Yesterday the local Deere dealer got in a few skids, one im looking at has service records and receipts and one is 3k cheaper.. Same as the other 323e but no records. It has the yanmar engine. I pulled the side panels and the filter said "hour:1 / PDI" So at one hour, and (pre delivery inspection) is the last service it had ??? The skid has 455 hours on it. Opinions and advice!?!?
Actually there's no recommendation to change the engine oil until 500 hrs. The only initial service recommendation is to change the planetary oil for the track drives at the first 50 hrs. maybe different options to warrant the 3K difference?
I don't believe the engine would be ruined. Factory oil is good quality and so are the filters. Will engine life suffer? That's anyones guess but in MHO, that machine would probably be just fine. Now, there may be other items that haven't had any maintenance that you should look at as well.
Man......... Something about it not having a 25 or 50 hour service or anything just seems to bother me... Pertaining to engine oil I would have thought something-- But the oil filter saying (hour 1) makes me a little nervous. I wonder if I ran the VIN through Deere, could they see if any service was done at a Deere dealer ?
Most engines built nowadays do not require an oil change prior to the first scheduled change at whatever PM interval is recommended by the manufacturer. Usually a valve set is recommended at the same time. Engine builders have invested large amounts of money in clean assembly which removes the need for an oil change shortly after a new engine is put into service for the first time, let's face it the only need for the oil change would be to flush out any contamination resulting from initial assembly. Obviously on a rebuild all bets are off and speaking personally I'd always do an oil change and valve set within the first 50 hours or so unless I had 100% confidence in the facility that rebuilt the engine.
Yanmar may be different but if you changed the oil early on a Deere engine the rings would probably never seat properly. I wouldn't worry at all about it, unless the oil didn't pass the blackness/sniff test.
Ok now, I'm new to skids... Blackness/sniff test??? Am I gonna be the newbie that has oil on his nose :/ ???
My 210 has a "suggested" 500 hr change interval. Not for me. I change it every 250. Case buys my oil every 500 hrs for another year. I'll still change it every 250 even after warranty is off. So, I have a question you, Nige. 25 years ago, oil change intervals were 100-150 hrs. Now, they're 300-500 hrs. Is it due to oil sampling and the engineers realized that they could go longer, or is it because modern engines like dirty oil??
One of the reasons is that engines run so much more efficent now that unburnt or poorly burnt crap does not get past the rings contaminating the oil as soon. Higher operating temp, better engine management, better filters all play a part.
The oil companies say in their promotional materials that it is because of better additive packages in the oils.
Pull dipstick, visually inspect color of oil. Rub a little between fingers just for giggles. Smell. If it looks like coal, feels less than perfectly slippery, or smells burnt, it's in need of a change. Worked on a Mitsbushi excavator years ago, big turboed six that ran at 1,600 high idle. Lovely old rice burner, had the usual full flow oil filter and a canister bypass setup. Silly old engine ran forever, and at ten thousand hours it was finally worn enough the oil would just be turning black when the hourmeter said it was time for a change. Only diesel I ever saw that the oil was still honey colored at oil change time for most of it's life.
The answer will be I guess in 3 parts: - 1. Low sulphur fuel. The fuel today is nowhere near as "dirty" as it was back in those days. Dirtier fuel led to oil additive packages being consumed earlier, so the only option was to change the oil more frequently. 2. As Lantraxco pointed out today's engines burn much cleaner than back then so there are less contaiminants produced during operation to get into the oil pan. 3. The development of modern diesel engine oils that have a much higher capacity (probably around double or even more) to hold soot in suspension within the engine oil than they used to. I'm not sure if you are aware of this but purely from a point of view of its lubrication properties an engine oil could probably be changed every 2000 hours like an hydraulic oil if it was not for the requirement to maintain the corrosive and abrasive products of combustion in suspension within the oil itself.
Engines today especially in the small machines run a lot more oil in the pan than in years past. I wouldn't be afraid of the long hours on the oil on a new machine. It happens with rental companies all the time. They go out and even though the contract states the renter is required to do the maintenance, it rarely ever happens. They get serviced whenever they happen to get back to the shop.
I suspect that had more do do with a good bypass oil filtration system than the make of the engine. I put such a system on an old Detroit 471 and was amazed at how clean the oil stayed.