Anyone DIY dye their hydro oil?

[Runner]

BTW, I bought the Deere dye I had linked above, and it was a little (1 fl.oz.?) jar that read "add entire contents to any system up to 5 gallons capacity." The dye is actually red, not green as others here had reported for their Deere dye purchases.

I didn't bother to look up the hydro oil capacity on my 3033r, memory tells me it's over 5 gallons, but whatever... I added the jar. Then because much of it was probably lying in the internal threads of the filler neck (didn't want to waste any in a funnel), I filled the jar with clean hydro oil, shook it around, and used that to get the last of the dye from the bottle and douche the threads in the filler neck so the cap (hopefully) wouldn't glue itself in place with dried dye over the coming months.

But after a day of short stints moving the tractor around (walnut harvesting), the fluid on the dipstick still looks clear!

How's it smell?

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Are you sure you put it in the right filler neck?

I've found that adding it to the jug is better, AND less messy, but sounds like you just added it straight to the transmission, not did a fluid change ...

I've only ever heard that the JD dye is red!

 

[WinterDeere]

How's it smell?

I actually did take a sniff, and it smelled about like you'd expect oil dye to smell. But I lack the vocabulary to describe a smell.

Are you sure you put it in the right filler neck?

lol... pretty sure!

I've found that adding it to the jug is better, AND less messy, but sounds like you just added it straight to the transmission, not did a fluid change ...

Yes, it would have been better, but I'm not low on hydro oil or due for a change.

I've only ever heard that the JD dye is red!

Maybe I misread, but I thought someone above said theirs was green.

 

[Runner]

I actually did take a sniff, and it smelled about like you'd expect oil dye to smell. But I lack the vocabulary to describe a smell.

So, not like Grenadine. Damn.

 

[WinterDeere]

So, not like Grenadine. Damn.

No, but it's okay... I have Grenadine for that!

 

[Runner]

I'm wondering what would happen if you just added some Rit dye to the system. I can't seem to find a good ingredient list for the stuff, but tempted to add a little to some Hygard in a container and see what it does.

 

[newbury]

I just get in the habit of laying the dipstick on the khaki pants or shorts I'm wearing at the time.

 

[joshperry3]

BTW, I bought the Deere dye I had linked above, and it was a little (1 fl.oz.?) jar that read "add entire contents to any system up to 5 gallons capacity." The dye is actually red, not green as others here had reported for their Deere dye purchases.

I didn't bother to look up the hydro oil capacity on my 3033r, memory tells me it's over 5 gallons, but whatever... I added the jar. Then because much of it was probably lying in the internal threads of the filler neck (didn't want to waste any in a funnel), I filled the jar with clean hydro oil, shook it around, and used that to get the last of the dye from the bottle and douche the threads in the filler neck so the cap (hopefully) wouldn't glue itself in place with dried dye over the coming months.

But after a day of short stints moving the tractor around (walnut harvesting), the fluid on the dipstick still looks clear!

I used the same tiny bottle on my Century 3045 a short time after a fluid change. I just added it into the filter neck of my machine lime you did. It made my fluid as dark red as Auto Trans Fluid is. I was quite surprised since it was over 5 gallons for sure.

I was working on removing the fuel tank to fix the cracked filler neck when I added it. It had already started to tint the fluid at the sight glass in an hour or less. Obviously wasn't fully mixed till I could run the tractor. I did figure out that I have a leak around the sight glass though because the red was leaking out around it immediately. Which reminds me, I never have fixed that leaking sight glass...

 

[nando]

Like many others with a dipstick, I couldn't see the (clear) fluid level, I used a short piece of black heat shrink tubing on the dip stick. Fluid shows much better on the black heat shrink now.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I would have to check my NH fluid 3 or more times to be sure I saw the level correctly. Damn hard to see, clear ish on greyish.