Spent a full shift just trying to get a Cat 336 excavator's boom to stop drifting down

It was a bad seal in the main boom cylinder, but finding which one took forever because the drift was so slow. Anyone have a trick for spotting a tiny leak like that faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_hernandez26d agoMost Upvoted

Ever try the soapy water spray trick?

noahclark10d ago

My last apartment had a sink that dripped once every 20 seconds for two years. Never found the leak, never fixed it. The water bill went up maybe three dollars a month. I spent more on the fancy dish soap I kept buying to try the spray trick. Sometimes a problem is just background noise.

rose_young26d ago

Honestly, is a little drift even that big a deal? Unless you're trying to do brain surgery with the bucket, a slow sink over a shift sounds more annoying than a real problem. I'd probably just live with it until the leak got worse and was easier to find.