DP Hydraulic Fan leak?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

RedandSilver

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Posts
1,325
Has anyone had a Hydraulic fan motor leak and had to replace one?

I have been chasing a leak for a few months.
First it looked like the lower hydraulic fitting was leaking - I tightened it up and it still leaked.
I used water weld and it still leaked OR so I thought.
Yesterday I wrapped a rag around the fitting and some of the hose and taped it up.  Took it for a drive and then
checked it and the tape was wet.

This morning I removed the tape and rag and the rag was almost dry and not stained with oil.

This means (to me) that the oil is coming from someplace else and it deposits on the fitting making it look like it's leaking there when it's not.

There are some drops of oil on the bottom of the fan motor which is above the hose fittings.
This leads me to believe (it might be) that the fan motor is leaking some and deposits some oil on the fitting.
There is a lot of air being pushed around, so a lot of the underside of my coach is wet.  I've cleaned it for many many hours
trying to get it clean enough to "see" where a leak is coming from.  But like I said there is a lot of air movement from the fan and it is
wet under a lot of the engine area - wettest on the side where the fan is mounted - It's a side radiator just so you know.

At this point I can't see any other fittings that are leaking or wet like the one under the fan motor.
There are some tubes that have a drop on them - but I have tightened many hose clamps and don't see leaks there so think
the fan is producing a mist of oil and it deposits on the pipes in places.

On a somewhat separate issue is the J-brake is quite wet on the bottom side - isn't that run by Air?
If so, then is it getting coated with oil from the air movement?

Thanks for anyone  that can help - I've been chasing this for a long time and want to get it fixed but won't pay someone an outrageous
fee and them not fix it either.  It's tricky for sure.
 
My American Coach had the same problem,, I tracked the manufacturer to Italy and ordered an "O" ring kit. Installing the kit was a snap and its been dry for eight years.>>>Dan
 
utahclaimjumper said:
My American Coach had the same problem,, I tracked the manufacturer to Italy and ordered an "O" ring kit. Installing the kit was a snap and its been dry for eight years.>>>Dan

Could you give me a little more info on "O" ring kit?

Did you remove the Fan Motor?  IF so how did that go?

How did you prove that was the problem?  etc....
 
  The center section (or body) and a cover plate on each end,, all the seals are "O" rings. The "kit" was $90.00.. The fan unbolted, then the hydraulic motor unbolted,, open up on the bench,, clean and reassemble,, assemble in the reverse order of disassembly.>>>Dan ( I contacted American Coach parts)
 
utahclaimjumper said:
  The center section (or body) and a cover plate on each end,, all the seals are "O" rings. The "kit" was $90.00.. The fan unbolted, then the hydraulic motor unbolted,, open up on the bench,, clean and reassemble,, assemble in the reverse order of disassembly.>>>Dan ( I contacted American Coach parts)

I hate to be a pain but - did you EMPTY the hydraulic tank before you started?
I assume you removed the hoses - did they leak a lot of fluid?

Nothing was replace except for the "O" rings?

 
The fluid reservoir is plumbed to the pump,, then to the fan motor with a possible temp regulator (depending on the coach) in between..At rest no fluid is lost and the most difficult part is getting the fan off the motor without damage to the radiator..All replaceable parts are "O" rings and the "O" rings should be covered with Dow Corning #6 or #4 (available at NAPA stores)when assembling to prolong life.>>>Dan
 
No 2 units will use the same Hydraulic Motor.  You need to look closely at the Motor and get the make and model #. It could be a lot more than just the motor. A good Hydraulic shop would be able to repair the motor. Depending on the make it might be expensive.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:

Should have said an "E Brake by Jacobs" - Must have had Jake brake on my mind but I have an E Brake.

Hope it's not a sign of having a Senior moment as I'm not quite there yet.  ;D
 
utahclaimjumper said:
At rest no fluid is lost

I have to think that if I remove the hoses from the motor, the fluid in them is going to leak some not to mention the fluid in the motor.

I talked to Spartan and they have motors and rebuild kits in stock.  The Rep told me that the rebuild (seal kit) was not a permanent
fix and would likely only last a couple of years and that someone might do that if they were going to sell their unit otherwise replacement
of the motor was most common and they sold many more motors then rebuild kits.  I think you said your still OK after 8 years so is he
trying to sell motors?  Or did you get lucky? 

I think it's leaking is just one corner so I'm going to try and tighten that bolt first.  I have a trip coming up next week and really
don't want to open a can of worms before the trip and have Murphy's Law come into play.  When I get back I will have more time to
address this issue and correct it one way or another.

Thanks for everyone help.
 
UPDATE:

I removed the fan motor which was a big job and now know why the tech's get big money to change a motor out.  Doable but not a quick job.
I also found out that hydraulic fluid runs uphill, as I had one hose zip-tied at about an 11 o'clock angle and it still dripped a lot.
I put a tray under the dripping after I discovered that fluid runs up hill and captured about 3 quarts.  I have to transfer what's in the tray
to know for sure how much oil I captured - but I can only guess what is on my driveway.  :-\

I was all ready to order a seal kit and the Spartan Rep even sent me a picture of the kit.  Looking over the motor manufacturers
directions on how to change the seals it said to remove the Dust Seal, Snap Ring, Flat Washer and the High Pressure seal from the front cover,
which is where the shaft seals are.  The image the Rep sent only showed 1 shaft seal.  I called them and they confirmed only one shaft seal
is included in the kit.  SO I didn't want to take a chance on having to do this again anytime soon, therefore I felt I had to buy a new motor.
So I did. 

I refilled the Hydraulic tank and it took about 1? gallons to fill it up.

Now I'm to the point where I am cleaning everything up under the coach so I can see if it was only the fan motor that caused
all the wetness under the coach or is there someplace else that's also leaking.  Hopefully not.

On my coach the bed sits over the engine compartment.  There is a foil type of heat shield that was damaged from all the fluid being
sprayed around and the hot engine.  I have parts on order to replace that too.  So it may be up to a week before I start the motor up and
start looking for leaks. 

Maybe this posting will help someone in the future who has a hydraulic fan on their DP.
 
Back
Top Bottom