Pardon the long introduction,
I have contracted a driver to haul the SEE to my property in south central Colorado, and of course now I am finding all kinds of issues. I have resolved them all, except the reservoir mounted on the clutch master cylinder has had a slow steady loss of fluid that has steadily been getting worse. I initially thought that the leak was the where the reservoir mounted, because the hole where it mounted seemed to have problems so I replaced the reservoir. Then I thought it was the clutch master cylinder itself, because there was a fair amount of oil in the cab. There may have been issues with one or both of those, but the leak continued to get worse. I thought I had finally found it in my previous post, and the video before that which shows oil running down the rear dive shaft cover. I replaced the line, and the hose it attached to. and got ready to bleed the breaks with the system under ~ 20 lbs of pressure I found a new leak.
As you can see when under pressure it is pouring that dot 5 out at an alarming rate. Worse yet, the line that it is coming from is fairly well buried under the cab. I don't think I can replace that line with out tipping the cab, and by my self that will take too long. The driver will be here to pick it up Saturday. Right now there is nothing other than a water well and some dreams out on the land I am taking it to. I have already paid the money to uship and I need to get it out there where it can be of some use so I am disinclined to cancel the shipment. Which brings me to the reason for this post.
- The hand brake is working well, so like FLU Farm said of a previous post brakes are overrated. What has got to work though is the clutch. I suspect that will stop working with an empty reservoir sitting on top of the clutch master cylinder. I have been thinking about either putting a valve in the line going to the master brake cylinder, or in some way plugging it. What do you all think of this idea?
- Other than not having hydraulic brakes for a while, am I overlooking something important with leaving the brakes in this inoperable state?
- Have any of you tried to tip the cab in the field? I have been through the process in the past. The biggest issue will be removing the FOD without a suitable rafter, tree, or sky hook. I think it was Speedwoble that showed how to remove the FOD with the backhoe, but have not found the post, and I am not sure how it would be to put back on once removed.
- Do any of you have a better solution for me? I am 95% certain it is not the hose that is leaking, but the galvanized steel brake line. I have thought about cleaning it really well and using an epoxy like liquid steel, but suspect that would be wasted effort.
- Lastly, I know that there is no definitive answer for this, but in ya'lls opinion since I have found 2 failed steel brake lines already, should I resign myself to replacing them all when I do get after it? I realize that these leaks could be the result of putting pressure on the hydraulic break system. But I have done my best to never over pressurize it and that is beside the point now.
Thanks in advance.