Accidentally put fuel in hydraulic fill tank

[bucki]

Having my first 743B and still learning, not to mention my age, I accidentally put at least a couple gallons of fuel in the hydraulic tank.
Obvious I want to remove the old and add new. Please any recommendations besides the change out would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks much

 

[mrbb]

there is nothing else you can do but drain system, as fully as possible,

and have to ask, did you RUN/use the machine after you added gasoline to tank?
as that can have more concerns and steps to correct if so IMO

 

[bucki]

Yes, from the wooded area I was working to a Loacation to park and figure out my problem.
About a 10 minute slow drive.

 

[bucki]

Yes, from the wooded area I was working to a Loacation to park and figure out my problem.
About a 10 minute slow drive.

 

[mrbb]

in that case, I again would be draining system as much as possible, new filter/'s and run just a bit and repeat 2or 3 times!
the filters might be rather important too, as I'd gather fuel will work like a cleaning agent, and possible loosen up crud that has been struck for a while, and will now freely be moving about!
I used to see this a lot in ATV, that got sunk, and then owners flushed the systems with diesel fuel or kerosene to try and remove water and dirt that went in with the water, the diesel fuel/kero, maybe cleaned things, some, but it also again loosened up old grim that was safe/safer as it was ) so replacing filters is a good thing, minus there costs!


as I doubt having gasoline in your pump and how it may effect seals is going to be a good thing,
and there is no really good way to drain system 100% , you always end up with some fluid in hoses and places gravity doesn't fully get it out!

so, its going to take a few fill, run a bit, and drain again, to flush the system clean or clean enough IMO!
sucks, for sure
but as in life we all some times learn things at a cost!

Maybe others here will have better suggestions, but that would be mine!
best of luck to you

and I would want to get this done ASAP, and not give the gasoline time to dissolve or eat on seals and gaskets!

 

[laurencen]

I believe you can run motor oil in the hydraulics on that model, you need to drain all the oil everywhere you can, change remove filters and drain them, fill the tank to minimum and idle the system to get the oil flowing then drain and repeat, you can get motor oil cheap for this purpose, drain a final time but replace all filters with new and fill of the recommended oil,

easy done the oil is one side and fuel the other,

 

[bucki]

in that case, I again would be draining system as much as possible, new filter/'s and run just a bit and repeat 2or 3 times!
the filters might be rather important too, as I'd gather fuel will work like a cleaning agent, and possible loosen up crud that has been struck for a while, and will now freely be moving about!
I used to see this a lot in ATV, that got sunk, and then owners flushed the systems with diesel fuel or kerosene to try and remove water and dirt that went in with the water, the diesel fuel/kero, maybe cleaned things, some, but it also again loosened up old grim that was safe/safer as it was ) so replacing filters is a good thing, minus there costs!


as I doubt having gasoline in your pump and how it may effect seals is going to be a good thing,
and there is no really good way to drain system 100% , you always end up with some fluid in hoses and places gravity doesn't fully get it out!

so, its going to take a few fill, run a bit, and drain again, to flush the system clean or clean enough IMO!
sucks, for sure
but as in life we all some times learn things at a cost!

Maybe others here will have better suggestions, but that would be mine!
best of luck to you

and I would want to get this done ASAP, and not give the gasoline time to dissolve or eat on seals and gaskets!

Thank you so much, I can start the process first thing tomorrow. Appreciate your expertise and willingness to share with beginners….

 

[mrbb]

Thank you so much, I can start the process first thing tomorrow. Appreciate your expertise and willingness to share with beginners….

your welcome,
and just so you know I am NO expert, just passing on my thoughts with some yrs under me on equipment!


and rel\member, gasoline , its the fumes that are dangerous and flammable
so be safe, work in a well vented area, and keep a fire extinguisher near by, HAHA! better safe than sorry!
and again, best of luck!

 

[bucki]

Thanks again !!!

 

[curt2199]

I did this when I picked mine up from the seller. It was dark and had it in a dump trailer with tall sides so I reached over and grabbed what I thought was the diesel cap (both are black). I caught my mistake before running it so I lifted the cab and pulled the hose on the bottom of the tank after shoving a catch pan under it.

 

[dfb]

For the topic of conversation, as it may not be practical to do this, drain the hydraulic tank as much as possible then get the return line off at the hydraulic tank and extend it into a catch can and pug off the return port at the tank. Refill the tank with your new oil of choice and have plenty of new oil on hand to keep adding to the tank as you operate the machine through it's different operation modes. Having it jacked up on blocks would be beneficial to flushing the drive system. The object of doing this flush method is that the new oil only makes 1 trip through the system as it picks up the contamination. Once you are satisfied what is coming back out the return line is free of gas reassemble the system and install new filter/s. HTH.

 

[haymaker]

At least being a diesel you don't have nearly the explosion risk you would have with gas.
I am of course assuming you used diesel fuel and not gas in your 743B
Make sure the fuel side is marked Diesel Fuel Only to help prevent something like this from happening again.

 

[Topper1]

I've been there a couple times. You're not the only one to make this mistake.
Drain tank. Refill. Run machine. Drain and refill. Repeat 2-3 times & a final filter change as well, you should be good. .
Back in the day, we'd add a gallon of kerosene to the hydraulics to thin for winter running. The lighter combustible fluids slowly evaporate over time & didn't cause any issues that i know of.

 

[foton]

if you are using portable fuel cans to fill your machines either buy cans that are in line with the set colors for fuel red-gas ,yellow -diesel, blue -kerosene. Or they make spray paint that kinda sticks to plastic and use approperate color,that should help. I have service quite a few machines that have had the wrong fuel put in them, and the owners all said I can not believe I did that I thought that red can was diesel.

 

[bucki]

Thanks to all of you. Here I thought I was the only one. Sounds like we have a club we could start.
Appreciate all the recommendations! N

 

[solo machine]

I was buying hydraulic fittings awhile ago, I saw they had a pump and filters mounted on a dolly you could rent.
Maybe you could save some hydraulic oil? I'm not sure. Everything is so expensive these days....