Water in the hydraulics.....What now?

[wfo]

I just bought a '92 Zetor 6245 with a front end loader. Everything at the shop looked good. The hydraulic pump was noisy (but it is 15 years old). One little leak at the PTO shaft, but otherwise fine. Everything operated great.
Got it home and looked at the same PTO leak (which was clear oil at the shop) and it looked milky. I had been planning to reverse the hoses on the loader anyway, so I took them off and the oil looked like a vanilla milkshake.
Obviously this is getting parked until I get my service manual .

So......
1. How did that much water get in there? What is the most likely point of entry? This stuff literally looks like there is more water in there than oil.
2. How do I purge it? Draining will be easy enough, but how do I get it out of the loader cylinders?
3. With this much contamination, should I flush it some way prior to replacing with good oil?
4. Should I go tell the salesman where he can stick his drawbar?

I think I know what to do about #4 (Yeah, I know.....buyer beware!) but I'd sure appreciate some help on 1 through 3.

 

[Renze]

Oil just needs to collect a little water to turn into milk. It happens over time from vapor and low operating temperatures.

It is very common on light used tractors. Dont worry, just replace with new 80w/90 gear oil or 15w/30 universal tractor oil.

 

[wfo]

What about the fluids in the loader cylinders? Do they need to be dis-assembled and drained, or is that enough to worry about?

While we're at it, is there a good website for basic hydraulic theory and terminology for idiots like me?

 

[ixer0]

If it is really milky everywhere is is probably worth wasting a couple of gallons of cheap oil and using it as a flusher. Work the loader up and down and run it round the yard a bit.

Mike