractor, it went from less than 1/2 on the glass to nearly the top of the glass, which I found odd. Can this be a sign of anything?
Anyway, putting the question out there because I find it strange that it appears cloudy and then goes away. I will continue to monitor this, but at this point I'm not sure I should worry about it or do anything. Just curious if there are any opinions on what I am seeing or why.
So this is weird to me. I have never seen cloudiness in the hydro fluid through the sight glass when checking fluid level either before or after running my tractor.
With winter I let the tractor warm up anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes before I use it. Recently I have developed a habit of looking at the glass after the warm up. This is something new. Until recently I would look at it before running and then again after shutting it down. It is when I look at the fluid after the initial warm up that I am seeing what appears to be cloudiness. I have tried wiping off the glass with my finger and this cloudiness appears to remain.
Another change is that I put a little red hydraulic fluid dye in to better see it. Just enough to give the fluid a pink tinge, but it is a dye recommended for hydro oil.
Anyway.
1) The fluid is clear before I start
2) The fluid appears a bit cloudy after sitting an warming up 10 to 20 minutes
3) After using the tractor, running PTO, moving the FEL, or anything that moves the fluid around for as little as 5 minutes the fluid is clear again.
4) Fluid is clear when I put it away, usually runs for at least 45 minutes up to 2 hours blowing snow and pushing, scraping, moving snow with the bucket.
I've read quite a few "cloudy hydro fluid" threads and my initial reaction on seeing the cloudiness the first time was that air was being sucked into the lines. But this doesn't make sense to me because it clears up after using the tractor for a short period of time. I'm thinking if air was entering from suction that it would remain cloudy.
It has been cold, below freezing above 0f when starting. Is it possible that the sight glass is just fogging up in the cold? That seems odd because it would need to be fogging up on the inside since I'm wiping of the outside and not having any effect.
Is it possible for air to get it when its cold but for it to seal up when it warms up? Maybe an o-ring on the suction line to be going bad? Even so, once the it's warmed up wouldn't the air still remain in the agitated oil for more than 5 munutes until it was given time to settle out?
Could this be a sign of condensation in the oil? And the water cooks out when it's warmed up?
I can't be sure if this has something to do with the dye making the cloudiness more apparent. I can't honestly say if I have or have not looked at the glass at this point in the past. I think I have, I'm a little **** that way. But the reason I've started making sure that I do is that I noticed the fluid was a little lower than expected after is sat for more than 2 months after getting it ready for winter before we got first snow here. I've been keeping a close eye on it to see if the level is going down.
Another thing I noticed regarding the low fluid after it sat is that the fluid level was higher immediately after starting the tractor, it went from less than 1/2 on the glass to nearly the top of the glass, which I found odd. Can this be a sign of anything?
Anyway, putting the question out there because I find it strange that it appears cloudy and then goes away. I will continue to monitor this, but at this point I'm not sure I should worry about it or do anything. Just curious if there are any opinions on what I am seeing or why.
