Oil & Fuel Front axle fluid

[buck12]

I am in the process of servicing the front axle on my 2615 for the first time. I bought hydraulic/transmission fluid as specified in the manual. I drained the fluid and soon as I cracked the drain plug I thought that smells like gear grease. So I double checked the manual and found that the lubrication table specifies "transmission oil, front diff. oil" as "hydraulic transmission fluid" however in the section that covers front axle oil change it specifies "oil type" as "SAE 85W-140 Gear Lubricant". What do you experienced Mahindra owners use?

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

I am in the process of servicing the front axle on my 2615 for the first time. I bought hydraulic/transmission fluid as specified in the manual. I drained the fluid and soon as I cracked the drain plug I thought that smells like gear grease. So I double checked the manual and found that the lubrication table specifies "transmission oil, front diff. oil" as "hydraulic transmission fluid" however in the section that covers front axle oil change it specifies "oil type" as "SAE 85W-140 Gear Lubricant". What do you experienced Mahindra owners use?

I think either would do the job, but Mahindra recommends the Hytran, and that is what most people use.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The owners manuals often have conflicting information. :confused3: I put the 85-140 gear oil in my 3215. After all, it is for the GEARS. Like Galen said, both would work though.

 

[buck12]

I'm going with gear oil because that is what I drained out of it. I don't understand why manuals are written and printed to such poor standards.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

For whatever reason, I have found that the owners manual for my 7520 is pretty good and I cannot think of any conflicting info that I have found in it. Now the manual for the 3215 is another story, many conflicting things in it. I guess that we should be glad that they aren't as bad as what it sounds like the Korean manufacturers have. :laughing:

 

[Sergei]

This just goes to show how confusing the operator's manual can be as on one page which is the lubrication table it says to use Hydraulic transmission fluid and then later in the MFD section is says to use the 85-140 gear lubricant. And then in the service manual (2005) they have the 85-140 to use. And I'd bet this problem is the same with all the Mitsubishi/Mahindra manuals.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

This just goes to show how confusing the operator's manual can be as on one page which is the lubrication table it says to use Hydraulic transmission fluid and then later in the MFD section is says to use the 85-140 gear lubricant. And then in the service manual (2005) they have the 85-140 to use. And I'd bet this problem is the same with all the Mitsubishi/Mahindra manuals.

I have no doubt. Probably have someone or many people writing the manuals that have never even seen a tractor. And that is no joke, my niece writes instruction manuals for a biiiiig company, she has to tell people how to work on or install stuff that she has never even seen let alone knows anything about! :shocked:

 

[buck12]

The best manual I have ever seen came with an old IH Scout I owned for several years. I think you could have used this manual to do everything to that truck short of rebuilding the motor. Everything else I have purchased has a joke for a manual. The Mahindra manual though is probably the worst because of conflicting information.

 

[Browneyesvictim]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. This has come up again recently, but I'm curious what exactly the MFD fluid is? Is it hydraulic oil or gear oil? I'm looking in my manuals and its obvious there is conflicting information specifying what are very different types and viscosities of oils. I'm talking specifically for the front diff oil (for MAX 25) it refers to "MFD fluid", "Mahindra Universal Tractor Fluid, and also "Mahindra EP gear oil SAE 80W-90". The "EP" in the gear oil tells me there are extreme pressure friction modifiers that the hydraulic oil would not normally have. This may or may not be important with limited slip clutches. Furthermore, 80W-90 is a lot heavier than hydraulic fluid and certainly not 85-140!

 

[ray66v]

The hydraulic fluid, and the 80-90w gear oil, are basically the same thing. That's why they are interchangeable in that application, depending on certain factors.

Hydraulic transmission oil, is gear oil. It has to be, to lubricate the transmission gears properly. The only difference is some of the additives. EP gear oil gives an extra degree of protection for hypoid gears, which may or may not matter, if you use it.

No, the 80-90w gear oil is not a heavier viscosity than the hydraulic oil. Gear oil is not measured on the same scale as motor oil, which leads to people incorrectly believe that it is thicker. Pour both side by side, and you will see they are basically the same viscosity. If that doesn't convince you, do a timed viscosity pour test.

Viscosity varies widely by brand. But, they are both around 30w, at room temp., if you compare them on the motor oil scale.