I lost all my hydraulic oil due to a broken hose what oil do I use for replacement....15w-40 weight oil? or Hydraulic oil
Tony,
Most Foretravel hydraulic reservoirs have labels on them detailing exactly what kind of fluid is in them.
May also be a good time to change the (likely) three filters in the reservoir.
Hi Greg,
Thank you for reply. It says SAE15W40 motor oil but I just wanted to confirm. Will change filters after return to Maryland.
Thank you again,
Tony
A common fluid for the hydraulic systems on many Foretravels.
I'm going to switch to hydraulic oil in the future. I feel it likely will be better on seals and all that jazz.
Not sure I understand. The seals and whole system were DESIGNED for motor oil-- the fluid used by Foretravel for a LONG time. Why do you think a very different oil would be better that the one the system was designed for.
Krush, Sorry but I don't understand why someone would change from the oil recommended to something else. That doesn't make sense. :o
Hi Tony,
Quartzsite neighbor Barry & Cindy here...
Sorry you had a broken hose, which can cause havoc with steering and overheating. What hose broke and were you driving? Reservoir label will tell all, probably same as engine for convenience: 15w40.
Nice to change the three stacked filters in the reservoir every so often. Use a new square shaped round rubber gasket, after cleaning gasket surface. Take care to not drop wing nut as the bottom hoses are very large. Much simpler and cleaner to pump out old fluid with an inexpensive throw-away drill pump.
Thanks again for saving our Quartzsite rally with your generator plug. By the way, I did not re-plug in your block heater back in.
We did get our radiator leak repaired in Yuma and decided to redesign the bottom radiator support so the weight would be on a stronger part of the radiator, to prevent future leak. And our generator is now back in business.
Are you headed back home to Jersey?
The pump, motors, etc are standard hydraulic components that normally use hydraulic fluids. Motor oil will work in them. If motor oil was the best, why would hydraulic systems use hydraulic fluids?
It's very odd that seals leak on motors so quickly and also leak on the steering box. In industry, pumps/motors run for years and years and never leak.
Vaguely recalling that hydraulic fluid is fairly corrosive whereas motor oil is much less so. If the system could take either, my vote would be for motor oil.
Be aware that quite a number of steering box leaks are from improperly set cut angle limits. If the steering box can turn the steering knuckles until metal to metal contact is made with the stops, hydraulic pressures sky rocket.
Setting cut angles is not that difficult to do or check, but set incorrectly-- from factory or improper after-delivery adjustment WILL blow seals.
Engine oil has different additives than hydraulic oil. For one, engine oil has many detergents and stuff to deal with combustion products.
Hydraulic oil has other additives made for hydraulic systems that probably won't work too well in engines.
Just because it works on engine oil, doesn't mean its the best option. Do as you please, I'll do as I please.
Weeping seals in steering box is not blown seal...is it?
See here for approval: Hydraulic Fan Motor Upgrade/Replace (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=22839.msg182441#msg182441)
Krush, do you plan on using the Cummins Premuim Blue? Have been contemplating this Chang myself.
I'll just use regular AW 32 hydraulic oil.
Wondering how extensive the flushing process needs to be to do this changeover. Not really considering it at this time, as (knock on wood), the hydraulic system appears to be holding all its vital fluid just fine and the filters were changed last year.
Don