hey there, i have a caterpillar 268b skid steer with a bolt on loegering track system. i need to do a total fluid and filter change. what brands of oil do you guys recommend? i know oil can be made by the same people but labeled differently. i know that wal mart house brand synthetic is made by mobile 1. have you guys ever looked at bobistheoilguy.com? pretty neat info on oil. anyways. what weight and brand of oil should i use in engine. high quality preferred, but doesnt matter if it is generic. and what about hydraulic oil? what generic or (different from cat oil) hydraulic (high quality) oil can i buy at a good deal? anything at wal mart or a parts store? and what about coolant? and what filters do you guys like, and recommend? what about the drive system? what gear fluid do you recommend for that? any tips on ways of changing the fluids (other than the obvious oil change which is cookie cutter and standard)......? thanks
Any decent 15w-40, if possible I'd use an off-road oil....you dont have a lot of the additives to help with the emission systems other cars/trucks do. If I remember right you can use the same motor oil in the hydraulic system, does it have wet brake/clutch? Coolant, just use the new stuff that is compatible with conventional and long life. What year your steer is will tell you if you need a TO2 or TO4 in drives.
2005 or 2006 i bought the machine in 2005 or 2006. new. usually been using whatever cat brings me(which i know someone else makes for them obviously)...but i wanna get away from buying there oil. it was just convenient at the time...and had my helper mostly changing the fluids. he is now gone. i want to start using aftermarket fluids. the hydraulic oil and drive housings are what i worry about the most. hard to figure out which oils are good and which are bad for my high flow caterpillar. thanks for the reply. all help appreciated!
If your 268B skid steer is anything like our 246C & 256C machines then here's what we use in "warm" climates. In other words no ambient temperatures at any time of year below freezing point. Engine - any SAE 15W/40 oil meeting API SAE CI-4 or CJ-4 (or Caterpillar ECF-3) classification. This will give you cold starting capability down to 15 DegF. If you see winter temperatures below that mark then go for an SAE 10W/30 oil to the same specfication. Hydraulic System & hydrostatic transmission - any SAE10W oil meeting Caterpillar TO-4 specification. Chain Cases - any SAE30 oil meeting Caterpillar TO-4 specification. Mobil manufacture most of the Cat-branded oil BTW. As regards filters Donaldson would be my favourite aftermarket filter. Stay away from Fram & Fleetguard at any price, also anything manufactured by "Joe Blow's Filter, Gas, & Bait Shack"
changing hydraulic fluid. how and when? thank you very much nige! also, when do you normally change your hydraulic fluid? what is your method of doing so? thanks!
Hydraulic oil is every 2000 hours or 1 year. There should be an access panel cover in the belly guard underneath the machine. I'd get the machine either over a pit or up on something like railroad ties to give you a bit of height to work with. Whatever you use make sure it is safe before going under the machine....!!! Open the access panel and you ought to find a drain tube coiled up behind it with a plug in it. Remove the plug then follow the hose upwards until you find a tap. Open that tap and the oil will drain. After draining, close the tap, refit the plug in the hose and coil it back up inside the guard. Refit the access panel. Job done.
I want to change the engine oil on y 259d Cat. Any recommendations other than the Cat oil. My nearest Cat dealer is an hour away and would rather buy something that will work locally. I live in NC so very rare does it get extremely cold.
For your climate conditions any 10W/30 from a major oil company meeting API specification CH-4 or better (CI or CJ) would do the job.