Early 4000 Remote Valve

Greetings and thank you for any direction you can provide. Just
attached the control valve pictured below. Wanted to bleed air
out of hoses so put nozzles on the ends. While cranking,
without placing the lever outside of its home position, noticed
hydraulic oil exiting one of the hoses. Double checked that the
valve was in the home position. Now scared to start the tractor
with pressure heading out a hose without using the valve.

Is this correct?

I am sorry for being a novice with this valve

First let me say I am no Ford expert. Due to the paint I suspect the valve is being added where there was not one before. What do you know about the valve, is it a used item? I assume you know that there will be 3 positions to the valve. So the middle position should be the ..home.. or centered position which should give no pressure or flow to either of your hoses. Does the valve move freely with the lever snapping or detenting into each position? By the looks of your bolts and stacked washers I am wondering if the valve is tightening down evenly. If it is not, the valve body may be distorting and not allowing the spool to move freely. You could just direct the hose ends into a clean bucket and start it and see what happens. Maybe there is some debris in the valve that could be worked out with a little flow through it. Also if I am seeing it correctly you have quick couplers on the ends of your hoses. If they are working properly they should not allow any flow out of them. Just FYI, hydraulics especially the pressure side beyond a valve generally do not need bleeding. Just normal operation allows the air to work out fairly quickly by itself.

I agree with used red that it looks like you are not using the proper bolts to hold that valve in place. The proper bolts should not require those washers. But that shouldn't cause the valve to leak fluid out of a port when it is properly centered. Is this a new valve, or a used one? If it is used valve, was it known to be working properly in its last installation?

Greetings used red and Sean, thank you for offering insight! I apologize for the delayed response. The valve was purchased from eBay, and therefore I may have answered my own questions on its functionality. I am embarrassed the copper washers were included in that picture as theyre clearly not intended for that use. I was in a hurry and didnt have the right bolt sizes due to a different valve being in its place previously. Thank you for the lesson on the quick connects. Wondering if I may have a leak elsewhere, possibly a connection from the hose to the quick connect. I will look closer, tighten the fittings and get the correct size bolts.

I did hook her up to a hydraulically controlled blade. It stayed put in the home position, turned well one way, and very, very slowly the other way. There is an adjustment screw not pictured that adjusts the valve function from a one-way to two-way. I may not have that adjusted properly. Ill test hopefully in the near future and report back.

Thank you again for your time gentlemen, AJ