Hydraulic filters

Pogoil wrote:
When my filters are due to change I will also change my fluid.

Cheap insurance.

Pogoil.

When you drain the reservoir you allow air to enter the system, which is worse than allowing the filters to remove any particles that may have entered when you have the lid off during the filter change.

Oil does not go bad, unless it is contaminated by water/etc or overheated. In either event you will know it is bad, because the system will not work properly.

22 year served as a USN Aviation Hydraulic mechanic

When my filters are due to change I will also change my fluid.

Cheap insurance.

Pogoil.

1500 dollar saving says a lot for me

When you shine a flashlight and can see a clean bottom of the reservoir that is all you need to do.

Most likely the Freightliner price included replacement of all the fluid in the system as well as flushing not just what was in the tank.
Wolfe10 gives very good advice.

I had hydraulic pump failure and you do not want to take any chances with the hydraulic system as it can cost you upwards of $4000 dollars to fix a single part in the system. There are several, steering box, hydraulic pump, hydraulic fan motor and hydraulic blocks. When you get contamination from a failed part the whole system should be flushed 2 times. This requires much labor to disconnect all the parts and flush the system which includes the hydraulic cooler.

In my case finding a pump was a 30 day nightmare as Spartan had 0 on the shelf. There are others on the net that have had the problem. Search motor home hydraulic pump failure.

Absolute cleanliness when messing with hydraulic systems.

Pogoil.

I did this job about a year ago. As previously mentioned, it is not terribly difficult or expensive. My total cost was under $150.

Before starting I spoke with Spartan. They stressed absolute cleanliness. I siphoned all the oil from the reservoir and then wiped all remaining fluid / particles with automotive lint free wipes until clean and dry.

artillery6 wrote:
Where do you get the filters?

Try NAPA L1637 - maybe??? or Nelson 84101B??? They might be marked but if not, probably best to remove the filters, clean them up and take them to a good heavy truck parts shop and have them measure them. At least that is what I'm planning on doing.

Tom,

It is more about the accumulated crud in the bottom of the canister getting to the "clean side".

And, quite frankly, until the job is done, you really don't know what crud/metal could be in the canister.

The few extra minutes in siphoning out the fluid is just a good practice.

Keeping the clean side clean, is a great thought in theory, but what are the filters for? you are talking about 10 oz of fluid.

corrections on cost. the filters were $21each. plus shipping.

Where do you get the filters?