L3200 hydraulic freezing

[Boggs]

I just bought a used L3200 in the fall . When the cold weather and snow came so did my problems. The hydraulics and drive system would not work. I talked to my local dealer and he said to ck the fluid and see if it was milky which it was so I drained all the fluid that I could out of tractor and front bucket cleaned out the cooler and all the lines that I could remove. I changed both filters and found the one had colapsed. I filled it back up and used it and it seemed much better. I left it sit in a unheated barn for a week or so tried it and it seemed ok. Then it sat for another week and I went to use it and the problem is still there. I used the kubota filters and fluid. Is there a better fluid that I can use or any other suggestions on what I should do

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I just bought a used L3200 in the fall . When the cold weather and snow came so did my problems. The hydraulics and drive system would not work. I talked to my local dealer and he said to ck the fluid and see if it was milky which it was so I drained all the fluid that I could out of tractor and front bucket cleaned out the cooler and all the lines that I could remove. I changed both filters and found the one had colapsed. I filled it back up and used it and it seemed much better. I left it sit in a unheated barn for a week or so tried it and it seemed ok. Then it sat for another week and I went to use it and the problem is still there. I used the kubota filters and fluid. Is there a better fluid that I can use or any other suggestions on what I should do

Sadly if it had water in it and you didn't get it all out it could be doing it again.
It might take several flushing's of new fluid to get all the water out.
I would use a generic Hydraulic fluid to do that to keep the cost down.

 

[Bulldog]

Depending on the system when you change hyd fluid you only get about 60% and leave 40% in the machine. It may not be exact for every case but it's a good average.

 

[mickeyd]

Welcome to the forum Boggs.

 

[Boggs]

Thanks is there any additive that I could add to help get rid of the water? What other fluid can I use the original stuff is expensive hard to dump 100$ worth of fluid every time and it looks like I will need to do this a couple more times. Any idea where this water came from. The tractor only has 60 hours on it.

 

[Dave_eng]

I suggest you try following the recommendations in this Kubota warm up chart for your hydraulics. Just because the engine starts does not mean the tractor is ready to work.
Set it to a high idle of 1500 rpm and leave it for the time recommended and then see how it acts.

Dave M7040

 

[Daren Todd]

Thanks is there any additive that I could add to help get rid of the water? What other fluid can I use the original stuff is expensive hard to dump 100$ worth of fluid every time and it looks like I will need to do this a couple more times. Any idea where this water came from. The tractor only has 60 hours on it.

Use universal tractor hydraulic fluid to flush out the system. 5 gallons is around 40 bucks at wally world, and most auto parts stores..

If your tractor is geared, the water may be coming in around the shifter boots.

 

[Boggs]

It is hydrostatic and it only had 48 hours on it when I got it and most of those ten hours were trying to get it warmed up enough to get it to move into the garage to work on. I let it drain over night in a heated garage and cleaned out all the lines and the cooler then put in 22-25 L so I think I got most of the old stuff out I even pumped the loader Pistons in and out to get all the fluid out of them.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

There'll be a few here that will not like this solution, and admittedly it should be considered a short-term solution. But it'll likely get you to warmer weather. Get it running and warmed up real well & add a bottle or two (use the suggested treatment rate as if you were treating diesel, maybe just a splash more) of Power Service Diesel 911 to the hydraulic system (arctic formula if you can get it local).
It's going to be hard to get all the moisture out this time of year 'cause you'll get condensation all over the inside of the tranny case when you warm it up. That moisture doesn't come out when you drain it (in warmer weather you'll have less of that and get more out when you drain).
If you're worried about the possible dilution effect add a little hydraulic oil stabilizer at the same time (Lucas or something similar.).

 

[Bulldog]

Might be a good idea to look at the filters before you dump all the fluid again. Since you already had one collapse it could have happened again. If so you could just change filters and top the system off again. Every time you change some of the fluid out the percentage of the original fluid gets lower.

You asked about what fluid to use to flush the system with. Most everyone seems to agree that HST and cheap hydraulic fluid don't get along very well. If you use cheap fluid to flush with it may hurt the overall performance of the tractor down the road. Just a thought.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

It's likely the residual water in the system causing his filter issues. Just like in a fuel system it takes very little in the way of ice crystals to plug the element. Changing the filter probably will help like you said, but till he can get it dried out really well on the inside I'd guess he's probably going to need something to keep that water from freezing in the system.
If you've got enough water in there in the first place to make it milky then there may also be a little chunk of solid ice here and there in low places in the tranny/axel housings. Going to be really hard to get that to go away unless you can bring the whole mess up to a summer type operating temp to get it to evaporate off properly and really dry out. 65-70 in a heated garage probably won't get it done.
Probably another case of an over zealous pressure washing to start the problems.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

With that low of hours Isn't it still in warranty?
Water can get into the system an a ton of different ways, on of which is the vent, check it under the seat.

I would normally agree with adding something like "Power Service Diesel 911" to help get rid of the water, but being an HST I would really hesitate using it.
And as far as using cheap Hydraulic fluid for the flushing, that will be fine, will it degrade the HST yes, but only Temporarily till you replace it with the UDT.

I think pull the filters and check again, take off the filter and drain it into a pan and let it separate and see if you can see any water in it.

Foaming (which looks milky) could also be caused by sucking air into the pump, so check the rubber hose that is connected to the pump.

 

[Boggs]

Yes it should be under warranty but I bought it used and the original owner brought it up from the U.S. and the Canadian dealers will not warranty it. I will try and flush it out once again I still have enough fluid to do it again. If that does not work I may have to take it to a U.S. dealer and get them to fix it. Does anyone now how long the warranty is on these tractors. I did see this vent tube and it looked ok but I will have to have a closer look at it

 

[Boggs]

Well once I got home from Jamaica to the -27c I warmed it up enough to get it from the cold barn to the warm garage and changed the fluid and filters again. It seems much better now I worked it for a couple hours and cracked a filter and the fluid came out clear. I will let it sit for a few days and see how it is. I hope it is good and will use it for the rest of the winter and flush it again in the summer