Any advice re leaking ram appreciated 743

[theNEWT]

Hi folks, great forum, probably a life saver to many....including me. I had one of those momentary lapses of reason where I did something totally stupid and purchased a used 743 bobcat. Mechanical knowledge and experience is half decent, but not extensive and no experience with diesel or hydraulics. Machine is old, well used, but overall quite reasonable. Motor been replaced and has the Kubota diesel, runs very well. Bad points are some of the pivot points and one very leaky ram used to tilt the bucket. The ram is leaking around the lower cap (for want of a better description) and dripping onto the chrome shaft. I can see marks on the end cap where it looks like someone has used large multi-grips to tighten it up, presumably to stop it leaking. So what is the situation? Does it have internal seals that are leaking or is the end cap at fault? When purchased it only had a minor leak, but since then I have used the machine for about 30 hours or so and now its pissing out. Any help appreciated. Cheers Mark

 

[lfutrell]

The cyl. does have seals inside on the ram and also in the (end cap) there are seals and a o ring where it screws back in the main tube of the cyl. this (cap) screws off and the tool marks are from someone taking it off or trying to take it off without the proper tool that fits in the two small holes in the cap. they are really not hard to rebuild, here is a link to the kit you need on ebay. good luck http://www.ebay.com/itm/6661297-Til...=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item35b97ae33a

 

[theNEWT]

The cyl. does have seals inside on the ram and also in the (end cap) there are seals and a o ring where it screws back in the main tube of the cyl. this (cap) screws off and the tool marks are from someone taking it off or trying to take it off without the proper tool that fits in the two small holes in the cap. they are really not hard to rebuild, here is a link to the kit you need on ebay. good luck http://www.ebay.com/itm/6661297-Tilt-Boom-Cylinder-Seal-Kit-Fits-Bobcat-640-642-643-741-742-743-825-909-/230745105210?pt=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item35b97ae33a

Thanks mate. I had a look at some youtube vids re the ram cylinder reseal job and surely looks straight forward enough - certainly far easier than I thought it might be. I guess mine has a leaking o-ring at the cap end considering where it's coming out. I'll grab that kit...thanks for the link. Cheers Mark

 

[Tazza]

Thanks mate. I had a look at some youtube vids re the ram cylinder reseal job and surely looks straight forward enough - certainly far easier than I thought it might be. I guess mine has a leaking o-ring at the cap end considering where it's coming out. I'll grab that kit...thanks for the link. Cheers Mark

They are pretty simple but you must get the right kit for your ram.
While you are in there, change the piston seals as well as the pressure rod seals. You will need to remove the large nut on the end of the rod, hold the eye of the ram in the bobtach, pit the pin in and haul on the nut to get it off. Use loctite on the threads when putting it back on.
Note the direction the lips on the pressure and wiper seals face. The pressure ones MUST face the pressure side, if not it will leake worse than before.
Good luck with the job, its no where near as hard as you may think. Give everything a good oil up when putting it back together.

 

[theNEWT]

They are pretty simple but you must get the right kit for your ram.
While you are in there, change the piston seals as well as the pressure rod seals. You will need to remove the large nut on the end of the rod, hold the eye of the ram in the bobtach, pit the pin in and haul on the nut to get it off. Use loctite on the threads when putting it back on.
Note the direction the lips on the pressure and wiper seals face. The pressure ones MUST face the pressure side, if not it will leake worse than before.
Good luck with the job, its no where near as hard as you may think. Give everything a good oil up when putting it back together.

Appreciate the advice. I'll be taking the ram out to do the job. I watched a series of youtube vids that I thought were pretty imformative.... this is the first of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4J_S4VDICg&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL23600945DEA5E3A3