Universal Oil

[Louise1509]

Hi
I have a East Wind D254 tractor and just recently purchased a 20 litre oil - Lucas Hydraulic Oil #10037 at some considerable cost for the gear box, rear/front axle and hydraulic system. However I have now been advised by Midway Tractors that this tractor does not use hydraulic oil but should be universal 20W40 engine oil. Are the both oils similar and can I continue to use this or should I drain it out and buy the engine oil. Cheers Louise

 

[Xfaxman]

:welcome: to TractorByNet! :thumbsup:

Machines designed for motor oil usually don't work well with hydraulic oil. since it is so much thinner.

What does the owners manual say?

 

[MHarryE]

Your Lucas Universal Hydraulic Fluid is going to be a little lower in viscosity than the 20W-40 the dealer recommends. Do you have a manual for your tractor? If you do, what does it recommend. Midway may be recommending the engine oil because of a problem they have had with customer machines. I worked with a machine that in areas where the temperatures consistently ran over 35 degrees the oil thinned down so much we started having hydraulic problems. Changing the oil from standard hydraulic fluid to 15W-40 engine oil solved the problem. Something like this is a possible reason for the dealer's recommendation.

 

[Louise1509]

:welcome: to TractorByNet! :thumbsup:

Machines designed for motor oil usually don't work well with hydraulic oil. since it is so much thinner.

What does the owners manual say?

Thank you Xfaxman.
The manual recommends N46 drive & hydraulic dual purpose oil. Which (of course) I read after I purchased the oil. Thanks for the advice that the hydraulic oil is thinner and would probably not be suitable as I do live in very hot environment.
Cheers for the reply
Louise

 

[Louise1509]

Your Lucas Universal Hydraulic Fluid is going to be a little lower in viscosity than the 20W-40 the dealer recommends. Do you have a manual for your tractor? If you do, what does it recommend. Midway may be recommending the engine oil because of a problem they have had with customer machines. I worked with a machine that in areas where the temperatures consistently ran over 35 degrees the oil thinned down so much we started having hydraulic problems. Changing the oil from standard hydraulic fluid to 15W-40 engine oil solved the problem. Something like this is a possible reason for the dealer's recommendation.

Thank you MHarrye
Yes I have the manual which says N46 drive & hydraulic dual purpose oil. and yes I do live in temperatures over 30 degrees. And yes I did purchase the oil before reading the manual. but thanks for confirming that the hydraulic oil is thinner only to be compounded by the warmer temperatures. I think it is best if I get the engine oil and start again,
Cheers for the advice
Louise

 

[RickB]

20W-40? Never heard of it.

 

[Jerry/MT]

20W-40? Never heard of it.

I think the poster is from England, Rick. Their viscosity ranges on multivis oils seem to be different than on this side of the pond.

 

[Xfaxman]

I think the poster is from England, Rick. Their viscosity ranges on multivis oils seem to be different than on this side of the pond.

Not England, Australia. It is summertime down there now.

 

[MHarryE]

The N46 oil from the manual has viscosity of about 60 cSt at 40 degrees and 9.5 cSt at 100 degrees. The oil the dealer recommends is about 118 cSt at 40 degrees and 14 cSt at 100 degrees. Not sure where in Australia you are located but I suspected it was a hot region - the reason I asked about the temperature. You might check with your dealer to make sure since you already have the Lucas oil. We put operating temperature ranges and the different oils that would work in that range in our manuals but I have yet to find tractor manuals that really differentiate (my product was construction machinery). Here in America a dealer in our hottest climate told me they drain the factory fill oil on pre-delivery and replace it with oil for their area.