Water in hydraulic oil

Unclemark

New member
Well I've got another newbie question on my Ford 1715 for you guys. It looks like I've got a tiny bit of water in my transmission/hydraulic fluid. The guy I bought the tractor from had just changed the oil and filter before I bought it so it was nice, clear and clean but as time marches on I've noticed it looking slightly milky. Not bad by any means but none the less I want to clean it up so what is the best way to get the water contamination out other then flushing over and over cuz that filter aint cheap! Ive heard drain and flush with diesel or kerosene but I would like to know the details on the best safest way. Not to mention where could the water have gotten in at in the first place... Thanks in advance...
 

Doc

Admin
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I don't know of any way other than flushing. Do you have a tranny shifter boot? If so water can get through that.
 

Doc

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Hoping for something on the outside to be the culprit. I've read of others having to break the tractor in two for the same issue due to internal gasket leaks.
 

Unclemark

New member
I hope not to have to split it. The previous owner kept it under a roof and hopefully I'll have a lean-to built for it soon. So what's the common practice for flushing? The safest way to flush it?
 

Doc

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only way I know of is to drain and replace. run some. Then drain and replace. Run some more. Drain some, if still milky, drain and repeat again. run more. drain until you do not see any sign of water. Sorry. I know of no easy way to accomplish this.
 

Unclemark

New member
Ive heard of filling with diesel or kerosene and draining but that sounds sketchy. Ive done the flush, run and drain before with oil on atv's after water ingestion but that hydraulic oil is costly and the filter is $60 I was hoping for a cheaper but still safe way to do it.
 

bczoom

Senior Member
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What's the capacity in gallons? I'd be using the cheapest hyd fluid I could find for flushing. When doing the flushing, I'd probably drain but re-use the filter over-and-over.

Pretty sure the old timers around here use the diesel or kerosene option. Just make sure you drain it well. A big question when doing this is do you just let it drain to flush or should you run it for a brief period. Not sure there's consensus on this.
 

bczoom

Senior Member
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PS. Racor and Mr. Funnel make funnels with filters that won't allow water to pass. Not sure if they can/will do the same for hydraulic fluid. Both probably have a "contact us" section on their web page.
 

FTG-05

Active member
Just went through this with my Huskee 22 ton log splitter. Left it out after last season (dumb) and water got into the hydraulic tank.

Drain and replace the filter with a new one (it was time anyway). Buy the cheapest hydraulic fluid ($46 for 5 gallons, ouch!). Fill about a third with hydraulic oil and a third diesel fuel, no need to refill completely IMO. Run a few minutes to cycle all the fluid, drain.

I used the same (new) filter, didn't change it out but I did remove it and drain it each time. Make sure to operate the controls to relieve vacuum pressure - I was amazed at how much fluid came after operating the control valve while draining.

Once clear, refill with fresh good hydraulic oil ($58 per five gallons).

Good luck!
 

Unclemark

New member
I was out looking at the oil today and I'm up in the air... I think it's water but not much but since it is fairly new oil I just cant tell if its cloudy or just starting to get used and some color to it... It has a slight cloudy appearance but the consistency is still good. I tell ya i just dont know
 

Doc

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Blackstone Lab oil analysis is very handy. I use them to check what is going on inside the engine of my vehicles. $35 for the analysis. Seems well worth it in your situation. They will send you the collector and shipping container for the oil sample free. Just ask for it. Below is the link. Good luck.

https://www.blackstone-labs.com/
 

Unclemark

New member
Ya know Doc I didn't even think about them. I've used them back when I had my F350 just to keep track of that dern 6.0 diesel engine. That's a good idea!
 

mert1925

New member
They wrote the instructions just when I was about to say it.It was a process that I seriously thought could be done cheaper, but I guess it didn't happen.
 
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