Transmission Sight Gauge Issue

[4Papa]

I asked this question over at "Owning/Operating" but got no hits. Hope I have better luck here.

The attached photo is of my transmission sight gauge and I'm trying to determine if the trans is overfilled or low. This is a TYM T1003 (100hp) and there is no dip stick. I don't remember if there's an interior tube within the square acrylic outer tube or if the golden trans fluid is supposed to fill the entire square tube. I had a cylinder leak in a Bush Hog cylinder and knew I needed to add hydraulic fluid to the tractor to make up for it. I did so in very low light and never saw what I expected to see as fluid in the gauge. I stopped after adding 4 gals as I doubt that much leaked from the mower. The tractor trans takes 21 gals so I assume I have somewhat of a buffer if it is overfilled, unlike engines that are sensitive to overfilling. The low hydraulic level light never came on and the tractor didn't seem unhappy whether under or overfilled. What say y'all? Is the gauge a tube within a tube and is showing overfilled? Or is there no "inner tube" and no oil is showing? The oil & filters were changed last year (40 hours ago) so I'm not anxious to drain it if I don't have to. Also, the owner's manual is no help. Thanks for the help.

 

[ptsg]

That type of gauge is easy to read, so yes, it's over filled by quite a bit. Is it bad? Depends on how much overfilled it is really but there's usually a lot of margin.

Lift the loader to the max height and see if it still reads over filled or if the fluid level dropped.

 

[Alan W.]

Put some of this in the trans. Makes it easy to see the oil level. Use it myself.

 

[Roadworthy]

The dye is a great idea. I was concerned whether it would void my Kubota warranty. I had the local Kubota service guy check with Kubota. According to him per Kubota addition of the John Deere fluid does not void their warranty.

 

[Gregster613]

Put some of this in the trans. Makes it easy to see the oil level. Use it myself.

View attachment 1757852

I added the dye above to mine and it made all the difference in the world! No more guessing at the level, it's easily seen! I recommend its use.

 

[ning]

Happened to me too when I knocked a line loose and dumped a ton of fluid out. Or, so I thought; I put a few gallons in and strangely nothing seemed to change in the sight glass for me either, until I realized that the fluid barely has any color.
I also got some dye and put some in.

And by "some" we mean like a drop or three. It barely takes any.

As far as I know, the worst that happens if you overfill is a mess when it gets warm and you're on a slope and it comes out the filler neck; however much I overfilled never came out for me until I changed the oil at the next interval, when I definitely had a couple extra gallons. My guess is I really only spilled a quart or so when the line got knocked off.

 

[4Papa]

Seems to exactly be what happened to me. I apparently lost much less fluid than I thought then grossly overfilled to compensate never catching in the tiny sight tube just how gross. I’ll definitely go with dye. Thanks all for the replies.

 

[ptsg]

I don't really think you need dye with that kind of sight glass. The background is white, the fluid is the vertical yellow-ish line and the red lines shows the min and max levels. Very easy to see.

Using the first picture as an example, if the fluid was in between the red lines, the upper half would be all white with no vertical yellow line going over it.

 

[scootr]

Similar situation on my Kubota. It has the smallest circle glass in the worst location. I overfilled and worried because I couldn't see the level (glass was full) I used a stick to ensure I had enough fluid based upon a measurement from the fill neck to the glass. 6 months later I finally see a level line in the sight glass. Phew