Oil & Fuel Change hydrostatic oil?

xmitterengineer · Jun 8, 2007

My Lt1045 is near to 25 hours.
Now that I have the noisey drive idler fixed I am seriously considering changing the hydro fluid.

I look at it this way... Heavy duty hydro's have a schedule for filter and oil changes.
My Hydro-Gear 310-0510 is "fill for life" or in my opinion "run 'till dead".

So what I propose to do is after its warmed up remove the transaxle, turn it upside down to drain the fluid through the fill opening.

After draining for an hour or so maybe I will flush it with some aerosol carb cleaner.

Then after the carb cleaner has evaporated fill it with Mobil1 V-Twin 20-50 and reinstall it.

I will of course prime it by driving the input shaft with a drill before reinstalling.

Any opinions on this are appreciated.

Rickey.

xmitterengineer · Jun 9, 2007

OK it's done. The Hydro fluid is changed.
And I'm worn out.
Dropping and reinstalling the hydro for drainage was quite a chore.

The used oil was greenish black and contained a LOT of very fine metal particles.
I used Marvel Mystrey oil to flush it twice.
The second flush came out metal free.
Both times it was primed with a drill to circulate the MMO.

Then I installed 2 quarts of Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W50 with about 3oz. Valvoline Synthetic Oil Treatment added for good measure.

After priming the hydro and reassmbling the tractor there are some differences.
At full throttle it will now pull a wheelie if the tranny is suddenly engaged.
And I can now choke the engine at idle if I try to pull an immovable object.

I believe that the tranny will now live a longer life.

Rickey

geneP · Jun 9, 2007

It sounds like you did a good thing. I assume you researched the correct fluid type to reinstall.

I bought a used 2165 last spring. All summer the hydro pedals would stick and/or have a hard spot before the mower would move. I was waiting for an even hour to come up on the hour meter to change the fluid/filter. I changed it over the winter and it made all the unusual symptoms go away. It's expensive with the 6 qt reservoir, but it proved to be the right thing to do.

Fordlords · Jun 9, 2007

What astounds me is how hard would it be for Hydro Gear to put a drain plug on those, "sealed for life," transaxles for those who might WANT to change the fluid?

They do honestly rate the synthetic hydro fluid for a 1000+ hour lifespan, and the internal filter those sealed jobs have to last that long too. But still, it would be nice to have a drain and change option. But then again, think of how much of a PITA it is to change ATF on an automatic tranny on a typical car? I guess they consider it the same deal in that the, "typical," owner never changes it, so why bother making provisions?

-Fordlords-

xmitterengineer · Jun 10, 2007

Fordlords said:
What astounds me is how hard would it be for Hydro Gear to put a drain plug on those, "sealed for life," transaxles for those who might WANT to change the fluid?

They do honestly rate the synthetic hydro fluid for a 1000+ hour lifespan, and the internal filter those sealed jobs have to last that long too. But still, it would be nice to have a drain and change option. But then again, think of how much of a PITA it is to change ATF on an automatic tranny on a typical car? I guess they consider it the same deal in that the, "typical," owner never changes it, so why bother making provisions?

-Fordlords-

Hey I like your 682.
Very nice restoration.
There is this little voice in the back of my head whispering "Kohler" though.

I grew up with a 9N . I hated the distributor on those things.

Sorry...now back on topic.

On my LT1045 as you say there is no drain plug on the transmission, and to compound things the fill plug is blocked by gas tank, fender assy. etc.
So the hydrostatic transmission has to be removed and reinstalled for a change of fluid.
I'm here to tell you that job was a pain in the neck!

So for say 5 bucks they could have had a drain plug on the hydro and access hole to the filler opening. There are lots of bolts on this machine that were put in place only to have other assemblies placed over them preventing easy access.
I had to remove the fender assy. for access to the bolts that hold several of the drive idlers in order to cure a rattle, which is another story.

I can tell that bean counters rather than engineers had the final say in the design and manufacture of this product. This will be the death of many great companies IMHO.

When the warranty period expires on mine the Hydro unit gets another oil change.
And out comes the drill and tap set for a much need drain plug installation.
A hole saw will be used to provide much needed access openings to several areas.
I believe the tractor is worth the effort on my part.

The oil that was drained from the hydro was interesting...both it and the original engine oil had green in them. Hmmmmm.
I believe that they specified green oil to know if the factory fill had been changed.

As I said in my other post the drained hydro oil had lots of metal glitter in it, with almost the appearance of silver paint but with an overall green and black character.

I calculated that since Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W50 is dual rated for engine/gearbox service and has a superior additive pack as well as being synthetic that it would beat the heck out of the "silver soup" likely in the transmission.
I guessed that the bulk of the break-in wear would occur in the first 20 hours or so.
Hydro-Gear specifies 20W50 engine oil for this unit.

Ok enough of my ramblings...I hope to keep the toolbox closed for awhile now.

Ya'll have fun.

Rickey.

TractorLarry · Jun 10, 2007

It's not just tractors any more.

My 2005 Ford Explorer automatic doesn't even have a dipstick! There is NO procedure for even checking the fluid level!

-Larry

Fordlords said:
What astounds me is how hard would it be for Hydro Gear to put a drain plug on those, "sealed for life," transaxles for those who might WANT to change the fluid?

They do honestly rate the synthetic hydro fluid for a 1000+ hour lifespan, and the internal filter those sealed jobs have to last that long too. But still, it would be nice to have a drain and change option. But then again, think of how much of a PITA it is to change ATF on an automatic tranny on a typical car? I guess they consider it the same deal in that the, "typical," owner never changes it, so why bother making provisions?

-Fordlords-

JTKub · Jun 10, 2007

Nice work Rickey! What year is your 1045? I see the new ones as being advertised with having a drain plug on the trans. I guess you'd have to flip it in it's side to fill though! Larry, I hear ya on the automotive end of it. The GM 4L30E in the 2002 isuzu I had, had no dipstick. You had to check/fill from underneath which was a royal PITA. Same goes with the 4T45E in our new Chebby Cobalt. It's got a rubber fill plug on top and a level check plug underneath.