Oil & Fuel Changed Transmissions oil problem

[lzicc]

I am doing 400 hour maintenance on my L3800 HST. I drained all of the SUDT, replaced both filters. I bought a 5 gallon and a 2.5 gallon container of SUDT fluid. I put the 5 gallons in and then started to put another 1.2 gallons in. According to the manual, it takes 6.2 gallons. I cannot see the oil in the check window. The tractor was on level ground. I ended up putting in the 5 gallon and 2.5 gallon and I still do not see the oil in the glass. I don't want to overfill it. In the check window I see the white dot and it does not have a yellow tint to it, so I doubt it is overfull. Any suggestions? THX.

 

[azbinder]

How much did you drain out, and did you check the sight gauge before you drained the oil? The window will be very WHITE when empty or low. If there is any kind of color in the window, then there is oil in it. I would get a clean drain bucket and drain off a couple of gallons and then take a look at the window. Ideally, you want the oil level to be mid way up the window.

 

[Gordon Gould]

The oil level goes by the window very quickly when filling. It is easy to miss. Once the new oil is above the window it is very hard to see.
I did the same thing with my dozer. Kept filling looking at the window every so often. Never saw oil in the window. When I ran out of hydraulic oil to pour in I looked in the tank, it was almost brim full. :laughing: Time for the syphon.
Measure what you take out. Tells you what you need to put in.

 

[gwdixon]

You can always try the trick of parking the tractor on a steep slope. First, glass side up and see what it looks like. Then, park it with the glass side down. See if the color changes. (No, don't turn it completely on its side!!! Some yahoo on here will mention it.:laughing::laughing

That should help diagnose the oil situation and whether or not the sight glass is being interpreted correctly.

 

[Sammy3700]

I did the same thing on my L3700SU. Luckily I quit at 7 gallons. I thought there was not any oil in the glass however it is so clear I could not see it. I had a new drain pan so I cleaned the side of the tractor good under the site glass and removed the site glass just over half a gallon ran out. Put the site glass back in and waited my wife to slowly pour some as I watced it in the glass. I wound up with 6.5 gallons roughly to the top of the glass. I removed all plugs and left mine open overnight.

 

[Chilly807]

It doesn't take a lot to go from "no oil in glass" to "all oil in glass", maybe a couple quarts. Drain a couple gallons out and see if the window looks different. If it does, then slowly add a quart at a time until you get a visible level.

Sean

 

[lzicc]

I may try to take the site glass off to see if fluid comes out. The site glass looks white to me, but maybe I'm just not sure. I looked at the white dot when all of the fluid was drained so I could compare what it looked like when there was fluid in there. I don't like the site glass. I wish they would have used both a site glass and a dip stick. This is so hard to judge.

 

[Bluegill2]

Sight glass on my 3800 is white and full of SUDT. Yes, mine is slightly over filled...

 

[azbinder]

Remember that the sight glass is plastic and when putting it back in do not over tighten it or it will crack at the threads. If you're going to pull the glass and drain the oil down that way, why not just pull a drain plug and dump a couple of gallons and then SLOWLY refill it and watch the gauge. Like I said earlier, when filling, put the level at half way in the gauge so that you will always be able to see the difference.

 

[lzicc]

I had my wife keep a close eye on the site glass and started draining. There was no way I was going to get that site glass out unless I wanted to pull a bunch of stuff out of the way. After draining 2+ gallons, she could see the oil in the site glass. Success. That what really bothering me. I wonder what would happen if I would have left that much SUDT in there.