Changing Transmission Oil

[shurguywutt]

I did a drain and fill on my Toro 75734 by sucking the oil out when the hydros were hot at about 80 hours. Got about 0.75 qt out of each one and filled an old pickle jar with it. The oil sat in that clean jar for months. I just drained the jar the other day when I was turning in old oil and there was about an 1/8 inch of grey sludge at the bottom of the jar. I was pretty surprised at that. I have about 120 hours now and I will probably do another drain and fill at the end of this season. Unfortunately these are 'factory sealed' units with no drain plugs or external filters. The only was to do the service without removing them is by sucking the oil out through the fill cap. I put Valvoline 20w50 full synthetic in it.

 

[shurguywutt]

Using the Lucas 20w50 is my gamble.

Is this what you are using?

Lucas Synthetic Blend Mower Transmission Fluid 20W-50 1 Quart - 11300

 

[slomo]

I put Valvoline 20w50 full synthetic in it.

Which is not a true synthetic. All motor oils in the US have no regulatory body to demand the product is a real synthetic oil. Europe does. We all can thank our court system for that.

It's your mower. I have no fight in this. Run what you like. Better than not adding any fresh what ever oil of the week I guess.

I would be looking into some Deere 20w-50 hydro oil if it was mine.

 

[cliffblue]

Is this what you are using?

Lucas Synthetic Blend Mower Transmission Fluid 20W-50 1 Quart - 11300

I haven’t bought it yet, but yes, that’s what I’m looking at.

 

[cliffblue]

Which is not a true synthetic. All motor oils in the US have no regulatory body to demand the product is a real synthetic oil. Europe does. We all can thank our court system for that.

It's your mower. I have no fight in this. Run what you like. Better than not adding any fresh what ever oil of the week I guess.

I would be looking into some Deere 20w-50 hydro oil if it was mine.

Great to have options!

 

[DHook]

I was told by a company that supplies parts to rebuild hydro transaxles not to use motor oils due to the detergents in them. They tend to foam up and can cause cavitation in the pump.

I don't recall the type of oil I used when I rebuilt a hydro last summer. I'll check. But it was what was recommended by the supplier of the hydro parts I needed.

EDIT: Stens Shield Hydrostatic Transmission Fluid 20W50. Found it at Walmart, IIRC.

 

[gregjo1948]

Keep in mind that hydro fluid is hotter than engine oil.

 

[Timbuktu]

Nothing wrong with having hydro mower. I have a 2004 JD LX280 hydro that works just as good as the day I bought it!

 

[stihlmania]

Using the Lucas 20w50 is my gamble. I have read the Toro manuals for the transaxels on my 75754. My thoughts are motor oils are designed for motors (engines) and hydraulic oils are designed for hydraulic systems. Obviously, 20w50 motor oil will work in my transaxels, but I believe 20w50 hydraulic oil will work better. If my transaxels bite it, well it’s my $2000. I’ve been using tuff torque hydrostatic John Deere’s for over 30 years, which were built with easily serviced drain plugs and filters by the way. I hate to think that these are built to fail, but 2 of my local Toro dealers mechanics looked me in the eyes and told me the transaxels are factory sealed and not serviceable. What BS! If this blows up in my face, I promise I’ll post it on here as I munch crow. We’ll see.

I put Amsoil 20w-50 in my Deere hydro at 120 hours. It now has 305 hours
and pulls up my hills like new. Had to remove transaxle and dump old fluid out. Really not that hard to do. Use full synthetic….

 

[CWatters]

Chainged the fluid on mine at about 400 hours. It didn't have any drain plugs so had to be removed from the mower to be drained. I also needed to replace the axle seals as they were leaking but couldn't get the hubs off. Seized onto the shafts. So I decided to open the case and remove the axles to replace the seals. There was some metal on the magnets but the gears didn't look too bad. While open I drilled the case for two drain plugs following youtube vid.

I forget which oil I put back in but I think it was too viscous. It would slip a bit when cold but was fine when warmed up. Now has 5W50 in it.

Note that some Tuff Torq have a plug on top that is prone to splitting (not sure why). If you pressure wash the transmission this can let water into the oil. Replacement plugs have a different design.