04-25-2018, 06:43 AM
I had to replace one of the hoses that run to the Hydrualic Fluid Cooler tucked away above the drive axle. Here are some useful bits of info in case a future searcher needs to work in this area.
The hydraulic fluid used for the fan motor and steering gear box is ATF automatic transmission fluid, not tractor hydraulic oil.
I had a weeping hose, which makes a greasy mess by the way, caused because the hose was touching the top of the differential. The touch point eventually made a weak place in the hose. The point is to get under the coach, with proper support of course, and look for potential chafe points BEFORE you have to deal with a leaking hose.
The hose connections are on top of the cooler, you can barely see them, much less access them with a 1 1/2 wrench to take them loose. The solution is to drop the cooler down out of it's cubby hole. The brackets that hold the cooler are held to the frame with four nutted bolts. You don't have to take the cooler loose from the brackets as I mistakenly did. Put a floor jack under the cooler to support it's weight. I guess it weighs around 150 lbs. Lower it and then lay it on it's side to access the fittings. There was enough slack in the two hoses to do this on my rig.
Put a collection tub under the cooler before you take the fitting completely loose. I collected about four gallons of ATF that would have spilled otherwise.
There are MANY places where the hose is zip tied before it gets to it's other end. Of course it won't budge until every one of them is clipped.
NAPA is not the most cost efficient place to have a large hose made. Trust me.
Did I say nasty and greasy from the leak? Have you ever washed your hair with gojo? It was that or Rhonda spanking me for ruining a pillow case.
Here is the real pearl to store away in the memory chips. If you have ever changed the forward airbags on the drive axle, you know the space is impossible cause the aforementioned oil cooler and hoses are occupying the space where you need to put yourself and wrenches. In hindsight, 10 minutes to drop the cooler would have saved hours of work on replacing the forward airbags.
The hydraulic fluid used for the fan motor and steering gear box is ATF automatic transmission fluid, not tractor hydraulic oil.
I had a weeping hose, which makes a greasy mess by the way, caused because the hose was touching the top of the differential. The touch point eventually made a weak place in the hose. The point is to get under the coach, with proper support of course, and look for potential chafe points BEFORE you have to deal with a leaking hose.
The hose connections are on top of the cooler, you can barely see them, much less access them with a 1 1/2 wrench to take them loose. The solution is to drop the cooler down out of it's cubby hole. The brackets that hold the cooler are held to the frame with four nutted bolts. You don't have to take the cooler loose from the brackets as I mistakenly did. Put a floor jack under the cooler to support it's weight. I guess it weighs around 150 lbs. Lower it and then lay it on it's side to access the fittings. There was enough slack in the two hoses to do this on my rig.
Put a collection tub under the cooler before you take the fitting completely loose. I collected about four gallons of ATF that would have spilled otherwise.
There are MANY places where the hose is zip tied before it gets to it's other end. Of course it won't budge until every one of them is clipped.
NAPA is not the most cost efficient place to have a large hose made. Trust me.
Did I say nasty and greasy from the leak? Have you ever washed your hair with gojo? It was that or Rhonda spanking me for ruining a pillow case.
Here is the real pearl to store away in the memory chips. If you have ever changed the forward airbags on the drive axle, you know the space is impossible cause the aforementioned oil cooler and hoses are occupying the space where you need to put yourself and wrenches. In hindsight, 10 minutes to drop the cooler would have saved hours of work on replacing the forward airbags.