Can you dye hydraulic or gear oil? If so with what?

[Creamer]

As I get older I cannot see nice clean oil on the dipsticks as easily as I used to be able to. Is there anything that I could dye the oils without causing other problems? Are there any negatives to doing this?

 

[orezok]

I too have problems seeing the oil on the stick, so what I do is take a clean white paper towel. Remove the stick and lightly place the tip flat on the towel. When you raise the stick the oil level will be indicated on the towel.

 

[Wagtail]

Yes. JD (Parts Department) sells a red dye for hydraulic fluid. Other colour tractors also use this product. It does no harm to the hydraulic fluid.

I believe that there are other similar products available at Auto shops, but I cannot speak to their quality.

 

[Redlands Okie]

MT3668 I believe is the John Deere part number. Seems there has been some back log on it but recently back in stock at many stores ?
Even if the number is wrong a decent parts counter worker should figure it out.

I will say that the two times I have used it the stuff had settled a bit. Lots of shaking did not seem to help a lot. It’s a pretty small bottle. I ended up scooping the contents out and mixing it in with a small amount of hydraulic fluid, then poured that into the tractor. The second time i used it I let the dye set in a pan of HOT water for a while and that helped a lot. Be careful opening it since the lid will “pop” loose……. If you can be careful to not tip it over then loosing the lid up first and then setting it in the HOT water would work well also.

 

[Gee Ray]

If you know anyone that drives a gasoline tanker, they use dye for the different gasses and diesel fuel. My brother use to send me some to use. A little goes a long way.

 

[WranglerX]

Dye for Hydraulic Oil

Have a MF GC1715 and it has a "sight glass" for checking oil in HST, trouble is oil is so clear you can not tell if it is above or below sight glass (have yet to see oil level in glass) but upon using a piece of wire as a dip stick I sort of determined oil is above sight glass... Question is...

www.tractorbynet.com

John Deere Hydraulic Oil Dye - MT3668

www.greenpartstore.com

Amazon.com: Color Coding Dye, Red, 4 oz. : Tools & Home Improvement

Buy Color Coding Dye, Red, 4 oz.: Welding Equipment & Accessories - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

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[nybirdman]

The JD dye works well have used it for ten years;be sure to tell your tech that you have used it!

 

[big bubba]

i have used a machinist's dye on the hyd dipstick, works fine. i rough it up using steel wool, clean thoroughly, & apply dye. also in full sunlight i'll pull the dipstick, invert it, & can see where the level drips down

 

[mrmikey]

Another thing you can do is heat the end of the dipstick with a propane torch and dunk it in water. It'll turn dark enough so you can see the levels.................Mike

 

[Tinhack]

i have used a machinist's dye on the hyd dipstick, works fine. i rough it up using steel wool, clean thoroughly, & apply dye. also in full sunlight i'll pull the dipstick, invert it, & can see where the level drips down

I've used tool black and gun blue on them. (Whatever I had available at the time.) If you dry wipe the stick and reinsert, the oil level is easy to see--The oil will leave a gloss on the otherwise flat/dull stick.

The dipstick must be clean of all oil and residue before applying the bluing or blackening die. And, of course, the dipstick must be made of steel.