Tranny fluid

[Madman Mark]

Checked the tranny fluid in a used tractor the other day and the colour was whiteish-yellow and a little bit foamy, but at the proper level with no visible leaks. 2 different guys I talked to said that it probably had a little moisture/water in it and that it just needed to be changed.
Tried it out and it seemed to work fine.
Any opinions ?

 

[Stumper]

The colour isn't significant. Tranny fluid = 10 wt oil = hydrolic fluid. The foamyness isn't good but probably isn't significant. Waterfrom condensation is pretty common-esp. in equipment that operates at low speed and at infrequet intervals.

 

[Lumberjack]

I am big into mud riding ect. and any time that you tranny, diff, engine, or other fluid is foamy then change it, it has water in it. The whitish/yellow fluid shows that there is water in the fluid, and it should be changed.

IMO the color means everything, they don't change for no reason, and even if the water got there by condensation, change it,it is still water. I have never used 10wt oil in manual transmission, and I have never seen, or read that, what I do and read is use gear oil (90 wt minimum).

Foamyness is significant, exspecially in auto trans and engine, it can increase the internal pressure and cause significant damage. Also it is a sign of water contamination.

Change the oil, it is better than changing the tranny when it craps out.


Carl

 

[sonny]

the white could be water. The foam could be from heat. Both are a bad thing.

 

[Stumper]

Carl, 10wt =Automatic Transmission fluid. Most manual trannys do take 90wt gear oil as you said. When I said "not significant" I did not mean "don't change it" I meant that there was not necessarily any reason to think that the tranny was trashed by improper fluids. We are on the same page.

 

[jokers]

Definetly sounds like water in the oil. Change it now and don`t forget the filter. Probably a good idea to flush the system with fresh oil and then drain it too and don`t forget to cycle any hydraulic cylinders like three point and loaders that are attached to the tractor. This is especially common on tractors and equipment that live outside and it can be very problematic if allowed to freeze. It also wreaks havoc on hydraulic pumps which often are inside the transmission on tractors, sharing the same fluid. Foaming is bad because it may allow or cause cavitation in the hydraulic pump and prevent proper lubrication of splash lubed bearings and bushings in the upper levels of the tranny.

10W Hydraulic oil is very common, 90w is too viscous for the clearances in most systems.

Russ