Hydraulic oil loss

Dennyha

Well-known member
After having our Cyclone for 5 years, I realized that my hydraulic oil level was almost a quart low. I added a quart of stiction fluid to get the level back to full.
Yesterday, I took the camper to our local dealer for some service items. I questioned if it was normal to be a quart low after 5 years. The service advisor said “absolutely normal”. I asked them to check the system for leaks anyway.
Is it normal to have lost a quart of hydraulic oil over the course of 5 years of use?
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I don't know if a loss is normal or not, but we've had our Bighorn for about nine years and haven't lost a drop.
I'm thinking not normal.

Peace
Dave
 

travelin2

Pennsylvania Chapter Leaders-retired
I question the dealer remark. It’s a closed system. Evaporative qualities of hydraulic fluid is nil.
Why do you think you’ve lost a quart? The fluid reservoir doesn’t (and likely wasn’t ever) have to be “full” to the top.


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sengli

Well-known member
Its a sealed system, in my mind you shouldnt have lost any unless you have a leak. We almost bought a used big horn one time. Everything looked normal till we went to run the slides out. Then I could see hydraulic fluid leaking from the coroplast under neath the belly. There was a small hole in the area that sagged, just over the axles. So the rear slide cylinders obviously were leaking. Could easily be just a loose connection.

You might want to poke a small hole in the coroplast in the back half somewhere where it sags, and see if there is some fluid there.
 

Flick

Well-known member
It’s likely the system was never topped off properly at the factory and you just never paid attention to it. I would just keep an eye on it going forward and not lose any sleep. Worry about it later when you get a leak. And you will eventually get a leak.
 

NYSUPstater

Well-known member
IMO, not normal. Had a Chevy dealer (Service writer or Mgr) tell me that the ticking noise coming from my '97 350 cu in w/ just a few hundred or thousand miles was "Normal Piston Slap".
 
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