[kragby]

After dealing with the bureaucracy and ferrying the plane home, we found the rotary gear actuator cylinder had cracked all along the casting seam flushing out all the hydraulic fluid.
Don't know if common with 337's - never happened before in the 45 years I've had a T337P. No one seems to know about this issue although another area of cracking for the RG's and 210's has been reported.

The other problem is that the cylinders are not easily accessed through a pressure bulkhead and would be difficult to inspect.

Apparently one RG driver found that after a similar failure (cracked in a different area) he could gyrate the plane in a way that managed to lock the gear down.
Might come in handy sometime.