What happens if your hydraulic reservoir is overfilled?

[BruceWard]

Specifically on a B21. I overfilled it. I am going to drain the extra. But it leaves me wondering what happens if you have too much fluid?

 

[kennyd]

The fluid can/will come out of the vent or fill tube when it expands due to heat.

 

[WaxMan]

I overfilled mine when I changed it , It's easy to do . I drain a little and topped it off slowly to the right level. I would say nothing will happen . But I didn't want to take a chance and have any seals leak.

Just read kennyd post and that makes sense

 

[rbargeron]

Tractor reservoirs usually run somewhere around half full. The gear housing makes a handy storage location for the oil but it's way bigger than needed. Notice your sight glass or dipstick mark and then notice how much higher the top of the housing is. There's a lot of extra capacity. Over-filling has little effect unless it's a huge amount. Even then it probably would only be a nuisance - running out the dipstick hole or something when it heats up. Most owners would never see any effect from an extra quart or two. Engines are more sensitive to oil level. As always, prompt cheerful refund if info is bogus. Dick B

 

[aggiehortguy91]

Tractor reservoirs usually run somewhere around half full. The gear housing makes a handy storage location for the oil but it's way bigger than needed. Notice your sight glass or dipstick mark and then notice how much higher the top of the housing is. There's a lot of extra capacity. Over-filling has little effect unless it's a huge amount. Even then it probably would only be a nuisance - running out the dipstick hole or something when it heats up. Most owners would never see any effect from an extra quart or two. Engines are more sensitive to oil level. As always, prompt cheerful refund if info is bogus. Dick B

I have to agree. I have often slightly overfilled (although not intentionally) the hydraulic oil on many tractors with no ill effect. My BX2200 is usually about 3/8" above full just because SUDT is almost impossible to see on the dipstick.

Keep in mind that I am talking about only slightly overfilled. If you fill 'er up to the top, all bets are off and you need to deal with that by draining back to the proper level.

And I am fully prepared to stand behind rbargeron's guarantee

 

[Rford]

I know this is a very old thread...but I just bought an old Ford 2000 and decided to change the hydro fluid even though the prior owner said he did so two years ago. I opened the "full" plug and drained out 5 gallons---which is the capacity. I then dropped the drain plug and drained out 5 more gallons! Who knows how long it ran that way. The fluid didn't look new. No leaks and the hydraulics work good. Of course, I haven't driven it since the change, so hope I'm not surprised.

 

[DonaldP]

Tractor reservoirs usually run somewhere around half full. The gear housing makes a handy storage location for the oil but it's way bigger than needed. Notice your sight glass or dipstick mark and then notice how much higher the top of the housing is. There's a lot of extra capacity. Over-filling has little effect unless it's a huge amount. Even then it probably would only be a nuisance - running out the dipstick hole or something when it heats up. Most owners would never see any effect from an extra quart or two. Engines are more sensitive to oil level. As always, prompt cheerful refund if info is bogus. Dick B

I’d like my refund please!!!!

 

[rbargeron]

I’d like my refund please!!!!

Hi DonaldP - In all the times I've made that offer you are the first to take me up on it ! Please let me know which info was bogus - and 12 years later "prompt" isn't possible -but cheerful is

 

[LouNY]

We routinely over fill on purpose, depending on the tractor from a couple of gallons to 5-6 over.
All of are ground is hilly and steep we prefer to be a tad over full then run a chance of anything sucking air while working hard on a slope.
My Oliver 1550 had to be a qt. over full on oil when working my driveway as if not the oil pressure would bounce when it sucked a little bit of air.

 

[tradosaurus]

That's why I put the red dye in my hydraulic fluid so I can see the level in the glass bubble.

 

[4570Man]

If it’s a lot over full you could blow out seals. If it’s a gallon over full nothing will happen.

 

[DonaldP]

That's why I put the green dye in my hydraulic fluid so I can see the level in the glass bubble

Hi DonaldP - In all the times I've made that offer you are the first to take me up on it ! Please let me know which info was bogus - and 12 years later "prompt" isn't possible -but cheerful is

hmmm… well to be honest, there wasn’t any “bogus” content, but I’m one of those people that are always reaching for the stars! You have great insight. I appreciate your input here. Don

 

[DonaldP]

Hi DonaldP - In all the times I've made that offer you are the first to take me up on it ! Please let me know which info was bogus - and 12 years later "prompt" isn't possible -but cheerful is

hmmm… well to be honest, there wasn’t any “bogus” content, but I’m one of those people that are always reaching for the stars! You have great insight. I appreciate your input here. Don

 

[DonaldP]

I was just checking out the service manual for the L3650 HSTC.

In all the documentation I didn't find anywhere, comments related to overfilling and any issues that might cause.

From following the Hydraulic schematics, there is nothing there to show that a higher level could, or would cause any issues unless they might have left out any foaming or air entrapment due to areas where there may be return oil flowing back into the reservoir under pressure and mixing at a higher level in the return area. This is just my thought based on the schematics and the documentation I have reviewed.

As a reservoir, the holding area seems big enough to support additional fluid. The last time I picked up my unit from the dealership it was filled up over the top of the upper dipstick mark about the same amount as the space between the marks. Given the level surface area inside the rear end assembly where the oil is stored, that could be a gallon or more of extra fluid there, maybe 2 gal (at my current Dealers installed level).

I agree though, once you get to a certain point lots of other things come into play... there could be head pressure that might impact some control valves that may be normally looking at atmospheric (or the internal air pressure of the housing - if that is different) pressure as a normal - but that atmospheric could be increased by the weight of an additional 2 to 5 gallons of fluid.

There is no question that we aren't privy to all the design considerations that make up the operating characteristics of a complex hydrostatic design like this, so we probably need to be within a prescribed level relating to the manufacturers specs. Yes, every time I connect or disconnect an implement (depending on the connectors), there is a loss of oil, that's just the nature of the beast. However, I would venture to guess that without major leaks, you could get quite a few connects and disconnects on various types of hydraulic implements or equipment before an appreciable loss in fluid would negatively impact the functioning of a tractor that has a reasonably maintained hydraulic system. Not to mention that a daily or weekly check would also point out those issues hopefully before it causes operational issues.

Oh, and, by the way , I'm still waiting for rbargeron's guaranteed refund!! (Not that he made any disclaimers that weren't true), he he he ... last I heard was "it's in the mail", but that was over a year ago. I'm thinking with COVID, the mail is just delayed a bit or maybe the mailman thought it was a Ballot from the last presidential Election and tossed it in a field somewhere. It should have sprouted by now!!!!

 

[DonaldP]

That's why I put the green dye in my hydraulic fluid so I can see the level in the glass bubble.

Use FD&C Green number 4!!! Just in case you end up getting hit the face with some oil from a leaky hose. You would want it to be Food grade dye !!!!

 

[DonaldP]

I overfilled mine when I changed it , It's easy to do . I drain a little and topped it off slowly to the right level. I would say nothing will happen . But I didn't want to take a chance and have any seals leak.

Just read kennyd post and that makes sense

WaxMan ... are you still in the drivers seat?

 

[bgtexas]

What type of green dye do you use in the hydraulic fluid? How much would it take for 9 gallons?

 

[RalphVa]

Specifically on a B21. I overfilled it. I am going to drain the extra. But it leaves me wondering what happens if you have too much fluid?

Long as it has a couple inches of expansion space, should be no problem. Long as you don't have any water in it that would cause it to possibly foam.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

What type of green dye do you use in the hydraulic fluid? How much would it take for 9 gallons?

I used this for 8 gals. Works very good! I can definitely see the fluid now!

John Deere Hydraulic Oil Dye - MT3668

www.greenpartstore.com

 

[Tx Jim]

The last MT3668 I purchased the label on bottle was green but the dye was red in color