Where is my hydraulic fluid going??

[Yogi05]

I figured if JD-MT3668 equipment oil dye was good enough for the GREEN, ORANGE, and BLUE 'tractor guys'... it was good enough for a RED Tractor guy! For around $15 USD, I can now see my hydraulic fluid/oil level without wondering if I over-filled, or it's under-filled. (BONUS: It helps finding leaks too!)

I misread your post and thought it was actual hydraulic oil as opposed to dye.
But $15 US is like $23504 Canadian Pesos
I'll look this stuff up. I think I will call the dealer again and make sure it doesn't void my warranty too.
I had a thought about some kind of "leak trace" or dye to make it more visible. Just didn't get where I was looking
for commercial products like this.
Thanks Jack

 

[Yogi05]

I haven't gone any further than my essay above.
If anyone has ever read my other posts, I am notorious for overlooking the simple and obvious sometimes.
An example would be my contribution to a welder thread regarding a welder I bought that wouldn't work.
Which is odd because I got my brother's share of common sense, and earned 2 college diplomas while
being a blue collar poster boy.


I am more than halfway expecting my current fluid issue to be I over filled it because it was so clear I couldn't see it
We'll see.
And no, I have no problem putting myself up for ridicule, so I'll post when I figure it out.

Meantime, keep ideas coming if anyone has them.

 

[ning]

Early on in my tractor owning, I managed to knock off a tube that returns the hydraulic fluid to the main reservoir and dump a ton of fluid on the ground.

I managed to get it back on, and then was astounded to see how much fluid I was putting into the tractor without seeing anything in the sight glass.
Then I realized... maybe I hadn't lost as much fluid as I originally thought, and the sight glass was completely full of clear fluid...
bingo.

Are you sure there's no oil in the sight glass?
Are you parked on the same slope this time as when you previously filled it?
My money is on it's overfilled.
As far as I know, overfilling isn't dangerous, just a waste of money when some eventually makes its way out a breather or out the filler tube.

 

[Yogi05]

Early on in my tractor owning, I managed to knock off a tube that returns the hydraulic fluid to the main reservoir and dump a ton of fluid on the ground.

I managed to get it back on, and then was astounded to see how much fluid I was putting into the tractor without seeing anything in the sight glass.
Then I realized... maybe I hadn't lost as much fluid as I originally thought, and the sight glass was completely full of clear fluid...
bingo.

Are you sure there's no oil in the sight glass?
Are you parked on the same slope this time as when you previously filled it?
My money is on it's overfilled.
As far as I know, overfilling isn't dangerous, just a waste of money when some eventually makes its way out a breather or out the filler tube.

I thought I was sure.
Now I'm almost just as sure it the fluid is soooo clear it was there all the time.
Like many others, I may have been duped it seems.
I'm going by my top up last fall when I did actually see the level adjust to the red dot in the center. With a darker tint fluid. It
was obvious then. But even that fill up was 4.5 L and unlikely in hind site.

 

[ning]

I thought I was sure.
Now I'm almost just as sure it the fluid is soooo clear it was there all the time.
Like many others, I may have been duped it seems.
I'm going by my top up last fall when I did actually see the level adjust to the red dot in the center. With a darker tint fluid. It
was obvious then. But even that fill up was 4.5 L and unlikely in hind site.

Oil does have a little tint, so you'd clearly see when there's half of the glass with oil and half without, but when it's entirely full of oil I think you lose the perspective of that little tint and it suddenly just looks empty. Kinda like white vs slightly off-white, you immediately see the difference when side-by-side but just one or the other and you may not be able to identify. Thus, the red dye.

 

[jack32008]

I misread your post and thought it was actual hydraulic oil as opposed to dye.
But $15 US is like $23504 Canadian Pesos
I'll look this stuff up. I think I will call the dealer again and make sure it doesn't void my warranty too.
I had a thought about some kind of "leak trace" or dye to make it more visible. Just didn't get where I was looking
for commercial products like this.
Thanks Jack

My pleasure Yogi. That's the beauty of these Forums. Share information and help if/when able. I'm a rookie but a true believer in the John Deere Dye. If you CLICK on the AMAZON.COM link in parenthesis in my first post it will take you to the dye I purchased at Amazon. It now shows OUT OF STOCK but you can read the reviews and decide if it might work for you (or not...). Good luck and please let us know what you discover...

 

[redman135]

OP, I think it is time to tilt that pita seat and use a wooden stick or a steel rod to dip the diff to find the real oil level.
I have used machines for years and long since joined the "caught-out -by invisible-oil" club

 

[Yogi05]

From about 5 feet away. Zoomed in.
Once I saw this full size on my PC as opposed to phone, I realized
it probably is over full.
I called the dealer again today and asked if they had any dye.
Nope, but they have colored fluid. I'm not buying $150 worth of new fluid if I just
have to drain some out.
They say it "shouldn't" affect my warranty should anything happen.
The parts manager said "shouldn't" and the service manager says
it "shouldn't", people add that stuff all the time".
I'd like to have that in writing, but no.
I asked.
LOL
BTW from 5 feet away, that glass looks empty.

 

[jack32008]

From about 5 feet away. Zoomed in.
Once I saw this full size on my PC as opposed to phone, I realized
it probably is over full.
I called the dealer again today and asked if they had any dye.
Nope, but they have colored fluid. I'm not buying $150 worth of new fluid if I just
have to drain some out.
They say it "shouldn't" affect my warranty should anything happen.
The parts manager said "shouldn't" and the service manager says
it "shouldn't", people add that stuff all the time".
I'd like to have that in writing, but no.
I asked.
LOL
BTW from 5 feet away, that glass looks empty.
View attachment 880586

Maybe a few drops of McCormick's RED Food Coloring/Dye from your local market or grocery store would do the trick if you can't find any JD-MT3668.

My hummingbirds drink the McCormick's every day and they're still alive!

 

[ning]

From about 5 feet away. Zoomed in.
Once I saw this full size on my PC as opposed to phone, I realized
it probably is over full.
I called the dealer again today and asked if they had any dye.
Nope, but they have colored fluid. I'm not buying $150 worth of new fluid if I just
have to drain some out.
They say it "shouldn't" affect my warranty should anything happen.
The parts manager said "shouldn't" and the service manager says
it "shouldn't", people add that stuff all the time".
I'd like to have that in writing, but no.
I asked.
LOL
BTW from 5 feet away, that glass looks empty.
View attachment 880586

The gold color is the giveaway - the metal is silver-gray.
Consider what happens to the fluid sitting in the main reservoir - it's not under pressure in there at all; it's open to the filler tube which has a breather on it.
Worst case is that it gets really warm and expands a little bit, and you're on a slope, and a bit comes out the back.
A mess perhaps but not going to damage anything.
It's a mess to get some out, too, unless you can pump it out from the filler (many people here have noted that they prefer to change oil that way; I don't have a pump other than one that fits on a 5g bucket - and I've found that for my tractor to fill it it's easier to just pick up the bucket and pour it from the pop-up spout into a funnel - though you can blaze past your "halfway up the sight glass").