Hello to all, I've got a michigan 275b at home wich I use for only a few hours a year. Last time I got him out of the shed, the transmission took time to shift in foreward and revers gear. Before this time I never had any problems. I've got the idea that when the machine is warming up, the problem dissapears. When it is in foreward or revers gear, de 1,2,3 and 4th gear don't give any problems. Also the rest of the hydraulics are working fine; boom, bucket ad steering. Does anyone recognise this problem and does anyone know wich oil is used in the transmission from de michigan? Greetings Bouke Maas
If it is sitting for that long of a time the oil may be draining from most of the system into the sump. How long is it running before the transmission will go into gear? If the machine is acting correctly once it starts going there may not necessarily be a major problem. Most Michigan loaders I have run across, especially the old ones, used the Clark transmission. Most had the Dextron II that I remember. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
I'd second what Vetech63 says, while it may have some seals getting dry or weak if only used a few hours a year I'm thinking if it was mine I'd just live with it. Just start it up and give it some time to warm up before trying to us it. Dextron II does sound like what I recall using in them. I guess one could try one of those "mechanic in a can" things that claim to rejuvenate tired seal in automatic transmissions!
@Vetech63 and Kshansen, Thank you for your answers. I think that you are right. Today I started the machine up to do some earthmoving and after 5-10 minutes of having trouble getting in gear, the transmission seemed to work fine. Just to be sure, I drove 5 kilometers on the road, shifting through the gears. It worked Okay. I think I'll do an oil change and Clean/exchange the filters. This is the machine I'm talking about.
contitour, nice assortment of equipment! Not to be too fussy but I would not leave the bucket on the 275B up in the air like that! I've jut seen too many failed hoses and orings to chance that! Let alone if some one was to bump the controls while getting into the loader. Where I worked that would be the last time you worked for the company!
That Ford wont make a good boom rest!
With Michigan being part of the Clark Group back in the day doesn't that loader have a Clark transmission in it..? If so the fluid for the transmission would be a Dexron II or III I think.
@Vetech63 and Kshansen, Off course your right, but just for the photo.................. . It looked nice and there was no one under de bucket. I don't park them like this @ Nige, Yes, it is a clark 4 speed powershift transmission (8000?) and although i've got the partsmanual, the oil specifications are hard to find.
I agree the specifications are hard to find. TBH I don't think Clark transmissions are particularly demanding in the exact specification of what oil you put in them Your issue appears to be that the oil is too viscous until the machine warms up, which probably indicates what is in the transmission at this time is too heavy. Do you have any idea what is in it now..? IIRC in higher ambient (tropical-type) temperatures the specification was an SAE30 oil, and in "normal" ambient temperatures it was either a 10W or ATF oil. IMHO you would be fine using either an oil meeting Dexron II/III specification, or an SAE 10W TO-4 oil in that transmission for your ambient temperature range.
I did find the oil spec"s online for the Clark transmissions, if you have the service manual it appears they are at about page 42! Why they did not put them on page one is beyond me! Looks like just about anything is acceptation depending on temperature range but the Dexron "3" is good from -30ºF to 130ºF Sorry the scan is not a bit clearer, best I could find!
@ Nige; No, I've no idea what's in it right now. The last owner bought it at an auction and had it for a few years as a toy. He didn't do much service on it. I only now that it was bought new in Holland by a dutch company for building highways in Holland. That was in 1979. These are a few photo's I've found from that time. But now Kshansen uploaded the lubrication scheme (Thank you very much for that) I orderd a barrel of Dextron III today. The winters here aren't very cold (-15 C is extreme) and the summers aren't very hot (+ 35C is extreme)
I have an old Michigan 280 wheel dozer which has the 4 speed power shift transmission. It had ATF in when I got it, but I changed it to 10wt transmission oil, and it seems to work great. If I remember correctly, either one was recommended for mine.
Update: I've Changed the transmission-oil. What was comming out was very old and dark. The oil I used had a DII specification and the transmission seems to work fine now. Thanks everybody for the help. Greetings Bouke
Good to get an update. Glad it worked out for you.
Good morning. Do the 275B’s have Detroit or Cummins in them? Thanks
I'm just curious, what do you use a machine that size for a few hours a year?
Not sure but back in the day I think you could get the 275's with either. at least the Michigan's we had in the company had some of each.
I guess they must be in the 988 size?,400hp
I would say probably about the same size class as a 87A 988. When I started at the quarry they used a 87A1964 988 and a Michigan 475IIIA loader to feed the primary crusher!
The whole underground of a Gold Mine in Northern Ontario ran on Clark Powertrains in the late 1980's. Because it never went below 50F in the underground environment they mostly ran on Straight 30 or Straight 10 Motor oil as in Kshansen's post. They would sometimes put dye in a component to be able to find out if something was leaking into another component. They also used some Dextron III in some stuff. Any of the oils listed in his post would definitely run. Putting 1- 2 PSI of air to the transmission oil filler would probably help to getting the charge pump going in my experience, if the unit has been sitting for a while. We even had a small hose hooked up on the output of the charge pump to bleed off air if it did not want to pick up or was air locked. Worked very well if someone was putting 1 PSI into the filler at the same time. Some of the tricks I learned in the day. Simon C