Burnt Hydraulic Fluid in MF GC2310TLB?

[Ron H]

Hello All, I'm a newby both to the forum and all things tractor, so please bear with me. I recently bought a 2007 MF GC2310TLB with about 120 hours on it. It was for sale as the result of a divorce, and as the husband had left it was being sold by the woman who had no knowledge about what maintenance, etc had been done. I've put about 20 hours on it, checking the hydraulic oil sight glass occasionally. Then it dawned on me that it appeared cloudy. When I asked a MF service tech about this, he said it was probably condensation. That's when I found this site, started doing some reading and found out moisture will cause the oil to turn milky. I decided to drain and replace the oil and filter, undid as many lines as I could and worked the cylinders to get as much old oil out as I could. When I did, I found it was not milky, but a butterscotch or caramel colour. I showed it to a neighbour who has experience working on engines and he said the oil smelled like it was "burnt", as in overheated. The sample is showing a small amount of a light-coloured component settling out on the bottom of the bottle. It also seems thicker than the new oil. I don't know if the initial 50 hour change was ever done. No other symptoms, no apparent overheating smell when operating the tractor and everything has worked well. However, I removed about 15 litres and so far have put 18 back in and it's not yet showing in the sight gauge (have to get some more tomorrow). I don't know how much the TLB should take (the tractor takes 11.5 litres, but nothing in the manuals for the backhoe or FEL). My neighbour believes the sight glass may have been dirty, thus giving the appearance of oil but actually low. Any ideas or comments on what all this is and how concerned I should be?

 

[MFRED]

I think you did the right thing. Change it out and go from there. That Permatran smells a little different if you're not used to it. Did you change the filter & clean the screen as well?
It should hold about 3 gallons or about 11.5 liters. Make sure you didn't overfill it. Clean oil is hard to see in those sight glasses if the lighing isn't right.

 

[powerstroke444e]

I would get a manual and check it out to make sure your putting oil in right spot and that you drained it properly. I would also think that it is a good idea to change it again rather soon? like after running it for a few hours to work all the dirty oil out. It could have been that someone put gear oil in it or you drained something other than the trans> like the engine oil? or front axle. Good luck on the tractor and just keep an eye out for more problems.