So I recently bought a T190 with 3600 hrs on it and have started going through it really well. And found a few things that concern me. Unsure if they are related. Upon inspection I NC kind hydraulic fluid in the coolant reservoir about 3/4 of an inch floating on top of the coolant. I took the reservoir off clean ones it out and topped off with fresh coolant. It has run for about an hour since with no sign of oil returning. I can't think of any way hydraulic oil could cross over into the coolant. My best guess and hope is that someone just accidentally poured it in there thinking they were filling the hydraulic tank. Second and possibly slightly related and more of a concern, I can't see into my hydraulic oil sight glass. It is milky but it seems to be the glass that's discolored and not the oil. I haven't had a chance to drain the oil and replace the filter yet so I'm not sure. I honestly thought about parking sideways on a hill and unscrewing the sight glass and checking it and replacing it if need be. I thought that may be the quickest way to check. The unit is due for a service in 60 hours and I was just hoping to do it all at once. Any thoughts or word of wisdom are welcome. I just hope I didn't step into pile....
Help Support SkidSteer Forum:
If you think you have water in the hydraulic system pull an oil sample and send it to a testing lab. I use Blackstone Labs when I need oil tested. There are other labs as well. Besides confirming your suspicians they will tell you if you have high levels of wear or particulates in the system. Costs about $30.00 to have a sample tested.
reaperman
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- Dec 18, 2011
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- 598
The site glass should have a little red ball that floats to show the level. If the glass is cloudy the little ball could be hard to see. I've never been a fan of how small the site window is in the first place, I suppose they made it small to hopefully avoid it from getting broken.
bobbie-g
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- Mar 15, 2004
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My T180 had a rag for a stopper in the hydraulic fill port above the engine when I bought it :-( Presumably that's how water got into my hydraulic fluid. But that shouldn't be related to oil in the radiator, except that both the radiator and hydro oil fill openings are fairly close together. The water in the hydro oil didn't discolor the sight glass, however.
---Bobbie-GUpdate: I pulled the sight glass out just out of curiosity and the sight glass isn't discolored the oil is just very milky. I called my local dealer to see if they could "flush" the entire system. They said they would get all that they could out. That didn't sound to promising so my thoughts moving forward. Do a full service.... Drain hydraulics change final drive return canister filters and hydraulic filter. My thought is to raise the boom prior and then without the machine one and with just the key on lowering the boom to allow that fluid to drain out. That may or may not work...what do y'all think? Obviously a motor oil and filter and fuel filter. Also final drive gear oil. I don't have a service manual am I missing anything and does this corse of action seem reasonable? I just can't bring my self to pay someone else to "flush" the system when it doesn't sound like they are going to actually flush it. Also they said it would be a week before they could even get it in the shop.My T180 had a rag for a stopper in the hydraulic fill port above the engine when I bought it :-( Presumably that's how water got into my hydraulic fluid. But that shouldn't be related to oil in the radiator, except that both the radiator and hydro oil fill openings are fairly close together. The water in the hydro oil didn't discolor the sight glass, however.
reaperman
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- Dec 18, 2011
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I talked to a bobcat mech once who told me he has only once completely drained a hydro system. All hoses need to be taken off etc. A lot of members here simply attach a hose to one of the aux hydro couplings and turn on the aux hydros and let it pump the fluid into a bucket. When the fluid starts to sputter they shut off the machine and simply replace the fluid.
Well i drained all of the fluid I could I raised the boom like I said and then let it down with the emergency bypass getting the remainder of the oil that I could out. After changing case drain filters and the main filter I put 6.5 gallons back in the system after filling the tank and cycling all of the controls. Case drains didn't look bad. I had to weld nuts to the final drive plugs to get them off they were worn off slick. I'm heading to bobcat to get new ones tomorrow. As of now everything seems to be in order. Thank you all for your help!
