Guide
Hydraulic leak repair cost: finding it is most of the job
Updated
With a leak, the parts are usually cheap and the finding is not. Understanding that is the difference between a fair quote and a frustrating one.
Why leak jobs are quoted differently
A hose replacement has a known scope. A leak does not: oil travels, so the wet patch is rarely where the fault is. Expect a leak job to be quoted as diagnosis time first, often with the machine cleaned down and run so the source can be seen, and then a repair price once the source is known. A firm all-in price offered before anyone has looked is either padded to cover the worst case or will change later.
What is usually leaking
- A fitting or adaptor
- The cheapest outcome. Often a matter of the correct seal, the right torque, or a damaged sealing face. Also the most commonly misdiagnosed, because tightening a leaking fitting harder frequently makes it worse.
- A hose or crimp
- Weeping at the ferrule, cracks in the cover, or a chafe point. Replacement is straightforward once located: see the hose repair guide.
- A cylinder rod seal
- Oil running down the rod means a seal, and often a scored rod behind it. That is a cylinder job, priced by strip and inspection: see the cylinder repair guide.
- A pump, motor or valve shaft seal
- Usually a unit-off job, and sometimes a sign of a bigger internal problem such as excessive case pressure. Worth investigating rather than just reselling.
- A cracked casting or damaged tube
- The one nobody wants. Replacement or specialist repair, and worth an honest conversation about the value of the machine.
Never hunt a leak with your hands
A pinhole leak in a pressurised line produces a fine jet that will pass through skin without an obvious wound. Fluid injection injury is a surgical emergency and time matters. Leaks are traced with the machine depressurised, using cardboard or paper to intercept a jet, and with eye protection on. This is one of the reasons the trade quotes diagnosis as real time rather than something thrown in free.
A leak is a compliance issue as well as a cost
Under PUWER 1998, work equipment must be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair, and where a machine has a maintenance log it must be kept up to date (HSE). A known hydraulic leak on a machine in use is hard to square with that, quite apart from the slip risk, the environmental exposure if it reaches a drain, and the fact that low fluid is how pumps die. The regulations themselves are on legislation.gov.uk.
Ask for the leak job in two parts: a priced diagnosis with a written finding, then a repair price. That structure makes competing quotes comparable and stops the cost of looking being hidden inside the cost of fixing.