L4400 DT Hyd Oil Site Glass Problem

[jsborn]

I have a L4400 DT tractor, My question is how do you read the site glass on the Hyd Level. My problem is the Hyd Fluid is clear. If the line in the site glass is new as in when you first fill it up you can see it ok but if it gets low and or high the site glass looks the same. At this point do you add fluid or drain some out? I know you are going to say how does it get over full. That question can be answered by the fact that I dont have much leval ground and some times it may not be exactly level thus giveing an over full reading.
Have any of you used dye in the fluid and if so does it help or did it just dye the site glass making it unreadable altogeather?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Myself, I use Chevron THD synthetic which is already dyed from the factory but you can buy oil dye and put it in.

Having a dipstick on mine (no sight glass) not an issue but my rotary shop air compressor has a sight glass for oil level. What I do is watch the glass as I fill it and observe the oil level. Pretty simple really. Compressor oil is clear like SUDT by the way.

 

[jsborn]

Sidecarflip wrote "What I do is watch the glass as I fill it and observe the oil level. Pretty simple really."

I use the same procedure but unlike an air compressor after you fill the tractor and then connect it to various implements some of which are single action cylinders the oil seems to fill even more and after it gets above the site glass you cant tell if its low or full ???

Thanks for your response.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

Sidecarflip wrote "What I do is watch the glass as I fill it and observe the oil level. Pretty simple really."

I use the same procedure but unlike an air compressor after you fill the tractor and then connect it to various implements some of which are single action cylinders the oil seems to fill even more and after it gets above the site glass you cant tell if its low or full ???

Thanks for your response.

Welcome aboard. You're not the first to have this issue. Your lift cover seems to have the boss for a dipstick like my L35, but I don't know if anybody has drilled and retrofitted one or if that's even practical. I think most add some oil dye. Apparently John Deere has one if you don't mind bleeding green.

 

[old and tired]

....if you don't mind bleeding green.

It's actually red!!! John Deere Oil #MT3668 less than $13, one bottle was more than enough...

 

[PoTreeBoy]

It's actually red!!! John Deere Oil #MT3668 less than $13, one bottle was more than enough...

That's better. Wal-Mart's site showed green.

 

[jsborn]

Thank you all for your responses. I have an Idea that may work what do y'all think? I have several older JD tractors that use a wooden dowel for a fuel gauge and I was thinking (which sometimes is Dangerous). I am going to drain some of my Hyd Fluid and then refill taking care to set the proper level using the site glass. after I am sure i will insert a 1/4" dowel in the fill hole and mark it at the lip of the fill hole and mark it at the fluid level showing on the stick.

I know the tractor police might come after me but this should work don't you think. My biggest prob with this will be keeping my measuring stick clean and where I can find it again.

Once again thanks

 

[Bulldog]

If it's just barely overfull I'd just run it like it is.

 

[jsborn]

If it's just barely overfull I'd just run it like it is.

There in lies the problem. With the fluid being clear how do you tell if it is a little over full or low? The site glass will look the same either way. I don't mind a little over full but would sure hate to run Low and spin a bearing or gauld a shaft.

 

[old and tired]

Spin a bearing???? This is basically a holding tank for hydraulic oil to let it cool down. For my tractor, kubota made a service bulletin number, PSB-2005-052 which changed the sight glass into a dip stick to raise the level of the hydraulic oil to submerge the PTO Cams into oil to make them less noisy. Running it overfull is not going to kill the tractor... Kubota engineers came up with this change.

Not sure how much extra oil (edit: add an additional 7.4 qts.) was used but on the other side of the scale, I had an oil line come off (of the cooler) and was able to drive the tractor back to my house with it being 4 gallons low. You don't want to run it for long periods of time like that (it will heat up the oil). It ran just fine since it's only a oil reserve tank basically. Not sure how low you can go.

This is just my 2 cents...

EDIT - correcting a few things. This is not to be confused with PSB-2005-052-A which talks about replacing CAMS.

 

[jsborn]

Just a follow up on my OP. I got the Hyd. dye from Deere and yes it is Red not Green. I replaced the Hyd. Filter and lost approx 1gal of fluid in the process which is about normal. After that I added the dye and ran the tractor for a bit to mix it up and looked at the site glass. It was over full. I drained out approx 2 more gallons to get the correct fluid level in the site glass which after adding the dye I can see level in with no problem . I know running a little over full would probly not hurt but before dye I could not tell wheather it was over full or empty so adding the dye was a GREAT help. Just as info if you want to bye dye it is Part Number MT3668 from Deere. and can be ordered for around $8.

 

[SidecarFlip]

In reality, there are only a couple seals impacted by running slightly overfull and that's it. I run both my M's slightly above the 'full' mark on the dipsticks, engine and gearcase and have for years with no issues.