Life of Hydraulic fluid ?

[RCtoywizard]

Hello all

I have a 5 gallon bucket of Kubota Universal Hydraulic fluid that has
4 1/2 gallons in it. Now its 5 years old, has been in a building out of the sun
and still capped for the past 5 years.
I used it to top off an older tractor and put it away and forgot it like
most everything else...lol

Is it still good to use? It looks good, its expensive to waste it but it could
be expensive to use if its no good to use.

Any thoughts?

 

[phildac]

If it has been sealed good and moisture hasn't gotten to it, it should be fine. Unlike brake fluid which is in a sealed system and can boil if too much moisture has entered degrading the performance, Hydro/Trans fluid is vented thus supseptible to moisture while it is in the tractor and shouldn't reach a boiling piont. You could also check for seperation and maybe moisture uner the cap/lid.

Hope this helps in your decision.

 

[RCtoywizard]

Thanks
That sounds promising.

 

[Ob1kubota]

[QUOTE][LEFT][/LEFT][/QUOTE]

I wouldn't be afraid of it if the cap has been on it. All the condensation from seasonal temperature change will be in the bottom because of specific gravity and may be an oz at most. I would just leave it in the pail and strain it into the tractor and slow up near the last half gallon and put this into an open pan and tip it on its end looking for condensed moisture. The fact the fluid's not milky means the fluid has not emulsified ( jointed moleculer to the petroleum structure ) becoming questional for use.