I am purchasing a 2012 Bobcat S650 with 2500 hours. It is at dealer, they “fully” serviced it including ALL filters and engine oil. They do not have any service history on the machine so i asked them about replacing the chaincase oil, hydraulic fluid, coolant and a valve set. They told me the only time they change chaincase oil is if it becomes contaminated or a seal needs to be replaced. Hydraulic fluid he said they only do if the color becomes darker then its supposed to be. Does this sound true or should I make them do both? They dont want to cover the cost of a valve set, is this something people actually do every 1000 hours or only if it starts running rough? I would rather them not open up engine anyways if its not necessary. Thanks for any help!
Yes that is true. Personally I think, as long as its not contaminated you could throw used engine oil in that chain case and never have an issue. If you look in BC's maintenance schedule if it shows replacement of the fluid at a dedicated hour mark then consider having them do it. If BC doesn't recommend changing it out, I wouldn't worry about it either.
Thanks for reply, service manual says 1000 hours. But service manager is saying not to worry about it haha so they wont do it Id have to pay out of pocket so wondering if its worth it. Whats your thoughts on valve set?
I don't have any personal experience with BC, but if its not milky, I wouldn't worry about it. If you wanted to do it yourself just to make you feel better about it, I doubt it would be hard to do.
Thanks for input, problem is there is no drain plug it needs to be suctioned out which i dont have. All 4 “maintenance” items listed in original post are recommended in service manual at 1000 hour intervals. I could probably do all of them myself except valve set Im not very comfortable doing myself.
Can you suction enough out to check the condition? My machines have a drain plug for the chain case, guess I assumed they all did.
Yah checking condition through the fill hole wouldnt be an issue.
Have you looked up engine manufacturer specs on valve clearance? 1000 sounds really short, 5000 is more what I would expect. Is this Kubota or Doosan?
I got 3500 hrs on my s150 and have never changed the chain case oil. Its basically just an oil bath. Its not a high speed high heat environment. Just a chain and sprocket. Its sealed and the only real way it could become contaminated is if you drove it in water all day every day through a axle seal. Other than that its sealed up top. Sealed down below. I could probably use a change by now based on hours alone but it gives you an idea of the longevity of it. It does say a 1000hrs but that is the manufacturer crossing t's and dotting I's im writing. I personally would not worry about it not getting changed but thats just my 2 cents.