Idiotic mistake

[Milkman48]

Dear TractorByNet.com friends,

I just made a huge mistake with my first tractor. Not knowing any better, while attempting to change the oil and filter, I poured 5 *gallons* of 10W30 into the transmission of a Kubota L5450, bought used with 400 hours.

I realised my error when I opened the hood and discovered the appropriate spot to add crankcase oil.

Certainly, I need to put the 10W in the right hole.

What I need to know is how do I drain the transmission before refilling it?

Also, does the hydraulic oil and the transmission fluid come from the same reservoir?

Sorry for your time, advance thanks for your reply,
signed,
certifiable tractor newbie,
Milkman48

 

[alchemysa]

If its like my little 1550 then everything rear of the engine comes from the same sump. Hydro trans, hydraulics, gearcase, rear diff, all uses the same oil that you top up from under the seat. To drain it you look for the lowest sump plugs. As i recall, the lowest plug on mine is the middle pto. You might have a few more under the rear axle housings or anywhere you think oil might collect. If you intend to re-use that oil in the engine I'd filter it carefully first. A lot of metal shavings can collect in the trans oil sump.


PS . I just realised. If you put 5 gallons in - what was already in there?

 

[Milkman48]

What was already in there? I'm assuming it was regular transmission fluid. Some came out? when I opened the plug on the front axle. If you say it's all connected then that's fed by the same well, correct?

Anyway, everything worked perfectly. Now all I need to do is what you suggested. Thanks for the support.

Milkman48

 

[TalonDancer]

What was already in there? I'm assuming it was regular transmission fluid. Some came out? when I opened the plug on the front axle. If you say it's all connected then that's fed by the same well, correct?...

NO the front axle is seperate.

There are three "oil" reservoirs...
1- Engine 10W30 deisel rated engine oil (quarts)
2- Transmission, Rear Axle and all Hydraulics - UDT or Super UDT (gallons)
3- Front axle - UDT, Super UDT or SAE 80-90 Gear Oil (quarts)

When I did my 50 hr service I was NOT able to get all of the oil out of the engine or UDT out of the tranny. In the case of the tranny I only recovered roughly 9 gals out of the spec 11 gals. SO...

If it were me...

I'd drain the tranny and let it drip a while, keeping good records of how much I retrieved. Then I'd use a suction pump with a strong flexible hose to pull oil out of "low spots". Even if I got nearly the full volume in the specs, I'd essentially flush the tranny with the old UDT I had drained prior to filling with the wrong oil. (I'd filter the old UDT well before putting it back in). I'd run the engine and tranny for only a short while to get the oils to mix then dump the lot. Fill with fresh UDT and install new filterS.

BTW I would not even consider re-using the engine oil i'd put in the tranny. It has been contaminated with UDT and there is just too much chance of dirt while handling gals of oil.

Talon Dancer

 

[alchemysa]

TalonDancer is correct. As i said, its just everything REAR of the engine thats connected. The front axle is completely seperate. (As is the engine). So it sounds like youve still got the original UDT trans fluid plus 5 gallons of 10/30 in the tranny. I'm surprised you could get that much more in! You'll have to ditch the lot and start again I think. And if youve drained the front diff, you'll have to top that up too.

 

[N80]

Did you run the tractor or cycle the hydraulics after putting the motor oil in the tranny? Also, can you clarify, had you drained the hydraulic fluid out before putting the motor oil in there?

 

[Milkman48]

Allow me to re-thank you guys for the help.

George, I did run the tractor for 30-40 seconds, twice, during my "accident," though I didn't touch anything hydraulic.

I drained the engine oil, but not the tranny, before adding the 10W30 to the main PTO reservoir.

Hopefully I can recover without permanent damage.


thanks,
Milkman48

 

[rbargeron]

Welcome to TBN - and a special welcome to the very small group of L5450 owners. In my humble opinion the L5450 is the "fine wine" of the Kubota fleet.

It's possible that no damage has been done, but the biggest danger was running the engine without oil in it. For the first few seconds of running it would still be oil-wet and cold enough so maybe its ok. Unless it raps there'd be no point in tearing it down for this.

The L5450 has six separate oil volumes:

(1, 2, 3) There are three separate volumes on the front axle - the center one for the differential, and one for each kingpin/wheel assembly.

(4) The engine oil is its own volume and has two bottom drain plugs - the center tunnel for the front driveshaft makes it necessary to have a low point drain on each side. I use 15W40 HD oil rated for diesel service.

(5) The power steering system reservoir is above the engine.

(6) From the tranny back, it's all one big oil reservoir. There's enough extra room in there you could put 10 extra gallons in and it might not overflow. This oil is a special hydraulic fluid/gear lube. You diluted it with engine oil - but if it was drained out fairly soon, it likely did no damage. Engine oil has additives that are not compatible with clutch packs, wet disk brakes, hydraulic pump seals, etc. Long term they would be affected but not from just a few minutes use.

Have fun with that L5450 - its a great machine. PM me if you have other questions - I have all the manuals and parts book etc.
Take care, Dick B

 

[TalonDancer]

...I drained the engine oil, but not the tranny, before adding the 10W30 to the main PTO reservoir....

OOPS! My advice assumed you had drained the tranny and just put the wrong oil in it. My Bad.

I agree w/ rbargeron if you just drain the tranny ASAP and fill it with UDT/Super UDT you will probably be OK on the tranny/hydraulics, even though there will almost certainly be some engine oil remaining, since the tranny doesn't drain completely.

Talon Dancer

 

[DonT-B7500]

I would consider contacting an automatic transmission shop and get their advice, they do have portable flushing devices that may be of help in getting all the motor oil out.

 

[DonT-B7500]

It could save thousands, this is probably one time I would recommend getting professional advice. Not that we here aren't all professionals

 

[crazyal]

Hopefully you didn't run the engine without oil.

 

[john_bud]

Ohhhh Boy! Where to start?

Ok, first off -- relax! Everybody messes up at one point or another.

Next, the viscosity of SUDT is .... drum roll.... 5w30. Engine oil is not that much different than hydraulic fluid. Still, the UDT or SUDT has additives for foam control, wet clutch and wet brake operations. So, you don't want to use engine oil to replace them. But, it won't do any harm to have a residual qt or two in a 10-11 gal sump. Just pull the plug and have 3-4 5 gal buckets ready to catch the flood. Then fill up with UDT or SUDT.

The engine is also probably ok. I wouldn't expect any catastrophies to be waiting around the corner for you, but you possibly did "age" it by 1-200 hours if you ran it with no oil for 2+ minutes. Take a note - don't do that again!

I do have to ask, how much oil should the engine have normally? I would assume that 5-6 qt's. You should have had that little warning klaxion going off in your head after 1 gal. Next time, check the dip stick after the 4th qt.

If you don't already have it on order, get the WSM for your machine. Work Shop Manual.

 

[Milkman48]

JB, thanks for the words of encouragement. WSM on order, tractor back together, things are better again.

Thanks to all who replied.

Milkman

 

[J_J]

Dear TractorByNet.com friends,

I just made a huge mistake with my first tractor. Not knowing any better, while attempting to change the oil and filter, I poured 5 *gallons* of 10W30 into the transmission of a Kubota L5450, bought used with 400 hours.

I realised my error when I opened the hood and discovered the appropriate spot to add crankcase oil.

Certainly, I need to put the 10W in the right hole.

What I need to know is how do I drain the transmission before refilling it?

Also, does the hydraulic oil and the transmission fluid come from the same reservoir?

Sorry for your time, advance thanks for your reply,
signed,
certifiable tractor newbie,
Milkman48

I don't think you could tell the difference in the operation of the tractor. There is a lot of hydraulic systems that use motor oil as the hydraulic lubricant. All the Power-Trac's use motor oil for the hydraulics, and a good amount of others machines. With that said, there are those that go by the manufactures bible on what to use. I don't disagree. Use whatever that will work, and not cause damage. It's the temperature and the viscosity that counts. Different tractor manufactures use a particular fluid and swear that it is the best. Is there any particular fluid good for everything. I doubt it.
If the machine is in warranty, use the manufactures fluid.

 

[AMR]

This takes me back to a funny story when I was about 14 years old. I worked for a family friend on a broad leaf tobacco farm in Enfield, CT. I loved it and worked there for about 10 years, all the way through college. That is probably where my tractor fetish comes from. They had a ton of tractors, A's, L's, M's, C's, Super C's, Super M, Fords, A/C etc, my favorite was the Super C.

I was working one late spring fertilizing between the plants using a crazy contraption rigged up on a Farmall L I think it was. Well, the owner tells me to get to work and make sure to put some oil in the tractor if it needs it. I check the oil and sure enough it is low. So I looked around for about a half hour for the spot to fill the oil. The only obvious spot was this thing sticking out of the top of the tractor. I wrenched it off and began to add oil. I put in one quart, no change, two quarts, no change, three quarts no change, by the fifth quart I was thinking, wow this thing is low and I am now out of oil to add. I went to get Ed and tell him that this baby really needs some oil and, by the way, do you have more that I can put in.

He comes over a little bewildered and seeing this thing stripped off the top of the tractor he sais, where you putting the oil in there? I replied, well maybe, why? He then chased me around for about 10 minutes, I was able to escape and ran straight home. When I got there the next day for work I was careful to avoid him, it turns out that I filled up the air filter pipe and whatever else it leads to with a bunch of oil. The tractor sure ran a little smokey for a few weeks. I guess it was a several hour fix for him.

Lesson learned.

 

[JoeBuyer]

I know this is an old tread, but it is on the same topic as my current question. I finally got around to changing the hydraulic/transmission fluid and filter on the Kubota L5450 I acquired in Dec of last year. My manual says there are two hydraulic drain plugs, one primary with a magnet and a second plug towards the front of the tractor about a foot on what looks like the housing for the front drive shaft. The second drain plug is physically not there. I see what would look like a drain plug spot but there is no plug there. Can anyone comment on this? Thank you.

 

[crazyal]

I know this is an old tread, but it is on the same topic as my current question. I finally got around to changing the hydraulic/transmission fluid and filter on the Kubota L5450 I acquired in Dec of last year. My manual says there are two hydraulic drain plugs, one primary with a magnet and a second plug towards the front of the tractor about a foot on what looks like the housing for the front drive shaft. The second drain plug is physically not there. I see what would look like a drain plug spot but there is no plug there. Can anyone comment on this? Thank you.

Could you get a picture? When you say it's not there do you mean there's a place for it in the casting but Kubota never drilled the hole and installed the drain plug?

 

[JoeBuyer]

I have that tractor at a remote farm and just got back so I won't be able to get a picture. The main drain had a magnet, in addition there was a magnet insert into the body of the filter and I drained about 10 gallons out of the 11.4 rated amount. It wasn't quite full so think I got most of it. The place where the second drain was to be looked like the low spot at the rear end of the drive shaft to the front axle and I am wondering if they switched the design and had that shaft lubed off of the front axle instead of the transmission. Sorry I don't have a better description, it is tough to get a perspective when you are on your back with everything a few inches from your nose.