The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk What to do with hydraulics....leaky

Not sure what board this belongs on. But since I am OCD and have figured out what happens next on the brakes...I am starting to think about the lift bed's hydraulics.

See...the fluid (which PO said he never had to refill)...is all over my driveway. Last time I tried to lift the bed nothing happened, but I could hear the PTO running.

So...this thing needs to be rebuilt. Prolly just needs all new seals. I have a tank like thing on the rails and then the actual pump underneath it. All of that is covered in crud and fluid.

(The pistons have not leaked a drop.)

What is the procedure on this? Is there a DIY for this or is it a save up $500 and take to a shop?

Dave

sablesurfer,

My procedure on forklifts is to clean all the junk off all the cylinders, hoses and power units so I can see exactly what is leaking and from where. You might find a important serial or model number which would help you in your search for seals, O-rings or whatever.

Stuart

Yes. NEVER work on a dirty unit if it can be avoided.

If the PTO is spinning it should be operating the pump. Onliest way to know if Mr. Pump is working is to put fluid in the resevoir. If the pump is working you should get operation of the hydraulic cylinder unless that has a problem in which case you'll be able to see and hear some activity.

However:
First thing I did was clean everything. Nothing sexy here. Just plain old disgusting scraping, spraying with engine cleaners and hosing it down. Once you visually inspect all the components starting at the actual operating valve, you may just find it's a blown hose or something that needs to be tightened. Check the fluid level in the resevoir. But before you add fluid, fix obvious things that may be leaking first. Otherwise you can end up with hydraulic fluid all over the ground.

Thanks for that.
As soon as the brakes are working I'll run the truck up to the local self wash place and see what I can clean up.
Then I'll get some pics and come back.

Dave

I went to the car wash place many times trying to get all those years of thick gunk off. Just make sure you cover the distributor and carb really well with lots of plastic. I had one backfire that blew a hole in one of my mufflers