Gear oil in tranny - is it supposed to get milky?

[drdoolittle]

Was checking fluids on the tractor and noticed the gear oil is milky, not translucent. Does that mean their is moisture and is it a problem? I have fluid in the shop to replace if needed.

The tractor is a 2009 6000 2wd gear with 129 hours. I don't know if the oil was changed at the 50 hour mark per the manual since I bought used from a dealer and didn't think to ask at the time.

Any info once again would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[3930dave]

Was checking fluids on the tractor and noticed the gear oil is milky, not translucent. Does that mean their is moisture and is it a problem? I have fluid in the shop to replace if needed.

The tractor is a 2009 6000 2wd gear with 129 hours. I don't know if the oil was changed at the 50 hour mark per the manual since I bought used from a dealer and didn't think to ask at the time.

Any info once again would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric

With any gear oil that I'm familiar with for tractors, that sounds like water contamination. Before you change anything, see if you can track down any damaged or missing seals/shift boots on the transmission. If not, then possibly the tractor saw water immersion ?

I know Soundguy has a basic non-secret sauce he mixes up when dealing with this issue in old tractors. If he doesn't jump in here shortly, PM him a link to this thread, and ask him for recommendations and mixture ratio.

(For dealing with a lot of water in a gearbox, the basic idea is to get some alcohol in there (with some other temp mix) to absorb the water - then dump this cleaning mix out, before refilling with proper gear lube).

The other fluid that often gets neglected is anti-freeze/coolant.... you might want to change that out too, if not already serviced.

(Yeah, I know , just what you need.... a longer To Do list, eh !).

Rgds, D.

 

[drdoolittle]

Let's just say I'm think about checking the rest of the fluids tonight and getting a shopping list together for whatever I don't have on had that I think needs changing.



So far the tractor has been running solid - it had 86 hours on it when I bought it. Any problems with it today's has been operator error on my part.

I did go into the top of the transmission recently to unstick it out of first gear. I didn't notice anything strange them but was not really inspecting the oil as much as looking at the rails/detents/balls to see why it was stuck. I may have not got it on "good and tight". I did have the tractor sitting outside for a month or so - and it tends to rain fairly regular here in Louisiana. I'll look at that tonight - kinda got my brain fired up now. Lol

Thanks,
Eric

 

[oldnslo]

Had the tractor been run recently before checking the tranny fluid? The milky color might have been air from the gears stirring in the oil. In Louisiana it could also easily from the humidity or water ingression.

good luck

 

[drdoolittle]

No. Had been sitting in the shed for about a week.

 

[ultrarunner]

Milky to Butter Milk is indication of water contamination.

Flush and refill.

Sounds like high water???

Hows the engine oil look?

 

[3930dave]

Let's just say I'm think about checking the rest of the fluids tonight and getting a shopping list together for whatever I don't have on had that I think needs changing.



So far the tractor has been running solid - it had 86 hours on it when I bought it. Any problems with it today's has been operator error on my part.

I did go into the top of the transmission recently to unstick it out of first gear. I didn't notice anything strange them but was not really inspecting the oil as much as looking at the rails/detents/balls to see why it was stuck. I may have not got it on "good and tight". I did have the tractor sitting outside for a month or so - and it tends to rain fairly regular here in Louisiana. I'll look at that tonight - kinda got my brain fired up now. Lol

Thanks,
Eric

For storage, a good tarp can help outside, over the operator station. Cheap tarps tend to die fast (at least where I live), so in addition to a better tarp, I inverted an empty 5 gallon bucket over the gear shifts on my old Ford.

AFAIK, I don't have any leaks into my gearcase, but figure keeping water off the area can't be a bad idea...

Rgds, D.

 

[drdoolittle]

Checked the oil, didn't look bad at all. Changed it anyway. I did look at the gasket on the top of the tranny and it may have broke when I was reinstalling it an didn't I didn't catch it. Will be using gasket sealer to help it stick going back on. Looking down inside and I will definitely be flushing and refilling.

I do have a tarp I had over the seat but it didn't cover the shifter. I have a bigger one that will and if I leave it out I'll use that next time.

I may PM Soundman in a bit to see how he recommends attacking getting the milky out and fresh stuff in. From reading the manual sounds like a certain amount of old fluid - about 1 gal according to the book - will remain in the tranny no matter what, at least if it's on level ground which it is.

Thanks for all of the responses so far.

 

[2TonCommon]

If you can't easily trace your leak, there's an inexpensive foolproof method which works very well. You add a fluorescent dye to your suspected source of the oil leak (tranny, engine, radiator, etc.) let it run for the prescribed time, then shine the included 12volt UV light source in around the related parts such as shaft seals, pinion seals, differentials, etc. The dye makes its way to the source of the leak and viola.... leak found! I just checked Google and these run about $60 bucks from a variety of sources, it's called: Mastercool 53351 Professional UV Leak Detector Kit with 50W UV Light.