Checking gear/hydraulic fluid

[starbrightsteve]

I have 2004 L2800 gear Kubota. It has a small round glass window on the side of the transmission to view fluid level. It痴 not clear to me what it is supposed to look like when the level is correct. Also does it matter where the three point or loader position is in during a check? Can anyone help?

 

[RickB]

Generally you should check oil with the loader flat on the ground and the hitch raised. The background of the sight glass is pure white when new and oil will make it slightly amber if the glass is full. If partly full A line will show at the oil level. Having the tractor sit level is important.

 

[StuartT]

I have 2004 L2800 gear Kubota. It has a small round glass window on the side of the transmission to view fluid level. Itç—´ not clear to me what it is supposed to look like when the level is correct. Also does it matter where the three point or loader position is in during a check? Can anyone help?

Hey Steve, I don't want to hijack your thread but I have a similar issue this morning and posing our questions together might be useful in helping us both.

My 2009 L2800HST has had some really heavy use in the last two days and this morning I went out to grease things and check fluids. A week ago my transmission oil was mid-level and seemed clear against the white background, but this morning it looks more cloudy and is off the top of the sight glass overfull. Here is a picture with the bucket down and the 3 point raised:



It has been dry, the tractor is always stored in the garage and it has not been washed recently, so the only thing I can think of is the heavy gravel lifting and box dragging I put it through up until dinnertime last night really foamed the oil and it has yet to completely settle down, or if there is water in the oil, the oil cooler has failed. The coolant level is at 1" above the "Low" line on the bottle. I remember it being fuller, but it may also have been warm. Note that I have only owned this tractor for three weeks.

If you would like me to post this on it's own thread Steve, say the word. Otherwise, like you, I could sure use some thoughts on what might be going on.

 

[Scook222]

On my L2501 on flat ground the sight glass is full and almost clear super udt color. I have had to park it on an angle when I got it to make sure it was full because the sight gauge was full to the top. StuartT were you using remote hydraulics before you noticed the color change and increase? Water in super udt turns it creamy. I have certain implements I only run on a farmall 560 because the fluid stays frothy in it and gets moisture in it sometimes. If you had a bad cylinder on a piece of equipment or put new hoses on it could have had contaminated hytran in it. It looks like moisture has gotten in the hytran I don’t believe it is from the oil cooler going out. If your has udt or super udt in it, it shouldn’t be frothy at all no matter how hard the tractor is worked. I would look for a way you think moisture got in it, gear or range lever boots or things like that I would definitely change the hudraulic filters and udt or super udt once you find where the moisture is coming from. Someone else on here might know if there is a plug on the bottom of your tractor to dry drain the udt. If there is you can unscrew it alittle and any water that is in it should come past the threads with it loose but not unscrewed. I do it that way for a farmall 560, but haven’t had a problem with the l2501 or m7040.

 

[StuartT]

Great thoughts Scook222, but no remote hydraulics and no new hoses, nor have I broken any connections. And it has not seen a drop of water from rain or hose in all of March so I cannot imagine where any water could be coming from. Hope I don't have a silent gremlin left as a present from the former owner. I am going to try your angle suggestion and jack up the port side to see if I can determine how far over the UTD fluid level is. Right now, I have no idea.

I do plan on dropping the fluid out and taking a sample in for testing. I need to know what is going on. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[oosik]

Ha, ha - all these years and I though the carport stall resulted in the tractor being pretty level. So I filled to the top mark on the dipstick, pulled out on the driveway and rechecked. It was a tad over full. At least, I know, that one spot on the driveway is dead level.

 

[Scook222]

StaurtT, do you know if the previous owner used udt or super udt, or another brand of fluids and filters. A few other types of hytran can get frothy when used in a HST system. I’m not sure if the hydraulic cooler is in front of the radiator or if it might be built in to the radiator like some trucks on your tractor. If it did have alittle moisture or water in the very bottom of the hytran and you ran it for a while it could have made it frothy. Also does your fill plug/ breather have the hose on it, if so that might be the cause for the moisture. Kubotapartsdepot, meesick’s and a few others have diagrams of most Kubota’s and you should be able to tell how the oil cooler is on that model. A lot of people don’t want to use Kubota oils lubricants and filters because of the price, but I know with the fuel filters last longer from Kubota than other brands that I have used when baling hay on the weekend and the dealership would be closed and our closest one is an hour away. If you have the sample tested and it’s just water, I would do the full service filters and all new hytran just to be safe. If the tractor runs good, drives good, and the hydraulics are fine, I wouldn’t think you would have any gremlins to worry about. I have seen many small kubotas where I live used and abused and are still running.

 

[RjCorazza]

I can see air space at the top of the sight glass. I suspect there is a slight volume increase from foaming, or the machine is in a slightly different place than when it showed mid range.
The sight glass has always been a pain to get an exact consistent reading. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[StuartT]

Fortunately I have 9 years of service records the previous owner gave me from Bingham Tractor in Mesa, AZ. The transmission fluid was changed 75 hours ago in May, 2018 and they used Super UDT2 and genuine Kubota filters.
The hydraulic cooler is a separate unit and is in front of the engine radiator.
I just stopped over to see another Kubota owner (L3900) near me and his fluid is clear, so I am going to drop the fluid in the next hour or two and get my sample to take to the lab tomorrow morning. If no water in the fluid, than I can probably feel okay by renewing the fluid and filters. If there is, I think it is going to likely be the transmission cooler. If there is antifreeze in the hydraulic fluid, then I'll really know for sure. I don't think there is any other place they could get crossed.

EDIT: I just checked the oil cooler more closely and it is not a heat exchange unit that uses radiator fluid to cool the oil. It is solely an air source oil cooler and that eliminates it as a water source.

 

[StuartT]

The jury is in this morning and the problem was not a problem. The verdict indicates the owner (me) missed some important clues that might have helped him avoid getting all worked up.

When I first bought the tractor four weeks ago, from the owners manual I learned where the sight glass was to check transmission fluid. It made no mention of how the attachments should be positioned, and my guess is when I looked at the sight glass, I had the tractor outside and probably did not have the bucket on the ground. I noted a line of fluid within the window and gave it no more thought. Skip ahead to yesterday morning with the tractor in the garage, bucket on the ground and no line of fluid, rather a full glass of what was now looking to me using a high intensity flashlight like it was milky (remember the flashlight part). My first thought was that the fluid level had increased beyond the acceptable range and it also looked contaminated. Alarm bells were ringing all over the place.

As the day wore on, some of your thoughts above forced me to think more about what might be going on here and I am grateful for that. From the file the previous owner left me, I noted he had had the dealer do a full 800 hour service in May of 2018, including a Super UDT2 and new filters fluid change, and now I'm thinking the dealer probably filled the system a bit to the high side, pushing the fluid level up out of the sight gauge with the loader completely down and 3 point up. Secondly, and most likely what really got me going, years outside sitting in the Arizona sun had lightly crazed the sightglass lens and while not a severe condition affecting fluid observation outside in the daylight, when I hit it with the flashlight inside the garage, the oil now looked milky and contaminated through the sightglass (see the picture in my first post above). Milky fluid made me think water or coolant in the fluid and with the level now appearing overfull plus a previous couple days of really heavy workload preceding this new feedback, well, I was off and running. Dollar bills were no doubt waving good bye!

At least if you a going to make a mistake, this is the kind you want to make. Zero $ to correct; true cost = embarrassment.