580SE Hydraulic Plug Frozen

[rbmiles1]

I am working on pulling the hydraulic pump out of my machine (leaking badly) and when I went to drain the fluid the plug is frozen solid. I just destroyed a quality (snap on) 1/2 inch drive breaker bar on it and it did not budge. It does not look cross threaded, should it be that tight? As you can see the owner before me made a mess of it (see pic) using something other than a socket. I'm worred about stripping it and never getting it out. Any thoughts on heating it with fluid in the system? Any other way to drain the system?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jeff112]

If you could get a hose down the fill tube you could suck the oil out,l would put some heat around where the plug threads in and try that first.a big pipe wrench may also work. If all else fails weld a big nut to the plug. Good luck.

 

[Tinkerer]

Hi rb, I ran a service truck (not a mechanics truck but what is called a grease truck in the midwest USA) for quite a few years. I never had a plug like yours that I couldn't remove. Here is a method that I used at least hundred times. Get a heavy hammer. At least a three pound one or heavier. Take it and hit that plug squarely at least three or four times. That causes the plug and the case it is in to stretch. I never damaged a casting or oil pan doing this. I guarantee that the plug will come out with little to no effort ! If it doesn't, repeat the method again. The same procedure works on cap screws. Let us know how it worked for you.
Tinkerer

 

[alrman]

Like Tinkerer says, a couple of hits with a hammer are probably in order - then a single hex 3/4" dr socket & breaker bar & some pipe - it'll come.

Hyd drains are always tight ....... some people really don't want any oil to leak out when they fit them & go overboard with torque :beatsme

 

[Nige]

I may be wrong but that plug looks cross-threaded ........

 

[rbmiles1]

a single hex 3/4" dr socket & breaker bar & some pipe - it'll come.

Thanks everyone, Yea, my 3/4" drive sockets are a pretty cheap 12 pt. set that really didn't fit tight on the already abused plug. That's why I was using the better quality 1/2" set. I'm going to get myself a quality 3/4" hex socket before I try the hammer/pipe technique.

 

[redneck1]

a little heat would not hurt just don't overdue it

 

[Jerry11]

We had a bolt with a similar problem on our combine. We were scared to use a torch or similar heat for multiple reasons, fire, etc . We used a heat gun for a few minutes and presto- out it came.

 

[bowen]

I would get me a new plug before I took that one out.
Is that the hyd fluid drainplug? It looks different to mine somehow...

You need lots of buckets to hold all the oil. I wonder if this can cause air to get into the brakes?

 

[rbmiles1]

I would get me a new plug before I took that one out.

I hear ya bowen, I have one on order. I did manage to make some progress with the pump, On Monday, I got the front of the machine off and the radiator out. As you can see the coupling was pretty whipped. It had no bushing left and I could actually move it by hand. I'm hoping that spinning out of round contributed to the leak, which was coming out of the seal.

 

[rbmiles1]

Tonight I took the first section of the pump off and replaced the seal. I'm hoping that the new seal and coupling will take care of the leak. Anybody think I have a prayer?




All back together and ready to go in. Fingers crossed.

 

[alrman]

Ummmm ...... you realise that pulling the radiator & pump would have a thousand times easier with the loader frame in the raised position .........

Does anyone over there own a pressure cleaner? or is it too cold to get all that crap off your work area, so you can see what you are looking at ....... just askin....

Did you replace the seals between the sections as well?

 

[bowen]

Wow your coupling was worn worse that mine. You should have replaced that a year ago..ointhead

Hey does that spline shaft in the pump come out easy to replace it? It looks like from the picture it's worn some from the bad coupling.
Later my pump may start leaking & I will have to do the same thing you are doing now. (I know I need a new splined shaft already.)

I bet you need to replace the front engine mount and for sure a fan belt if you have not done so already.

 

[rbmiles1]

Wow your coupling was worn worse that mine. You should have replaced that a year ago

Yea, that coupling was ugly. Understand, that I just bought the machine about 3-4 months ago and have never run it for more then 15 minutes because of all the leaks. So far I've replaced the break lines, installed new tach cable, fixed the power suttle valve (thanks to the help of this site) and rewired all of the lights. My last big issue is to deal with this pump leak. My hope is to have her ready to work by spring.

As for the spline shaft, it comes right out once you pull the top section of the pump off. I only changed the seal but based on alram's question above I suspect that I probably should have replaced the seals between the sections as well.

FYI bowen after reading your earlier post I do have a new belt on order. I don't want to have to take this all apart again for a $38 belt. I think my mount looks OK, I'll post a pic of it once I get it cleaned up.

 

[bowen]

My last big issue is to deal with this pump leak. My hope is to have her ready to work by spring.

I hope these seals stop your leak so you can use the machine.

Down here snow + salt contamination is not a real problem. I wonder how much service trouble is related to parking lot clearing etc and salt/rust issues up north.

This is maybe off topic but a personal issue for me. I HATE to see anything sitting in the rain.
Mowers, 4-wheelers, tractors, and especially something as expensive as a backhoe.
I know most are designed to shed water and still crank etc, but I also know that a dry building will simply prevent rust problems over long periods of time.
All of my stuff is at least under an open shed. The backhoe is inside a big barn with sealing doors.

 

[rbmiles1]

We have success! I got it back together with the new coupling and everything appears to be spinning straight. I ran the machine for about 1/2 an hour (dug up a medium sized stump) and all was still dry! I think I'm gonna enjoy having my own backhoe!

FYI, I changed out the belt and lower radiator hose while I was in there.

 

[bowen]

:scool
Wow. With the pump off that coupling was super easy to install.
Now you can start looking for the cylinder leaks.
I'm surprised that you never mentioned the oil cooler leaking, seems they all leak over time. I was able to get mine repaired vs. replaced.
The fan will suck oil into the radiator and spit it all over the engine if the leak is in the upper part of the cooler.

 

[Nige]

I think I would be tempted to replace all the hose clips in the photo with proper constant-torque hose clamps. Sod's Law dictates as soon as you get it all back together one of them will let go.

 

[rbmiles1]

Now you can start looking for the cylinder leaks.

While I do have a few cylinder leaks, my next task is to get the parking brake working. As you may recall the disc was missing when I bought the machine so I bought a new one from Coleman $$ and new pads off ebay . In looking at it, mine is leaking just as yours was in this thread 580SE-Parking-Brake-Leak so I got new seals as well. How did you get yours out, just pry them with a screw driver?

 

[bowen]

How did you get yours out, just pry them with a screw driver?

I think mine was leaking mostly from the top seal which is easy to remove with a screwdriver.
The bottom one with the splined shaft is a rascal to get out. It's a real heavy built seal and almost ripped into before we got it out.
When the lower seal does come off expect oil to start running out a bit.
Remember to put the new metal disc on BEFORE your reattach the drive shaft.
I wish I had cleaned the housing good before I started working on the seals. Now with the parking brake all mounted, it's hard to clean the old oil off so I can tell if the leaks are totally stopped.