dirtycat
New member
Hello i am new here and i own a 08 caterpillar 303c cr excavator and was wondering what's the best oil to use.
Whats the best oil to use in 08 caterpillar 303c cr excavator
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MHarryE
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- Kubota M7-171, M5-111, SVL75-2, RTV900XT & GR2120; CaseIH 1680 combine
Depends on the ambient temperature. Cat recommendation for ambients up to 104 degrees F is their Advanced 10 hydraulic oil. I run Cat MTO (Multipurpose Tractor Oil) in my smaller 301.8. It's more expensive but has higher viscosity at higher oil temps and I tend to run mine hard for a mini-excavator since I don't have a larger one to step up to for larger jobs.
cowpie1
Silver Member
That would work fine. Any good quality 15w40 would work fine. I run a 15w40 in a commercial semi truck from 115F to -25F and have no problems. Have taken a few engines over 1 million miles with no major issues, just using a quality 15w40 oil. Granted, when temps get into below 0F category, I have an oil pan heater I plug in and the oil stays like it was a warm summer day. There might a an advantage in some cases to using a synthetic blend 15w40 if the price is right. Mystik JT-8 15w40 synthetic blend at a lot of farm and home outlets is a killer product at a great price. If that doesn't fit you pistol, the just pick a good Rotella, Delvac, or Delo 15w40 and rest comfortably. Just don't overthink the issue and get whatever you choose at the best price you can. Sales are wonderful things.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I use a Schaeffer 15w40 syn blend. I have used Kendall and Mystik in the past with great results. If I wasn't using one of these oils, I might side with Mobil Delvac 15w40. So hard to pick the "best" oil on the market, as they are all great oils.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I use a Schaeffer 15w40 syn blend. I have used Kendall and Mystik in the past with great results. If I wasn't using one of these oils, I might side with Mobil Delvac 15w40. So hard to pick the "best" oil on the market, as they are all great oils.
MHarryE
Elite Member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2009
- Messages
- 2,965
- Location
- Northeastern Minnesota
- Tractor
- Kubota M7-171, M5-111, SVL75-2, RTV900XT & GR2120; CaseIH 1680 combine
Some Cat equipment may have operational characteristics that need a more viscous oil, but I did not remember your mini being in that class. Cat did pay dealers warranty to replace factory fill HYDO 10 with 15W-40 but only in areas where ambients regularly topped 104. 15W-40 engine oil makes a great hydraulic oil but at 3 times the cost (factory pricing). The alternate oil I suggested is much less expensive and is roughly equivalent to a 10W-30. You can pick up a similar oil from Exxon-Mobil - Mobilube 424. You will find that there are many oils stating they are equivalent but if it's cheap, it likely does not have an equivalent additive package and although it passes the basic tests to meet spec, are you willing to bet the life of your machine. You can read up on the oils and machine requirements at cat.com.
https://parts.cat.com/wcs-static/pdfs/PEHJ0214-02new.pdf
There is a link to the Cat Advanced hydraulic oils. The things I mentioned above - they are better explained on this site, reasons that reading between the lines will help you understand there is a spec and there are fluids that exceed or greatly exceed the spec.