HydroPuddle
Member
JD 410 Contaminated Hydraulic Fluid (1973?)
Machine Info:
Some background:
The previous owner said he had the hydraulic pump and filters replaced a few years ago and then parked it. Based on what I see, I think the tech may have misread the dipstick and used a brazed mark about 4 inches up on the stick as the “full” mark (which I believe is closer to 1/4 full). The machine may have run well enough post-repair, but with all that air space in the reservoir, condensation probably accumulated nonstop over the years. Then again, it also looks like maybe the reservoir cap was left off and rain got in—it’s that bad.
Questions:
Machine Info:
- 1947 hours
- Frame: JD 410-D | Serial: 194583T
- Engine: 4219DT 03 | 286327T
- Paid $1000 for it
Some background:
- After charging the batteries, it fired right up without hesitation. It runs extremely well. The diesel tank had been topped off before it was parked, and the fuel still looks surprisingly clean.
- When I first checked it, the hydraulic oil was super low and it wouldn't budge—I'd guess it was down about 15 gallons. I added 10 gallons just to get it mobile, but once I got it onto the trailer, it immediately lost all hydraulics and drive.
- I winched it off the trailer at home, started it, and let it run for about 15 minutes.
- I then agonizingly slowly compressed as many cylinders as possible and drained what I could from the hydraulic system—what came out was a full-on milky mess.
- I removed both hydraulic filters, which looked nearly new. Which tracks with what the previous owner was saying.
The previous owner said he had the hydraulic pump and filters replaced a few years ago and then parked it. Based on what I see, I think the tech may have misread the dipstick and used a brazed mark about 4 inches up on the stick as the “full” mark (which I believe is closer to 1/4 full). The machine may have run well enough post-repair, but with all that air space in the reservoir, condensation probably accumulated nonstop over the years. Then again, it also looks like maybe the reservoir cap was left off and rain got in—it’s that bad.
Questions:
- Other sources of water?
Is there any other common way water might get into the hydraulic system on these machines besides condensation or an open cap? The machine doesn’t appear to be leaking hydraulics anywhere.
- Flush without spending $250?
Any creative approaches to flushing the system without dumping $250 into fresh fluid and filters right away? I’m trying to be thorough without being wasteful. Can I use something else to flush other than primo J20C?
- Bypass valves?
If the hydraulic filters plugged and the bypass valves opened, do those reset automatically? Or do I need to manually reset them? I ask because it only ever barely moved and then just like poof it stopped.
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