Does this look like correct trans/hydraulic fluid?

777funk · Jun 4, 2019

Here's what came out of the new to me 336D:

winston1 · Jun 4, 2019

Cannot tell if it is correct fluid but it does appear to be water contaminated.

duanew1 · Jun 4, 2019

777funk

You have funk in your oil. Actually it looks like it has water in it.

777funk · Jun 4, 2019

It doesn't look as bad as the 8Ns fluid that I almost bought (white milkshake), but of course I wasn't happy to see even a trace water. The guts look shiny still with no rust. I was glad to see that.

The screen was coated with gunk pretty good.

Question: What's to keep the triangle cap side of the filter screen sealed? On that end, there was a spring and the cap and that was it. It seems like trash could bypass it. Maybe that's by design. The actual spin-on will just plug sooner if the screen misses.

I'm actually tempted to put that fluid back in after replacing the filter. The sump and axle housings looked a little sludgy. I'd like to run it a little more and clean the screen then change the filter a second time with new fluid. Maybe not the best idea. I'm sure new fluid will be contaminated pretty quick after a change as it stands.

That third picture is after cleaning with a garden hose sprayer from the inside and drying.

RickB · Jun 4, 2019

It is headed in the right direction. Dump it, find out if there is a suction screen & if there is, clean it. New filter, new oil.
Edit, just saw your second set of photos. The screen is junk. The last guy didnç¨š get the outlet nipple seated and wrecked it. Do not pour that garbage oil back in there, get fresh oil of whatever spec is called for.

Oldoak · Jun 4, 2019

I would NEVER put that same contaminated oil back in. A possibility is to use a cheaper genetic brand oil (many say TC carries good Hyd. oil) and run that for a short time to flush the hydraulic system. Then drain that oil and refill with what ever brand you prefer.

California · Jun 4, 2019

RickB said:
...Edit, just saw your second set of photos. The screen is junk. The last guy didnt get the outlet nipple seated and wrecked it.

Agree, it looks like the end of the filter is bent over. I would replace it if you can't straighten it to get a perfect seal.

Anybody know if the o-ring on the cover is sufficient to seal it? If so, the gasket paste is not needed and I would just buy a new o-ring for it.

777funk · Jun 5, 2019

California said:
... replace it if you can't straighten it to get a perfect seal.

...

This was my question earlier. I don't see any sort of sealing membrane on the end with the nipple. It just goes into a spring which pushes the other end (with a rubber gasket) against it's seal point at the spin-on filter inlet. But yes, the nipple end... from what I can see (at least on mine... may be missing something), is just against the spring and the cover plate on top of that. There's no rubber on that end to do sealing duty.

777funk · Jun 5, 2019

Picked up 5 Gallons of fluid at Walmart ($38) John Deere 303 spec. They didn't have a hydraulic filter that matches, but O'Reilly did for $4.99. They crossed the current filter number (was a CarQuest Wix #85622) to a Mobile 1 which then crossed to their own Microguard brand - part number MGL51515. Hopefully the hydraulics will work now.

winston1 · Jun 5, 2019

I haven't looked up specs on your filter but would be suspicious of it. You need one that pretty much matches these specs or your likely to have flow problems. Wix 51525 & Napa 1525 Oil Filter: FleetFilter - Wix Filters/NapaGold, Fram, Baldwin, and Luberfiner

777funk · Jun 5, 2019

It looks identical to the Wix in the picture (diameter, inlet hole size, and number of holes). Fleet Filter is where I normally order from, but I wanted to get this up and running today. Napa and CarQuest also carry Wix. It was $27 at NAPA! They're always way high on things like this. Will be changing oil and fuel filter next.

The new fluid, clean screen, and new filter have the 3 point up and running!

California · Jun 5, 2019

'1515-something is what I see on the hydraulic filter of my YM186D.

There may be differences in quality but I think anything '1515' is the right filter for the Powershift Yanmars.

clemsonfor · Jun 5, 2019

No way I'd use that fluid !! You can buy a bucket for as cheap as $20. And always under $30 and ag stores or TSC usually. Walmart is usually not the cheapest place for "303" fluid.

Ortimber · Jun 5, 2019

Oldoak said:
I would NEVER put that same contaminated oil back in. A possibility is to use a cheaper genetic brand oil (many say TC carries good Hyd. oil) and run that for a short time to flush the hydraulic system. Then drain that oil and refill with what ever brand you prefer.

Excellent advice. This is what I’d recommend as well.

777funk · Jun 5, 2019

clemsonfor said:
No way I'd use that fluid !! You can buy a bucket for as cheap as $20. And always under $30 and ag stores or TSC usually. Walmart is usually not the cheapest place for "303" fluid.

I ended up changing it. 303 is getting banned in a few states "to protect the tractor". Not sure how legit this is. Sounds like lobbyists or some sort of business involved in politics to me. Why would the Govt. care about the quality of oil in a tractor tractor?

duanew1 · Jun 5, 2019

According to what I have read, yellow bucket 303 fluid is the lowest quality fluid in any brand.

California · Jun 5, 2019

duanew1 said:
According to what I have read, yellow bucket 303 fluid is the lowest quality fluid in any brand.

I've read that too. Also that real JD 303 spec oil is unobtainable, because it specified whale oil as a mandatory ingredient. So 303 today means 'to be used where 303 was originally specified'. Does not mean it is verified to conform to any relevant, testable spec.

RickB · Jun 5, 2019

The current 303 is such a sub par quality oil that it has been banned in MO, NC and maybe other states. But it is probably an upgrade from what the OP drained out.

clemsonfor · Jun 6, 2019

I just used that as a identifier of cheap oil. Our old tractors it's probably fine. Any damages that legit could be traced back to oil is probably people with kubotas or fancy new JDs that push the change intervals out to 500 hours or so in modern equipment.

But you can get "tractor transmission/hydraulic fluid" for pretty much the same price. It does not say just "303" on it.

rScotty · Jun 8, 2019

777funk said:
I ended up changing it. 303 is getting banned in a few states "to protect the tractor". Not sure how legit this is. Sounds like lobbyists or some sort of business involved in politics to me. Why would the Govt. care about the quality of oil in a tractor tractor?

Oils claiming to meet the old JD 393 spec are becoming banned in some Ag states simply because there is no such thing as a JD 303 spec. anymore. So quoting JD 303 as a specifiction is too often a scam used to sell cheap oil at higher prices. Don't fall for it, there is no governing body that makes sure that the Trans/hydraulic oil at the discount store has any of the qualities of a name brand. I'd agree that the Fed. gov't doesn't care about quality of oil in a tractor, but some farm states have state legislators that do. That's why you see it as a state issue.

That said, the Yanmar hydraulic & power shift system is overbuilt and incrediably rugged. So it will run on just about anything. From the photo posted by 777funk, It looks like his - like many - ran fine for years on a mix of about half motor oil and half water. The milky detergency is the giveaway. That doesn't mean that particular mix is the best thing to run in them.

Running any kind of oil without the water and crud mixed in has to be better. Running a real trans/hydaulic oil is better yet. How far you go down that road sort of depends on how you feel about gambling on repairs.

On sort of the same rant... yes, the hydraulic filter is expensive. There are only really two types of spin on filters: Engine oil type and Hydraulic system type. They are built differently and cost differently because they do different things.
Normal prices for engine oil filters is in the $5.00 to $10.00 range. Hydraulic filters tend to run in the $20 to $40 range. Powershift Yanmars take one of each. And they all take the same one. - see attachment below.

Think about it. Hydraulic filters cost a lot more than engine oil filters because hydraulic systems run at almost 100 times the pressure and at a much higher flow rate (gallons/minute) than the engine oil does. So a hydraulic filter that is built to handle that kind of high pressure and flow rate also costs more to manufacture than an engine oil filter does. The fact that sometimes they have the same number of holes and will thread onto the same fitting means nothing.

It also doesn't mean that using an engine oil filter in a hydraulic system will automatically cause the filter to blow up or shed it's insides....or that doing that will screw the powershift & hydraulic pump if things do go bad.
It might, but probably won't hurt things. Yanmar built a tough system. They tend to just stop working until cleaned. Of course that also means that the hydraulic pumps are cavitating .... but they seem to handle that better than most. Or at least with less erosion to the inside of the pumps.
And even if it does cause problems it will most likely just be a matter of the cleanable filter getting blocked with crud that causes cavitating and eroding of the surfaces of the hydraulic pumps. That's not the end of the world either. New pumps are still available for not too much.
Although it's fair to say that they cost far more than a lifetime of filters and real trans/hydaulic fluid.

One other thing that can happen but rarely does is that chunks of filter material and water-based crud get caught inside the powershift transmission where dozens of tiny flow channels direct the hydraulic flow in the power shift plates - but at worst that 's just a disassembly and reassembly job. Sort of fun to see how it all works anyway.

Good luck beats good planning.....rScotty