ih 3444 TLB hydraulic problem

[Neokeith7]

It runs and opperates great most of the time but intermittenly it looses hydraulic pressure especially when opperating on hills, right now it will start and i can get the loader to work alittle, and when i lower it back down sometimes it sprays fluid out the breather, but nothing on the backhoe and the power steering is not working consistently, somtimes the steering wheels spins with little resistance other times i can steer it manually but its VERY difficult, i have checked the trans dipstick and its full, im guessing its a leak on the suctions side, i checked the filter and im unfamilar with this setup but does the filter just loosly slide into the housing it didnt seem secure maybe its the wrong filter but it just seems like it would jiggle around in there, and also does the ststem have to be bleed/primed once opened, i also checked the fittings/couplings with shaving cleam to see if it sucked any in and I didnt find anything, i would assume the pumps are fine since nothing is working and there are 2 pumps and like i said some times when it does work it works very well, any more suggestions on what to check or replace next would be great, i would like to replace the donut gasket on the filter cap if anyone knows the part number thanks

 

[trackrat]

If I was a betting man, I would bet you have a leak in the suction side ahead of the pump put air pressure at the filler cap carefully, and see if you have a leak show up

 

[Bob Bancroft]

It runs and opperates great most of the time but intermittenly it looses hydraulic pressure especially when opperating on hills, right now it will start and i can get the loader to work alittle, and when i lower it back down sometimes it sprays fluid out the breather, but nothing on the backhoe and the power steering is not working consistently, somtimes the steering wheels spins with little resistance other times i can steer it manually but its VERY difficult, i have checked the trans dipstick and its full, im guessing its a leak on the suctions side, i checked the filter and im unfamilar with this setup but does the filter just loosly slide into the housing it didnt seem secure maybe its the wrong filter but it just seems like it would jiggle around in there, and also does the ststem have to be bleed/primed once opened, i also checked the fittings/couplings with shaving cleam to see if it sucked any in and I didnt find anything, i would assume the pumps are fine since nothing is working and there are 2 pumps and like i said some times when it does work it works very well, any more suggestions on what to check or replace next would be great, i would like to replace the donut gasket on the filter cap if anyone knows the part number thanks

It's been enough years that I can't remember for sure. I put an extension on the breather. It would still occasionally puke out of the breather. We may have even run it over full to alleviate some of the problems you mention. I think using the rear end for the hydraulic reservoir was maybe a mistake. As I recall the main pump never bothered, but we replaced the auxiliary (power steering) pump a couple of times. The filter should be secure. There's usually a spring, or an internal nut, or something to hold a filter in place. System prime and bleed itself just fine, at least ours did.