Oil & Fuel L3240 200-hour service

[jarbill]

I am going to try to do my first oil change (200 hour) on my Kubota L3230 DT tractor, and I'm wondering what kind of oil works best in Texas? We have really hot summers here (this summer about 30 days over 100 degrees) and the winters are usually mild, although we get some snow occasionally and freezing temps. My tractor is stored outside. This is my first diesel engine, so I didn't know if there is any difference between gasoline engine oil and diesel oil. Can you use synthetic oils, 5w-30, 10w-30, 15w-40, synthetic blends? Any help would be appreciated.

Also, while I'm thinking about it, I know I need to grease the zerks also. I do that pretty frequently, but my grease gun is almost impossible to get off of the zerks after greasing them. I mean, really almost impossible! I have to get it off by kind of popping the grease gun away from the fitting by snapping the gun back and forth or using a screwdriver to pry it off. Are the zerks an unusual size or does my grease gun have some odd-sized fitting?

Thanks in advance.

Jerry in Texas

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I'm not sure about the weight, but there are different oils for diesel engines.

 

[dex3361]

You will need to sue a diesel rated oil. Shell Rotella 5W-40 Synthetic is what I use in my L4400 Kubota. I would reference the owners manual on the temp chart and go with what is recommended.

 

[number two]

Jerry,any 15W40 oil will be diesel rated and well suited for your climate,simply put.As for your grease gun problems,try pulling the coupler off at an angle instead of straight off.If that fails,you can loosen the tip of the coupler by unscrewing it which will loosen it's grip on the zerk.Good Luck!

 

[TripleR]

What number two said. We have used a variety of oils in our tractors over the years including Rotella, AECO, New Holland, Kubota etc.; loosen the tip and if you can't, get a different one that you can. The 200 hour is pretty detailed, but nothing beyond the average user's ability.

 

[Chilly807]

+1 on the grease gun, I've been using them for years and never knew about the "loosen the tip" trick until a few months ago.

Not all tips are like that, but my Lincoln is. It has two threaded sections, the rearmost one that holds the tip on the hose, and the front one about an inch back from the end that loosens/tightens the grip on the nipple.

As for oil, it really depends on the temps you expect to see between now and the next oil change. In my case, it may be a year before I change oil, so I use 10w30 because of the cold weather here in winter. If I felt it needed 15w40 in summer, I would change it seasonally (spring and fall intervals).

Sean

 

[Happyman]

Ditto to most of what has been said. I had a similiar problem with the grease gun until I realized I could unscrew the tip and it would come right off the zerk. Be sure to tighten it again for the next zerk or the grease will seep out around the zerk when you try to pump it in.
I use Rotella 5w-40 year round. It's 100% synthetic.
Hope the 200 hour service goes well :thumbsup: