oldpilgrim
Elite Member
I really wasn't looking forward to this, other than a learning experience as how to do it best.
Mistake #1: buying hydro fluid in 5 gal pails. Next time they will all be 2 gallon jugs....it'll cost more but the trouble will be less. Either holding 5 gallon bucket to pour it into a funnel in a small hole or holding a 5 gallon bucket over a funnel transferring it into 2 gallon jugs = not fun and very messy.
Mistake # 2: under estimating the slippery mess. I've changed the oil in all my vehciles for well over 50 years and this is the slickest, messiest stuff I've ever had to work with. Make sure you have PLENTY of shop rags. I use the blue throw away paper ones.
Best thing I did: drive the rear wheels up metal ramps to get the rear end about 10-12 inches higher off the floor. I was able to put 2 empty 5 gallon buckets under the rear end and drain right into them. Lots less mess than transferring from a typical drain pan into something else. I caught nearly 9 gallons this way with very little dripping on the floor.
After getting the buckets in place, pull the plug on each gear housing. A lot will come out of these holes. Then move one of the buckets under the center drain plug and let it drain. You'll get about 8 gallons in your buckets. The manual says the tranny holds 36 qts (9 gals) in one section and another section says 10.4 gallons...go figure.
Unlike many posts, my hydro filters came off no harder than a car filter with a regular metal band filter wrench. The horizontally mounted one under the left floor came off very easy and drained another couple of qts into a pan I had in place. The vertically mounted filter under the 3pt lever on the right unscrewed just about as easy but was not easy to remove once unscrewed. Removal is blocked by the fel/bh frame and while trying to find a path out of there, all the fluid gets dumped and spreads everywhere over the frame work and hoses that are under there. I finally found a path out pushing it towards the wheel and over some hoses. Now I know, it won't be so hard the next time. It's still going to be very messy.
After changing the filters and replacing all the drain plus, refilling is a chore. The hole on the floor in front of the seat isn't very big and the 3pto drop control knob is sorta in the way, so I removed the knob and shaft which made things easier, but not by much.
I used a metal funnel with a long flexible spout and used a bungee cord to hold it upright. I had 2 2gal jugs of fluid (I used Travelers Premium) and slowly dumped them into the funnel... 4 gals to go along with the 5 gal pail I still had. Then I tried pouring from the 5 gal bucket.....you don't do it this way.
So I poured the 5 gal bucket into the 2 gal containers and finished up that way...put the 3pt knob/shaft back on and started the engine, let the filters fill. FEL/3pt worked well, it moved frontwards and backwards... everything worked well, checked the fluid but it's almost clear so it's real hard to tell if it was up high enough. I'll check it again later after I run it a bit.
Next was the front end. I drained the center drain and the 2 outer drains like the manual says. It must be on level ground. Replaced the plugs, opened the fill on the top right of the axle, and the over flow plugs, one on the back of each side of the axle above the drain holes previously used.
The manual say add fluid until it comes out the overflow holes. This is not going to happen.
Problem:
The fill hole is actually a little lower than the overflow holes. Manual says it holds 4.2 qts, so I put in the 4.2 qts and the fill hole was full to overflowing but nothing was coming out of the overflow holes. I'll drive it around a bit, see if the oil works over to that area by checking to see if any fluid comes out the drain holes.
If not, I'll try to dump some fluid in the overflow holes. I'm assuming that the drive gears will push enough over the to do the job, but who knows.
Has anyone else experienced this ???
So I got it done. Not real easy, but very messy. I did the engine last week.
At least I won't have to do the fluids again for a long time.
BTW, the fluids looked very clean and very clear as it was draining out, but when it hit the buckets and started accumulating, it was very dark and dirty looking.
I'm glad I did it.
I guess I got off easy with the filter change, but I'd like to know about the front axle issue.
It's something anyone can do if they have a concrete floor and don't mind some oil spots on it.
Mistake #1: buying hydro fluid in 5 gal pails. Next time they will all be 2 gallon jugs....it'll cost more but the trouble will be less. Either holding 5 gallon bucket to pour it into a funnel in a small hole or holding a 5 gallon bucket over a funnel transferring it into 2 gallon jugs = not fun and very messy.
Mistake # 2: under estimating the slippery mess. I've changed the oil in all my vehciles for well over 50 years and this is the slickest, messiest stuff I've ever had to work with. Make sure you have PLENTY of shop rags. I use the blue throw away paper ones.
Best thing I did: drive the rear wheels up metal ramps to get the rear end about 10-12 inches higher off the floor. I was able to put 2 empty 5 gallon buckets under the rear end and drain right into them. Lots less mess than transferring from a typical drain pan into something else. I caught nearly 9 gallons this way with very little dripping on the floor.
After getting the buckets in place, pull the plug on each gear housing. A lot will come out of these holes. Then move one of the buckets under the center drain plug and let it drain. You'll get about 8 gallons in your buckets. The manual says the tranny holds 36 qts (9 gals) in one section and another section says 10.4 gallons...go figure.
Unlike many posts, my hydro filters came off no harder than a car filter with a regular metal band filter wrench. The horizontally mounted one under the left floor came off very easy and drained another couple of qts into a pan I had in place. The vertically mounted filter under the 3pt lever on the right unscrewed just about as easy but was not easy to remove once unscrewed. Removal is blocked by the fel/bh frame and while trying to find a path out of there, all the fluid gets dumped and spreads everywhere over the frame work and hoses that are under there. I finally found a path out pushing it towards the wheel and over some hoses. Now I know, it won't be so hard the next time. It's still going to be very messy.
After changing the filters and replacing all the drain plus, refilling is a chore. The hole on the floor in front of the seat isn't very big and the 3pto drop control knob is sorta in the way, so I removed the knob and shaft which made things easier, but not by much.
I used a metal funnel with a long flexible spout and used a bungee cord to hold it upright. I had 2 2gal jugs of fluid (I used Travelers Premium) and slowly dumped them into the funnel... 4 gals to go along with the 5 gal pail I still had. Then I tried pouring from the 5 gal bucket.....you don't do it this way.
So I poured the 5 gal bucket into the 2 gal containers and finished up that way...put the 3pt knob/shaft back on and started the engine, let the filters fill. FEL/3pt worked well, it moved frontwards and backwards... everything worked well, checked the fluid but it's almost clear so it's real hard to tell if it was up high enough. I'll check it again later after I run it a bit.
Next was the front end. I drained the center drain and the 2 outer drains like the manual says. It must be on level ground. Replaced the plugs, opened the fill on the top right of the axle, and the over flow plugs, one on the back of each side of the axle above the drain holes previously used.
The manual say add fluid until it comes out the overflow holes. This is not going to happen.
Problem:
The fill hole is actually a little lower than the overflow holes. Manual says it holds 4.2 qts, so I put in the 4.2 qts and the fill hole was full to overflowing but nothing was coming out of the overflow holes. I'll drive it around a bit, see if the oil works over to that area by checking to see if any fluid comes out the drain holes.
If not, I'll try to dump some fluid in the overflow holes. I'm assuming that the drive gears will push enough over the to do the job, but who knows.
Has anyone else experienced this ???
So I got it done. Not real easy, but very messy. I did the engine last week.
At least I won't have to do the fluids again for a long time.
BTW, the fluids looked very clean and very clear as it was draining out, but when it hit the buckets and started accumulating, it was very dark and dirty looking.
I'm glad I did it.
I guess I got off easy with the filter change, but I'd like to know about the front axle issue.
It's something anyone can do if they have a concrete floor and don't mind some oil spots on it.
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