Which oil are you using in your Kama?

   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #1  

michaelTS354

Bronze Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2005
Messages
59
Location
North Carolina
Tractor
Kama TS354C
My Kama has about 37 hours on it now and im wanting to change the power steering, hydraulic and axle oil. On the power steering the factory fluid is seeping past some of the connections and maybe on the steering rack seals also.What fluid should I use in the power steering? Also is the hydraulic a seperate sump under the seat from the gear box? In the gear box and front axle I read to use 80w/90 I believe, and my biggest problem is deciding which oil to buy. We have hot 90* summer months and down into the 20's and maybe teens in the winter but it wont see near as much use in winter. I have looked at the Supertech oil at wal mart and there are many choices at TSC such as Traveler and Mystik. What are you other guys running in your Kamas?
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #2  
I use Rotella T 15w-40 in the hydraulics (under the seat, yes) and engine. Shell Spirax 80w-90 in the transmission, and final drives. I put regular Power Steering fluid in mine. Good E.P. # 2 grease is good too.
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #3  
In my KAMA 454, I use AW 32 in the Hydraulics and power steering. Transmission, front axel 80w-90. Engine 15w-40
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #4  
lakespirit said:
I use Rotella T 15w-40 in the hydraulics (under the seat, yes) and engine. Shell Spirax 80w-90 in the transmission, and final drives. I put regular Power Steering fluid in mine. Good E.P. # 2 grease is good too.
You'll likely find 15W40 problematic come fall. But if you park the tractor over winter, guess it doesn't matter.

I use engine oil in the engine, hydraulic fluid in the hydraulics, gear oil for the gears (and compressor oil for the injection pump.

Engine: 15W40 diesel engine oil
Front Diff: 80W90 gear oil
Trans/rear diff: 80W90 gear oil
Creeper/shuttle: 80W90 gear oil
Hydraulics (in general: AW32 (ISO32) hydraulic fluid
Steering (KM454 specifically): ISO100 or thicker hydraulic fluid
Injection pump: ISO100 compressor oil
Any dino-grease should be compatible with OE

In all cases, synthetics are optional after 300 hours.

//greg//
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #5  
What are you other guys running in your Kamas?

I do basically the same as Greg except I use 15w50 Mobil 1 synthetic in the engine and AW32 in the power steering. Greg and I have had our discussions about the sythetic in the past. Greg, you know know I have a new email carrier now?
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #6  
greg_g said:
Y
Steering (KM454 specifically): ISO100 or thicker hydraulic fluid
//greg//

Greg, I haven't seen any ISO100 hydraulic fluid. Approx. what wt is it, 30/40?

I know the steering on my kama wouldn't work on the 10 wt hydro oil. We had some 30 wt at the shop at work, it's been fine on that. On the 10 wt the cylinder just bypassed fluid.
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #7  
These tractors come in with some pretty heavy hydraulic oil. We tend to like the lighter oil for faster response, especially with the loaders, but since the KAMA has a separate steering resevoir, I am now recommending 30 wt hydraulic oil for this resevoir. It seems to improve the steering on KM models which sometimes seem a little "under powered" as far as the steering when at idle.
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #8  
michaelTS354 said:
My Kama has about 37 hours on it now and im wanting to change the power steering, hydraulic and axle oil. On the power steering the factory fluid is seeping past some of the connections and maybe on the steering rack seals also.What fluid should I use in the power steering? Also is the hydraulic a seperate sump under the seat from the gear box? In the gear box and front axle I read to use 80w/90 I believe, and my biggest problem is deciding which oil to buy. We have hot 90* summer months and down into the 20's and maybe teens in the winter but it wont see near as much use in winter. I have looked at the Supertech oil at wal mart and there are many choices at TSC such as Traveler and Mystik. What are you other guys running in your Kamas?

According to my experience, you are about 36 1/2 hours late in changing the Chinese fluids. After reading many horror stories about the quality of the fluids in Chinese tractors in this forum, I decided to replace all of the fluids in my KAMA TS354C shortly after I purchased my tractor. I replaced the mysterious, very low viscosity motor oil with 15W40 Rotella. When I drained the gear box and and the front and rear axle I drained a really watery, rusty, nasty looking fluid which I replaced with 90W140 gear lube. The power steering and the hydraulics for the 3PH and the FEL are separate pumps. The PS pump and reservoir are located under the hood. The 3PH (and FEL) pump is internal and uses the the reservoir under the seat and uses the same hydraulic fluid as the PS.
I bought my fluids at Auto Zone and plan to change them again after 10-20 hrs.
I don't know if replacing the various Chinese fluids at 37 hrs will fix your leakage problems or not, but it's worth a try. If you still have leaks after replacing the crappy Chinese fluids you are in for a lot of work replacing the seals. If you don't want to replce the seals, keep a supply of gear lube and hydraulic fluid on hand to top off the reservoirs.
 
   / Which oil are you using in your Kama? #9  
DwayneB said:
Greg, I haven't seen any ISO100 hydraulic fluid. Approx. what wt is it, 30/40?

Local farm stores carry it here, I've seen it at Rural King too. Guess it just depends on your part of the country. You're right about it being in the 30-40 weight vicinity, depends upon manufacturer. This chart will give you an idea.

ISO100 is adequate for mine in the winter, but it's still too thin for summer. Since I can't find thicker hydraulic oil, my summer solution is 50W racing engine oil. We're only talking a quart and a half reservior here, so it's not that bigga deal changing between summer and winter steering fluid.

//greg//
 

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