Water in Hydraulic Oil ??

[wqmiller]

About to purchase a used S-250 with approx 1350 hours. Problem: the oil in the hydro sight glass has a beige, milky look to it. Is this an indication of water in the fluid. If so, is this a "walk away from deal" no matter how good it appears? What would likely be the corrective action.....change the oil and run then drain and replace again? Machine runs very well with no noticeable problem with lift or blade action. Pulls well with no jumping and etc. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tazza]

Oils do come in different colours, you never know, it may be the colour of the oil.
With age the oil does go a cloudy brown colour unlike nice fresh oil that looks like honey.
If the price is rite and it runs well, it may be worth it. Drop the oil and change filters run then drop it again. There is no way to get ALL the oil out without pulling the machine down but this way you will get most of it out.
Even if you change it when you get it then run it for a week or so then drop the oil. That way the oil has had heaps of time to mix in.

 

[Fishfiles]

Oils do come in different colours, you never know, it may be the colour of the oil.
With age the oil does go a cloudy brown colour unlike nice fresh oil that looks like honey.
If the price is rite and it runs well, it may be worth it. Drop the oil and change filters run then drop it again. There is no way to get ALL the oil out without pulling the machine down but this way you will get most of it out.
Even if you change it when you get it then run it for a week or so then drop the oil. That way the oil has had heaps of time to mix in.

It doesn't take very much water to make it milky and it is very hard to get it cleaned out once it's in there , as the oil is in every cylinder , hose , valve etc, usually draining and refilling a couple or three times is the only way , which will be an expensive to you in oil , I think the most common way it gets in there is people who leave oil cans out in the weather and water accumulates on top the can and makes it way into the can , you would think that someone trying to sell a machie would try and clear up that problem , doesn't show much for his maintance program, there are filters that will remove water from the hydrauic oil , you can get them from Donalson filters , it won't take out mass quanities , but with a change of oil and a filter a couple of times it will clear it

 

[wqmiller]

Oils do come in different colours, you never know, it may be the colour of the oil.
With age the oil does go a cloudy brown colour unlike nice fresh oil that looks like honey.
If the price is rite and it runs well, it may be worth it. Drop the oil and change filters run then drop it again. There is no way to get ALL the oil out without pulling the machine down but this way you will get most of it out.
Even if you change it when you get it then run it for a week or so then drop the oil. That way the oil has had heaps of time to mix in.

I checked with the dealer who last serviced the unit and he told me the color of the oil they use and we dicided that most likely there was some amount of water in the unit...hard to say how much however. The gasket for the hydraulic fill cap is laying in a tray beside the cap....which means the cap isn't sealed very well and thus water could have gotten in thru the cap. Anyway, your comments are much appreciated and much as I thought in terms of what to do to correct the situation. I am hoping no real damage is done to the internal part of the hydro system.