hello everyone: been working on my 72 trunk area when i noticed hydraulic fluid dripping from my top pump .it is coming out the vent in the top of the motor. any ideas?is there any particular seal that would be causing that problem?

 

It's probably not economical to rebuild them if very old, i know some industrial hydraulic shops will do a rebuild but cost was for me almost as expensive as new, I went with new...I used Hydro E-lectric and it worked as expected....Tedd....http://www.hydroe.com/

 

It has been a long time since I looked at mine. Are you referring to the filler hole on the right side that has a rubber plug in it. When I bought my 72 Cutlass 20 years ago, the pump leaked like crazy around the shaft. I took it apart and went to O'Reilly and got a couple 99 cent oring and installed them. I have never touched it again. If the pump works, the leaks can probably be stopped. Tedd is correct on the cost to rebuild and Hydro E-lectric is a place to buy. They cylinders and pump on my 54 came from there.

 

Yes what I thought was a vent, apparently is the filler plug when the top is up it was seeping out around that plug . Do you know if there is pressure behind that plug ?it seemed to be purging small bits of air as well .thanks

 

I don't think there is a lot of pressure behind the plug but I could be wrong. Certainly there has to be some turbulence inside the pump which would cause some fluid to splash out.

 

If you over fill he reservoir it will escape through that hole. with the top cylinders down you want the fluid to be about 1/4 inch from the top.

My pump was originally filled with brake fluid and it drew moisture and runed its self with rust. If yours has brake fluid in it rather than hydraulic fluid I suggest a flush and replace it with transmission or hydraulic fluid.....Tedd

 

i will replace the orings that i can tonight and try to fill it . appears to have tranny fluid in it which is what the label calls for . the car sat for years and since i got it home I've ran the top up and down a dozen times and it worked perfectly then just started leaking.so i thought it may have blown an internal seal.as luck would have it i tore the rubber fill plug so i will have to address that as well.

 

I've changed all the o rings will install it tonight and try it out as near as I can tell there may have been a small tear in the rubber fill plug . Coincidently a culligan water filter o ring model or-233 is a perfect match for the resovoir seal I picked up at the hardware store along with the rest of the o rings for five bucks