Hello, I have a 2006 JCB 215e that I would like to change some of the fluids on. I am quite a ways from a dealer, but I have Napa and Tractor supply nearby.. For the transmission I have the 4 speed syncro shuttle.. The book calls for "JCB Extreme Performance 10W EL4117" I'm not sure if the parts stores would have an equivalent to this? Axle oil is "JCB Special Gear Oil Plus" I have plenty of gear oil, but wonder if it should be an oil made for the wet brakes in the rear axle? Hydraulic oil is listed as JCBs ISO VG46 I assume any 46 Hydraulic oil will do? My oil is a little cloudy like there may be water contamination... Trying to decide if I should make the trip to the dealer or not.. Thanks!
Not necessarily to the dealer, but my 2c is to stay away from parts house brands or anything with "tractor" (designed to appeal to farmers) in the name. Any decent brand-name lubricant company should be able to supply suitable equivalents to what is specified in the manual. I'm sure one of the forum JCB experts will be able to give you more detailed information regarding acceptable alternatives. Meantime here is a link to Castrol products for a JCB backhoe that you may find useful. https://rego2oil.castrol.com/en_au/...hoes_/44346_3CX_Sitemaster_S_N_2000000_up_4WS
Jcb really tries to push you to the dealer with all these special fluids... Like mentioned above, don't use the cheap universal tractor fluid that costs $30 for a bucket. I actually looked into this for a bit. Then I found my dealer prices weren't as high as I thought. But from what I saw available locally, I'd use the Rotella HD tractor fluid in the trans and the axles. And aw46 hydraulic fluid for the hydraulics. In the hubs, you can probably use regular gear oil. Though jcb says you can use their gear oil, but their gear oil is not really a gear oil like 75w-90 or sae 90. Jcb gear oil looks more like trans fluid.
The rear axle oil is special. It does have friction modifiers to prevent brake chatter. You are best off just buying from the dealer. As far as the rest go to a commercial oil supplier should be able to get you what you need.........Jim
The shell hd does have friction modify additives, and is for use with wet brakes.
Or you could add anti-chatter additive to a "normal oil". Available from many places, including Cat dealers.
https://www.mobil.com/en/lubricants/for-businesses/heavy-duty-lubricants/products/mobiltrans-hd-10w/ This one looks to be what the shuttle transmission takes 10W, so it sounds like the rear axle may be more like a UTF fluid.. Thanks for you help!
For hydraulic oil.. Oil supplier says they have valvoline ISO 46 in zinc based formulas or non-zinc based oils... Does it matter? Does anyone know what is better to use in my application? Thank you
A zinc-based anti-wear package for hydraulic oil is by far the most common one. The only manufacturer that I know requires a zinc-free (aka "ashless") additive package in their hydraulic oil is Hitachi. Hopefully one of the JCB experts will confirm what type of oil it is. JCB's own literature https://www.jcb.com/~/asset/14/26615.ashx gives the impression that it is conventional zinc-based anti-wear package as opposed to ashless, because if it was ashless INHO it would clearly say so......
In a previous life I ran an extensive testing programme evaluating zinc vs non-zinc hydraulic oils in sundstrand hydraulic pumps and motors. The results were definitive. In that application a zinc based additive package provided better anti wear properties.
Thank you Nige and Cmark.. I hadn't heard of the zinc free ashless version before...
My local oil distributor told me that Universal Tractor Transmission Fluid can be used as an alternative in the rear differential. I’ve been using it with no issues and the brakes work good.
Hi, I've been given Agritrans UTTF 10w20 Gulf Western oil to use. The data sheet says it meets the API-GL-4 JCB oil specs. I have a JCB Project 12 (1996?-2002)3CX Sitemaster. Haven't used the oil yet, still getting around the machine as I've only had the machine a little while and new to the tractor game. http://www.gulfwestern.com.au/product/agritrans/
The Agritrans would meet specs, but I dont have that in the US. I did end up finding most of the equivalent oils locally... ISO 46 for the hydraulics Tranmission - I found Citgo Transguard TO-4 10W drivetrain oil Rear axle and final drives - I used Mobilfluid 424 which is API GL-4 rated and made for wet brakes I haven't found the brake fluid yet... It is an light ISO 15w hydraulic oil. Locally I only see ISO 32 as the lightest oil. I have read that some people have used ATF. Not sure if that would be good or not?
Try Googling "ISO viscosity versus SAE" and you'll see that SAE 15W is actually in a very similar range to an ISO 32 oil. TBH I'd use the same SAE 10W Citgo Transguard that you mentioned above in the brakes. In the brakes it is required to perform as a hydraulic fluid rather than a TO-4, but the TO-4 additives should not do any harm to the internals of the hydraulic brake system. They'll just sit there quietly doing absolutely nothing. SAE 15W is not really "light" as viscosities go, when you can actually get down to an SAE 0W (equivalent to somewhere between an ISO 15 and a 22).
Ok that chart helps.. So it actually calls for ISO 15 hydraulic oil in the brake reservoir. Looks like that would be fairly thin like SAE 0W..
You might be better with something like an SAE 2.5W mineral oil (not synthetic) of the type that is used in motorcycle telescopic front forks, or even an ISO 15 oil intended for use in hydraulic jacks. Either would work fine in a brake hydraulic circuit. https://klondikelubricants.com/wp-c...6-Multi-Viscosity-AW-Hydraulic-Fluids-PDS.pdf
You guys are legends.
I'm in same situation- just bought an auction tractor, dealer is a long way and the JCB "special gear oil plus" is $190. Did you have any luck finding a safe alternative?
For the rear axle... I talked to a Mobil guy randomly - he said they have a comparable, but when we looked it up it was $170 (Mobil) vs $205 (local JCB dealer). So I ended up just getting the JCB stuff as I was going there anyways. That was the only JCB branded fluid I did when I changed them all... everything else was pretty basic standards. I think the rear axle has 2 additives - one for wet brakes and one for LSD (which I bet is standard LSD additive... shrug..).
I figured out that their special oil was equivalent to Mobil 424
Glad you got to the bottom of it eventually. TBH it's not rocket science once you get it down to basics. That doesn't really surprise me. None of the equipment OEMs produce oil, it's all manufactured by oil companies. Usually the only difference between an OEM-branded product and an oil company one is a slight difference in the additive formula, just so that the OEM can brand their product as "specially formulated".