Ian Crowe,  Fear not friend, about your hydraulic pressure equalizing when you
open the cross over valve.  Mine does this all the time when the gear is down,
pressurized, and I open the valve.  Usually if you turn on the pump, it will
bleed pressure back down on the unpressurized side.  When the gear is up, it
will free fall when you open the crossover valve, regardless of whether it is
dumping to the reservoir or not.  You'll see when you test it.  Frankly, I've
given up trying to figure out when the pump allows fluid to dump to the
reservoir and when it does not.  There is only one time when you need the
wrench to bleed pressure:  that's when you take off and the gear refuses to go
up.  This has been described a few times before.  Your best plan is to tighten
up your system so that internal leaks are gone.

Ed de Chazal
N361DC