"Gear" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

[Anonymous Poster]

\"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

I have a Shibaura D23F that I bought about a month ago. I have put quite a number of hours on it in the first few weeks. Last weekend, I checked the hydraulic/trans oil level (had to find it first). Level was OK, but figured I'd do it a favor by topping it off. I picked up fluid from my local Cenex, it is labeled as Quicklift HTB, universal transmission hydraulic oil, and according to the lable should mix with factory oils. The dealer had changed the oil before I bought the rig. Took maybe 1-2 quarts, probably wasnt needed. Noticed that the fluid was green (looked like a dye or tint), didn't think much of it.

Next day, I fire up the rig, and start moving a couple of truckloads of gravel with the fel. After maybe 1/2 hour of operation, a "gear" indicator light (gear shaped) comes on on the IP, I assume this is for the transmission. It started coming on any time the engine RPM was above about 1600. I shut the rig down, and check the trans oil level again. Oil on the dipstick doesn't look right, kind of "milky". I pulled the drain plug, oil that drained was nasty looking, looked like engine oil with water in in. I'm wondering if there is a comatability problem with the 2 fluids.

I went to my local NAPA, bought 10 gallons of their Premium Universal Tractor Fluid (Hytrans). Filled the case, things seemed fine, I ran her for about 45 minutes, no light, thinking things are good. That was last Sunday.

Today (Sunday) I fired up the rig and went to move some more gravel. After about 1/2 hour the light is on again, when engine rpm is above about 1600. Oil on the dipstick looks fine to me, both color and level.

Questions:

1) What is the "gear" light telling me? Is this temperature, low fluid level, or something else. Everything is in Japanese.

2) Dealer had used Havoline fluid I believe (need to call him). He did indicate it was just a hy-trans fluid, not ATF. Any possibility of a compatability problem?

3) What have I done to my baby??? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

Brian

 

[Tractors4u]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

I have seen some tractors with a light with what appears to be a gear but it is a symbol for the PTO. Engage the PTO and see if the light comes on. If it does it could be that the PTO sensor is faulty and it just so happen to come on when it did.

 

[EFC]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

It was not a reaction between the two oils. It was water and most likely (unless you left the cap off in a major rain storm) was the original water from Japan. Did you change the hydraulic filter under the floorboard? It will need to be changed ASAP! Very critical on those models.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

Buck and Brent, thanks for replying. The dealer said he had changed both the original fluid and filter, there is a Wix filter on now, and there was indication of oil around the drain plug, so I believe this was done. Also, before I added the Cenex fluid, the oil on the dipstick looked fine.

When I changed the fluid, I did put on a new filter, and the tractor has been parked under a "carport" ever sense. The only time water could have gotten in since I changed fluids was when I washed the tractor, but the fill plug was in place.

My indicator has the gear symbol, with a "filled drop" over a line and a "unfilled drop". Is this indicator specifically for water in the oil? Also, is there any kind of moisture absorber I can use? I know they make them for fuel tanks, I had a bag of absorbant on a line that went in the fuel tank on a snowmobile, don't know if something like that would work with oil.

I don't mind changing the oil and filter again if thats whats requried, but if it is water intrusion I need to find where it's coming from. How much water does it take to set off these indicatiors? It is expensive to change fluid if I don't fix the source of the problem.

Also, does the filter act as any type of water seperator on these?

I think I'll pull the drain plug again and drain a quart or so of fluid off the bottom after it has sat for a while and see if it looks watery. Maybe the water had settled out when the rig sat, and thats why the indicator only came on after it ran for a while. Pure speculation.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
Bri

 

[kayssupply]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

That is interesting because the D23F I had a few months back was full of water in the trans also. I put Sea Foam trans additive in it and ran it for a few hours and then drained it. It went to a neighbor and hasn't had any problems uther than a seal went out on the hydraulic pump and pumped hydraulic fluid into the engine at about a quart an hour. A new seal fixed that.

 

[EFC]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

It is the original water from Japan. Changing the oil alone will not get it all out. Yours had a Japanese loader on it as I remember so there is a couple of gallons in the hoses and cylinders. Oil is not that expensive, $4.00 bucks a gallon or so at Wal-Mart. You need about 3 gallons give or take. If the tractor sits for a while the water and oil will separate and it will look great then run it till it warms up and it will look like junk. Having water in the gearbox is not a big shock it was up to the hood in water when they were using it and lived outside in the rain every day of its life.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

You are making me feel a lot better, that there isn't a serious problem. I'll check into it when I get home tonight. Your comment about the water settling out makes sense, when I checked with the "original" oil it was after the rig had sat for a while. Is this pretty common? Not sure why it took a while to show up.

One more question, there is a dipstick on the floor of the operator panel to check trans fluid level. Should it be pushed all the way in when checking the level, or just till it "sits" on the hole in the trans? It took about 6-7 gallons to fill, and the fluid at NAPA went for more than $4.00 per gallon, more like $8-9 /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif On the plus side, the wife works at the local Wal-Mart and gets a 10% discount /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I ended up replacing the "computer" control of the 3-point....I was running it manually, my big butt got in the way of the joystick and the stick lost. Worked out for the best, I put in both maintained contact and momentary contact rocker switches (in parallel) for the up-down, and a momentary contact for side to side, all lighted. Pretty painless and handier location of the controls, I'll post a pic. McMaster Carr came through on the parts.

Bri

 

[EFC]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

Dip stick should be in. I will look at my records but 6 to 7 gallons seems like a lot. There is nothing major wrong so set your mind at ease just workin the kinks out right now

 

[brianidaho]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

Buck, thanks for responding to this post, sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I finally got some time last weekend, changed the fluid and filter again. Fluid did look a little "off", suspect it was water as you said, just a bit more milky than I would have expected. With new oil, things seem much better, I saw the light flicker briefly after about 10 minutes of operation, at fairly high rps (around 2200), but it went out in a minute or so as the oil heated up. Prior to the change, it would come on at around 1300-1400 rpm, after about 5-10 minutes operation, as the fluid heated, the rpm where the light came on went up. I'm guessing things have to run for a while to get water on the sensor, as it heats up it may drive off some of the water. I can't imagine that water does a hydraulic pump much good.

Is this pretty common, especially with the Greys? Any idea how much water it takes to bring this indicator on? I'm assuming the amount in mine is pretty minimal, it's been changed 3 times, the only "contaminated" oil in the system should have been in the cylinders and lines, or maybe some area of the gearcase that doesn't drain.

Thanks again for the help, I'm feeling better about the rig. If I buy another, I may have to take a run to Richland.

Bri

 

[EFC]

Re: \"Gear\" Instrument Light, whats it all about??

Water is normal and very hard to get rid of. We see these tractors all cleaned up and just can’t imagine that they are used in water up to the bottom of the seat and in mud to the top of the front tires. I am going to look in my old files and dig up some photos of tractors in Japan. I made me shiver as a dealer when I took them.

When you come over it is a good time to get some implements for that beast /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif