hello. i have a caterpillar d6d 4x series bulldozer. work for this size dozer has been slow since the economic collapse. i have some upcoming work. i need to change the fluids. specifically, i need to change the trans fluid as it has gained condensation from sitting. i constantly search online forums such as bobistheoilguy.com to find out the manufacturer or oils. most oils seem to come from two sources with the blending of additives being the differnece. many house brand oils and generic are supposedly just as good as the name brand. according to this site......with exceptions.... as long as the specs match. i have a lot of older cat equipment. when times were good...we mostly kept 30 weight dello oil on the service truck for dozers etc...and we ran it in the engine, trans, and hydraulics of dozer, loader, and scrapers. now, it is getting harder to find sae 30 weight with cj-4 specs. 15w40 seems common for the engine. it seems that aw32 can be used in older cat hydraulic because it is to-2 spec......and it supposed to be 10w hydraulic fluid. but newer ct achines use to-4 spec 10 weight fluid. they say u can run the new to4 in old stuff..but not the aw32 in the new stuff. aw32 is cheaper. so it causes me to stock both fluids for different machines! the cat dealer is now telling me that i as technically wrong running sae30 non detergent in the transmission all those years even though most people do it and it seems to last ok. he even said people will run the 15w40 engine oil in it as i have tried myself before.... but he said the trans isnt dealing with SOOT issues as the engine is and also "slip" is a different concern with additives. so me and many others were wrong about sae30 weight dello motor oil all those years huh? i know motor oil is expensive for transmissions....... so in my d6d...i need to change the trans fluid. wal mart supertech sells a heavy duty transmission and hydraulic fluid that says a to-2 spec. for the best price. it is supposedly made by specialty oil products who makes(blends) it for mot other labels. the problem is.....it doesnt tell me the WEIGHT on the bottle. Don't i need a 30 weight here in georgia? is it 30 weight? what is it? I cant seem to find the answer and i cant get a reply yet on bobistheoilguy.... napa has a house brand that is almost twice as high. and then....the name brands come into play which turns out..they are made by the same people. so, can anyone explain what weight the supertech wal mart transmission/hydo to-2 fluid is? is it ok? other sources? price ideas lately? this thing holds 25 gallons! thanks. i appreciate any input on this........
Cat drive train oil is Mobil trans hd 30 Aw 68 or 32 if machine has a vickers pump (wont hurt a cesna though).
For your climate engine oil should be 15W/40 multi-grade, so long as it meets at least CF-4 spec (CG-4, CH-4, CI-4, & CJ-4 are alternatives). 30wt delo went out with the Ark. In colder climates SAE10W/30 would be a good option. There have been huge advances in oil technology in the last couple of decades, today we have engines going 20,000+ hours to overhaul where 20 years ago we would have been lucky to get them past 10,000. Improvements in oil technology are one of the main drivers in this increase, take advantage of it is my suggestion. AW32 (more correctly ISO AW32) only refers to a viscosity, not an additive package. You can find AW32 viscosity oils that meet TO-2 (or the replacement TO-4) spec, and you can find some that don't - the first is a suitable powertrain oil, the second is a hydraulic oil. In a hydraulic system you don't need the TO-2/TO-4 additive package, a plain hydraulic oil is fine. However you CAN use TO-2/TO-4 oil if you want to, it won't hurt anything although TO-2/TO-4 tends to be a few cents a gallon dearer than plain hydraulic oil. SAE10W and ISO AW32 oils are exactly the same viscosity. My recommendations is don't run any type of engine oil (30 or multi-grade) in a transmission - ever. For your transmission you should use an SAE30 weight oil meeting TO-4 spec. I wouldn't put Walmart oil in my pickup truck let alone a piece of earthmoving machinery. Didn't the fact that there is no viscosity listed on the package give you a clue to run as far and as fast as possible in the opposite direction..? It's cheap for a reason.........!! Referring to your comment about who produces these oils, there are a million and one producers out there. There are much less suppliers of the additive package, Lubrizol being the main one but there are a couple of other minor players in that field. The difference in the final quality of an oil depends entirely on the quality of the base oil stock that was used to mix with the additive package to produce the final oil. Therefore where the oil producer gets his base stock from is the key. You can add the best additive package in the world (Lubrizol IMHO) to a **** base oil and, guess what, despite the fact you used the best additive package out there you'll end up with a **** oil. That's the difference between the Shell's, Texaco's, Chevron's, & Mobil's of this World when compared products from Joe Blow's Gas & Groceries. Despite some popular opinion to the contrary what "most people do/think" doesn't make them right ............
used NAPA 30 weight to-4 transmission hydraulic oil Thanks for the reply. You are right. The only Wal Mart fluid I have used is the motor oil that has the exact additives and that is in cars and trucks. According to bobistheoilguy.com....the manufacturer is warren or exxon i think....depending on location..and the additives match as far as API etc.... and most of the fluids are repackaged as mobile one or valvoline etc... But when it comes to the hydraulic fluids...exactly. They are selling a generic that must be for farm tractor use. No weight specified. So, my d6d is in sweet shape. I put in the NAPA 30weight to-4 hydo trans hydraulic fluid. CRAZY expensive! Put in the filter. Also pulled the screen filter and magnets. Those magnets are soooo hard to clean. Any tips? So, the problem I am having is...my trans fluid still have a touch of milkiness to it. Maybe it condensated from sitting for so long and the lines still had moisture? Any tips? What should i do? works perfectly. Does not heat up.