Fixing a leaky seal in a Bobcat Swivel Joint. Found a bad seal. 1 of MANY leaks fixed!

The Bobcat never disappoints when it comes to leaks. It leaks from hoses, cylinders, parts, and today, the swivel joint! The swivel joint is what gets the hydraulic fluid from the upper structure down to the track structure, which powers the track motors and front blade. It is designed to spin around as the top of the excavator spins independent of the tracks. It is really an impressive example of engineering!

Well, mine is leaking. The top seal (which is mostly just to keep out debris) has become brittle and is cracked, and one of the internal seals is leaking which is allowing fluid to flow up and out of the cylinder.

I noticed that every so often, there would be a wet area or small puddle of hydraulic fluid directly under the center of the machine. I tracked some leaky hoses and fixed those, but the center puddle kept appearing. Eventually I found that it was coming from the swivel joint itself. Yay!

In today's video, I'm going to pull the swivel joint and replace the seals in an effort to stop the leaks. What a pain this job was!

Thank you so much for watching! I really appreciate every viewer and every subscriber!

[joshchisholm]

I cut a plastic 2 liter and wrap around it to slide seals on worked great

[bwdiver]

Good job, probably about as fun to do as going for a root canal! 😂

[weekendhack.whatsnext]

Well done. I just turned mine 90 degrees and lowered it out the bottom of the machine on my 331. I think that they are the about the same frame.

[ryannamowitz]

Where did you get the seals?
Do you remember or have a memory of that part #?
Im about to do mine.

[blux]

Your 325 seems very tight. All my pins and bushings are shot and sloppy. Did you replace any of yours? Great job BTW and very informative video. Thank you for posting these videos.

[timbenham]

Did your seals stretch after you put them on? My new one's seem awfully loose know, I don't know if I can get them back in.

[johnnygani]

Hi I have the same machine just wondering do you know we’re the control switch is for backhoe to Exavator is on this machine please