1533 Front Axle Oil

aledobud · Mar 24, 2020

Hello All,
There have been a couple of threads about this, but I didn't see anything that answered exactly what I am seeing. The manual calls for the same oil as is in the transmission, but what came out when I drained it was not that. This is the first time I have drained it, so should be from the factory. It was purple, seemed thinner and has a different odor than the transmission hydraulic fluid. Any idea what that might be?

Andy1969 · Mar 26, 2020

Interesting. I have a 1538 which is essentially the same tractor other than the horsepower tune. I bought it new, and when I changed the fluids at 50 hours and drained the front axle, it had gear oil in it. I could tell because of the higher viscosity and smell. I have read several threads on this and I know the manual tells you to use the same universal tractor fluid that is in the transmission and hydraulics, many have used gear oil in the front axles (as I did). Universal tractor fluid is somewhat of a compromise as a lubricant because it also has to serve as hydraulic fluid in its' normal application. Whereas gear oil is specifically designed to do only one thing and that is to lubricate bearings and gears. So I drained mine and replaced it with Valvoline full synthetic 80W90 Gear Oil. Should be better than what the factory put in and should lubricate the gears and bearings in the axle better than universal tractor fluid. Just my opinion though, and we all know what they say about opinions:shocked:

sspenst · Mar 29, 2020

I used Universal Tractor Fluid in my 2014 , 3016 Shuttle tractor when i did the first service on it. the Operator manual said Universal... the Service manual said Gear oil.... LOL. either will be fine. i bought 2 pails of UTF and had enough for the front axle...
when i traded my 3016 in on my 2638 hst cab, the service tech did the walk through with me and recommended Gear oil in front axle. some food for thought.........