mowgli
01-11-11, 06:31 PM
over a period of months, one of our trucks has been losing hydraulic oil from its crane.. but not leaking anything at all......as the hydraulic pump is on a power take off on the gearbox, we were worried that it was going in there & mixing with the gear oil, but it wasn't thank god..
then on friday, the driver reported a leak. now this wagon has a rear mounted hiab, and instead of the normal 2 stabiliser legs on the crane frame, this one also has an extra set of legs near the front, with a pair of steel hydraulic pipes running from the crane to the front, then they are tee'd off via 2 steel pipes to the 2 front legs.
well, the oil was everywhere underneath, and as the front legs rarely get used, i undid the fittings & capped the feeds off. so no oil to leak, steam cleaned, and parked up...
monday morning, he's complaining that there is still a leak... so i explained what i'd done.
but it was still peeing out, so i got it in the yard, steam cleaned it again, powered up the crane & proved it didn't leak...
today he said its still pissing out.. now, i know it was halloween last night etc, but how can a hydraulic ram with no pressure going to it & a locking tap turned off leak oil?????? it can't....
so over the workshop pit we go again, and i decided it must be something to do with the 2 steel pipes between the front 2 legs... so we cut the end fitting off & using a thin rod, knock it thru the box section chassis frame. then we did the same to the second pipe (which is 2" lower)...
so i was now covered in about 4 gallons of hydraulic 32 oil & swearing profusely. for the uninitiated, hydraulic 32 oil is the consistency of urine, and takes a lot of cleaning up....
the second pipe had cracked inside a 4x2 box section frame, and had slowly filled it up with oil, the silicone sealant round the lower pipe had held the oil in....and it had filled up to the top pipe & leaked out...
and the oddest oil leak i've ever had to fix..
then on friday, the driver reported a leak. now this wagon has a rear mounted hiab, and instead of the normal 2 stabiliser legs on the crane frame, this one also has an extra set of legs near the front, with a pair of steel hydraulic pipes running from the crane to the front, then they are tee'd off via 2 steel pipes to the 2 front legs.
well, the oil was everywhere underneath, and as the front legs rarely get used, i undid the fittings & capped the feeds off. so no oil to leak, steam cleaned, and parked up...
monday morning, he's complaining that there is still a leak... so i explained what i'd done.
but it was still peeing out, so i got it in the yard, steam cleaned it again, powered up the crane & proved it didn't leak...
today he said its still pissing out.. now, i know it was halloween last night etc, but how can a hydraulic ram with no pressure going to it & a locking tap turned off leak oil?????? it can't....
so over the workshop pit we go again, and i decided it must be something to do with the 2 steel pipes between the front 2 legs... so we cut the end fitting off & using a thin rod, knock it thru the box section chassis frame. then we did the same to the second pipe (which is 2" lower)...
so i was now covered in about 4 gallons of hydraulic 32 oil & swearing profusely. for the uninitiated, hydraulic 32 oil is the consistency of urine, and takes a lot of cleaning up....
the second pipe had cracked inside a 4x2 box section frame, and had slowly filled it up with oil, the silicone sealant round the lower pipe had held the oil in....and it had filled up to the top pipe & leaked out...
and the oddest oil leak i've ever had to fix..