Hydraulic line pop off

[Seren]

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated. Found that the hydraulic hose goes across to the other middle landing gear. Tried to unscrew the hose and pull it through the underbelly, but it was getting stuck somewhere. Had to undo about 20 chloroplast bolts and take off the spare tire so I could get enough room to unstick the hose which was twisted around some other wires. Brought the hose down to Napa and they made a new stronger hose. Will be installing it tomorrow and reattach the chloroplast. Couple of questions:

1) Is it OK to attach the hydraulic line without fluid in it, or do I need to put some fluid in it first? Or other words, it's it OK to have air in the hydraulic line?
2) I believe I read that the hydraulic fluid that is used is automatic transmission fluid, correct?
3) Normally should not add hydraulic fluid unless the gear is up, but if it is pretty low should I not add some first to have enough to raise the gear, or just try to raise it first.
4) I believe that two of the three slideouts are also hydraulic, I assume that they might have been affected with the broken hose. Reason I ask is that when we were extending the slideout on that side when we arrived that hydraulic fluid was squirting onto the ground. Hopefully not another leak somewhere.

On nice thing about living full-time in an RV is that I have learned a lot about fixing things that I would have never thought I could do, mainly because of the advice from those on the Heartland forum. Mucho gracias everyone!

New hose...



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[danemayer]

2) I believe I read that the hydraulic fluid that is used is automatic transmission fluid, correct?

The Lippert Hydraulic Slideout and HLG System uses automatic transmission
fluid (ATF). Any ATF can be used. A full synthetic or synthetic blend works best
such as Dexron II, Dexron III or Mercon 5.

4) I believe that two of the three slideouts are also hydraulic, I assume that they might have been affected with the broken hose. Reason I ask is that when we were extending the slideout on that side when we arrived that hydraulic fluid was squirting onto the ground. Hopefully not another leak somewhere.

The hydraulic pump pushes or pulls fluid whenever you operate the levelup, or the slide outs. If a valve is open, fluid flows through the valve. In the case of your broken hose, I'm guessing the valve is located after the break. So if you push a slide out, fluid will flow to the slide and also through the broken hose.

 

[pegmikef]

1) Is it OK to attach the hydraulic line without fluid in it, or do I need to put some fluid in it first? Or other words, it's it OK to have air in the hydraulic line?

Yes it is ok. I assume that it works the same way as the hydraulic jacks. I just installed the new line and cycled the jacks (in your case the slides) a couple of times and all was ok. Hopefully there is a mark where the level of fluid is supposed to be, so with everything retracted fill it to that mark (mine was down a lttle over a pint from what I lost out of the broken line).

I found that a floor jack and 8 foot 2x4 made it pretty easy to put the coroplast back up. I used a couple of boxes to ball park the location of one end and then slid my jack and 2x4 to lift it all the way to the frame just loose enough so I could slide the coroplast around until I got it lined up. I managed to use the same holes when I screwed it back. I screwed the initial screws in, move the jack/board a foot or two, put in some more screws. Just repeated process to the end.
Good luck.

 

[MTPockets]

Yes it is ok. I assume that it works the same way as the hydraulic jacks. I just installed the new line and cycled the jacks (in your case the slides) a couple of times and all was ok. Hopefully there is a mark where the level of fluid is supposed to be, so with everything retracted fill it to that mark (mine was down a lttle over a pint from what I lost out of the broken line).

I found that a floor jack and 8 foot 2x4 made it pretty easy to put the coroplast back up. I used a couple of boxes to ball park the location of one end and then slid my jack and 2x4 to lift it all the way to the frame just loose enough so I could slide the coroplast around until I got it lined up. I managed to use the same holes when I screwed it back. I screwed the initial screws in, move the jack/board a foot or two, put in some more screws. Just repeated process to the end.
Good luck.

I once had to put the Corroplast back up and used items on hand. A couple coolers, a folding table and some leveling blocks. Anything to hold it up so you can install the screws.... A few extra screws on hand was helpful, as I had some break before they were completely tight.

 

[Gary521]

Here is the Lippert write up to purge air from system: https://www.lci1.com/images/support/lipsheet/0183.pdf