Question about hydraulic oil leak

[murfdog]

Hey all, I've got a couple of ASV rc100's that loose a lot of oil through the fill
cap when the machines are running at normal work rpm. Oil level is where it should be in the sight glass,
seems to be the worst after working for a couple of hours. Any thoughts?
Thanks

 

[Haaggar]

Murf,

Check your tank vent. On the 07A diagram (in the parts manual) it is item 53. On my RC85 when I pop the hood open and look toward the hyd reservoir over the top of the engine, it is a steel fuel filter. It looks really out of place on my machine, hope it pops out to you too. (kinda hard to reach as it is all the way toward the cab.) It is a standard gas type fuel filter. Make sure you can blow through the lines. And replace the filter. (I am not sure where the other end goes, I could blow through mine.)

Hope that helps!

Have a great weekend!

Hag

 

[Haaggar]

Murf,

Sorry I can't edit the post it is actually Item 51. Sorry about the confusion.

Hag

 

[Haaggar]

Murf,

Took me a couple minutes to find a picture. I circled the vent filter in red.

HTH

Hag

 

[murfdog]

Thanks Hag
So far no luck finding the vent line

 

[crewchief888]

if the vent is clear, i wonder if your hyd oil is getting hot?

:drinkup

 

[Haaggar]

Murf,

I will try and get a picture of where mine goes and actually attaches to the tank.

Agreed CC. I worried about that too, but murf said it was happening to both of his machines. Hope they both are not getting that hot.

Hag

 

[Haaggar]

Murf,

Stand at the radiator looking toward the cab. basically over the injectors look up. The hole through the engine compartment to the hyd tank is above the hyd lines crossing from the valve stack to the left side. I hope this picture helps you see where it attaches. The other end of the hose goes behind my valve stack. Can't see where it goes exactly, but it feels to be long and loose. (I can tug on it and it moves 2" or so and stops, but not like it is connected to anything.)

Sorry the left one is rotated. I used the camera on my phone, on my computer it leaves it rotated properly, but something is happening during the site compression. You can use the weld nuts to help orient the two views and find the tank vent though. (those nuts are between the fixed engine screen behind the cab and the cab, just in the engine compartment.)

 

[murfdog]

Thanks for the effort, I really appreciate it. I drained all the hydraulic oil and pulled the cover off the tank, there isn't a vent line into the tank anywhere.
Return lines, a temp sensor and suction line.
Thanks again

 

[bobcan]

I'm not sure if you have had the machine long enough to know, or have previously changed the Hydraulic Oil yourself, but if there is NOT supposed to be a Vent (which does seem a bit odd to me) I am wondering if the Oil/Fluid is the issue perhaps.. Could it be too light/ a multi-grade that loses viscosity when it warms up, and then causes issues as it..??

Also, if there is a sight glass, can you see if any AIR is getting into it perhaps _ and thereby 'adding volume, to the system and forcing itself out..??

Hopefully it will be something simple, seems like it should be _ Good Luck!!

 

[Haaggar]

Murf,

If that is the case (no vent), that is why you are leaking.

The parts manuals for serial numbers 101 up are online. (mine is in the upper 500 range) It shows the vent and vent lines. If you want PM me. I can give you the links. Our caps are fully sealing. Air will only escape when the pressure in the tank gets really high and blow past the cap.

All hydraulic systems MUST have some type of venting. While thermal change is some of the volume change (about 1 gallon in ours)(and happens slowly), The actuation of the cylinders causes the tank level to fluctuate significantly. (most systems are like ours, the extend of hydraulic cylinders use more oil than the return.) I have not run the numbers, but that differential could be 3 gallons. That volumetric change happens in just a few seconds (cycle time of the cylinders). Another thing, like bobcan mentioned, the more we use our oil, the more aerated it can become, which causes the volume of oil to increase also. (hard to calculate, but could be in the gallon or so volume wise)

If you are missing the vent, that is not a feature, but a serious manufacturing/design oversight. You need to add one. The system will not function properly or leak proof without it. You might be able to add a bung to the fill neck, and pull a hose off with a filter up behind the cab. You could run a vented cap also. (neither of these are great, as the back of my machine just seems to be a dust magnet!!)

Hope that helps! Drop me a PM.

Hag

 

[Jschremser]

Hello to all. I am a frequent viewer who has learned much from the posters on here and think I can add something to this topic.

I have an RC-100 used primarily for cutting and shredding in north FLorida. Not many hours into working the new machine I noticed an oily film heaviest in the vicinity of the valve block. THis was traced back to the hydraulic tank vent hose that terminated by the valve. THe hose was replaced with a longer one and routed outside the engine compartment with the right side boom hoses. Depending on working conditions a fast drop of the boom discharges a small amount of fluid onto the right fender. THis is much better than into the enclosed engine compartment where the fluid seemed to "fog" components. Just as a side note I rigged up a crankcase vent catch bottle to keep things clean too. I believe helps keep temps a bit cooler as the radiator isn't getting coated with that oily dust. ONe more thing. If you decide to run a longer vent line be sure it doesn't have a loop lower than the end as it will gather fluid and prevent the tank from venting properly.

 

[Haaggar]

Jsc,

Thanks for the info!!!! I am going to search for the end of my vent line, as I have a wetness near the valve stack that I have not solved! Maybe that is my problem too. I could not find the end of the vent line easily when I was trying to help murf, so I was not sure where it went in the chassis.

Cheers!

Hag

 

[murfdog]

I fixed it, bought a 299xhp.

 

[pafarmer]

I fixed it, bought a 299xhp.

Ha ha...Step into the light and see how good the big 299XHP is for exactly what you are doing with it.....great fix by the way !

Tell me what is your impression is on the Big CAT ? I have been running a fleet of these 299 XHP's for quite awhile and really love the power, reliability and most of all comfort of the
CAT CTL's...

 

[murfdog]

The ASV's worked fine, but the conditions we work in here are hard on the undercarriage(rocky)
I tried out a Tak 12, had good power and visibility but I didn't care for the ergonomics of the controls.
I'm not in the machine all day long but the comfort is important and the CAT is much nicer IMO.
The XHP loaded was less money than the Tak12V2 that I was quoted too.