I just bought a IH 3444 TLB. In checking the hydraulic oil, I noticed the oil is milky. Since it appears there may be water in it, I would like to drain the entire system and fill it with clean oil. Any ideas on how to do a thorough flush before the fresh fluid goes in? Will a hydraulic filter, take the water that may be remaining, out of the system?
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NO they will not. It takes a special filter to remove water and I doubt you will find one that fits. We had a special portable "kidney loop" setup with the water absorbing elements in it in our test lab. Your best bet is to drain the system, open and drain all the lines you can get to and fill it with new fluid. You won't get 100%, but you also need to find where the water got in and seal it.
Allan in NE
Well-known Member
I used to flush 'em with diesel fuel......but now that it's almost $5 a gallon........ :>(
Allan
Allan
In the cold north where temps vary from 100 degrees in the summer to 30 or 40 below in the winter I've come to accept milky hy-tran in my 340. I change it out regularly but the ups and downs in temp seems to cause a bit of condensation. I haven't 'lost' any other fluids into my reservoir. they all stay full... except the fuel tank but that's what happens when they work 
The problem with draining the lines is twofold:
1. You STILL don't get all the old oil out.
2. You now may have problems with air in the lines.
There's nothing you can run through the system (i.e. pump, lines, cylinders) to flush it out, without causing problems, except fresh hydraulic fluid.
Hytran can hold tremendous amounts of water in suspension with no ill effects. The game is not about getting ALL the water out, just keeping the amount of water that's there to a dull roar. Lots of perfectly good hytran is thrown away in futile attempts to eliminate ALL the water.
1. You STILL don't get all the old oil out.
2. You now may have problems with air in the lines.
There's nothing you can run through the system (i.e. pump, lines, cylinders) to flush it out, without causing problems, except fresh hydraulic fluid.
Hytran can hold tremendous amounts of water in suspension with no ill effects. The game is not about getting ALL the water out, just keeping the amount of water that's there to a dull roar. Lots of perfectly good hytran is thrown away in futile attempts to eliminate ALL the water.
I agree you will never get all the water out, but in modern high pressure sysyems it can still cause problems. Yes, some hydraulic fluids can and do hold a lot of water in suspention, but in high pressure systems, water is as bad as any other contaminant when the system gets hot. The water will boil and the "gas" bubbles are as bad as sand going through the pumps and valves... been there.
We ran a lot of tests at high temp in the experimental lab and if you ever saw a piston pump run at 220 degrees and 5000 psi with water in the fluid, you'd know what I mean. It will errode as bad as any contaminant there is.
Had to come back and edit this... wife "needed" the computer and I didn't have time to proof read.
the tractor vet
Well-known Member
The best i can say is let it set for a few days then before starting place a drain pan under it and crack the drain plugs and let them drip . some water will seperate and come out but not all . Or drain and let drip . If you want and have the time remove each hose and drain and get as much out of each cylinder as you can . Then replace all filters and add new oil and start the task of changing filters a lot more often . The filter will trap a lot of water .Also running the machine and getting it to operating temp removes some . Setting out in the open or in a open shed for long periods causes lots of condensation and water build up. In this case before starting from long periods of setting crack the drain plugs first and drain off the water that has settled before it is sucked thru the pumps and mixed.
the tractor vet
Well-known Member
Open ALL the drain plugs and let her drain out remove the steering lines and flush them out . Ya can ot get all of the fluid out unless ya want to take every nut and bolt out of it and make a huge pile of pieces and parts and start from square one . What little is left will not amount to much and changing the hyd filter more often will help. But if you only use it for short periods and not long runs it will keep coming back.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
IH always recommended to change Hytran at least yearly in all Op Man. It helped sell a lot of Hytran & keep this problem away. The 5 gal of Hytran was the highest selling single part number in IH system.
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