ih 3444 TLB hydraulic problem

[subs1000w]

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

 

[CAROGATOR]

Check your diverter valve.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

Ours tended to blow out the filler/breather, so I lenghtened it.
When you isolate the power steering system does the power steering pump definitely work?
Ours blew up the power steering pump twice. We never did figure out why. But at least the trouble was obvious! And the main pump never bothered.
Sorry, I don't remember about the filter.

 

[subs1000w]

how do i isolate the power steering system

 

[subs1000w]

how do i test/check it, take it apart? what should i look for thanks

 

[Bob Bancroft]

You do have the aforementioned diverter valve on there don't you?

 

[subs1000w]

yes it has the diverter valve on the right fender

so today i started it up and after a minuite of warm up everything started working although alittle slow and jerky, so i used the loader and pwr str for a few minuites and then switched the div valve and tryed the hoe, which worked slow for about 2min and then i lost all hydraulics and fluid started to bubble out of the breather, it pumped out probobly a quart or two and i wasnt even moving any of the stick, any more ideas would be great, i hate problems that are so intermitent

 

[CAROGATOR]

How long have you had this tlb and how familiar are you with it? What led up to the problem and what have you done so far?

 

[subs1000w]

i have had this for about 1 year and the power steering has been finiky for a long time it would randomly stop working especially on hills, the hoe has worked great untill about 1 week ago, im generally familiar with tractors and engines but not to much with hydraulics. i used this again yesterday for a while and the pwrstr and loader worked pretty good but when i went the the hoe it barly worked for 1min and again lost everything and could not get it back more fluid out the breather, i think its definitly getting air as i could here a sucking sound

 

[Bob Bancroft]

Sure sounds like you've got a compromised suction line- whether cracked- loose- or intermittently obstructed. Do you have the little hard to get at screw in dipstick on the right side of the trans. housing?

 

[subs1000w]

an update, ok after playing on it today for a few minuites i have alittle more understanding, the power steering is working but the loader/hoe is doing nothing no matter if the div valve is up or down, so my question is does the powerstrng pump only control the powersteering, a few days ago the loader was working alittle but now nothing no matter what i do so can i assume the main pump or could it be somthing with the diverter valve thanks

 

[subs1000w]

yes it has the screwin dipstick infront of the shifter, i took the main suction line that goes from the filter to the trans off and checked it and replaced the rubber coupling by the filter as it was hard as a rock, still nothing, do you think it would be posible to take the trans breather off and make a fitting to hook up compressed air to pressurize the system with just a few lb to check for air leaks in the lines?