My manual says oil change every 500 hours. What about changing the oil when the machine is used little. Should it be changed out every 6 months even though the hours are not up yet? Less often? Case Cx135
Its normally 500hrs or 12 months which ever comes first. Our intervals here in SA are 250hrs due to the high sulpher rate of the diesel. The manual should say. Not sure what kind of climate you in, that may have an affect.
l change spring and fall and filters in the fall, i dont use it regularly and i never know when im going to need it. The old hoe likes the thinner oil in the winter. $40 a pail from Sprawlmart
Timmy we both live in dry climates, pending on how many hrs you put on that new machines you got last year, but I would be mostly worried about any condensation which would cause the oil to get a milky look ..... I too was concerned about the 500 hr interval with my '06 320cl ... but Cat reasured me that it was due to the much larger oil pan capacity that the intervals were longer .... the new '07 Bobcat I got, it too has a 500hr limit, that little 4cyl engine holds 14L of oil thats double of my old skid steer ...... its pretty hard to accept coming from the 250 hr school ..... if you know that (especially this time of year) that its been sitting for a couple or three months, just fire the puppy up and let it run at a fast idle (switch off the auto idle function) and let it run for an hr or two to get it hot enough to burn off the gases in the crank case and the whole thing gets hot ...the fuel is cheaper than the corrosion problems that could come up, that 135 of your couldn't burn more than 6L/hr at a fast idle ..... working @WOT my 312 only burns 10-12L/hr .... and if you are really worried about the condition of the oil, spin on a new oil filter (after a good hr or two) before your season starts again ...... DON'T WORRY .... BE HAPPY !
HItachi Operator Manuals state an engine oil change of 500 hrs. Yet as MitchSA explained that the fuel is the factor in the oil change. Hitachi came out with a bulletin showing a map of the world showing which areas of the world run cleaner fuel and can maintain the 500hr interval. Basically it was Europe and Japan. North America did not fall into that category and was reduced down to 250. Somehow this has not been common knowledge in the Hitachi circles and a salesman will still try to sell the 500hr as being cheaper on maintenance. Now saying this, did this come from Isuzu through Hitachi? Therefore any Isuzu would fall into this category.
If you are running ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) which has a sulfur content of less than 15ppm, you can safely run 500hr intervals on the engine oil on Tier 3 engines. Using ULSD in off road machinery is mandatory here in lower NY and NY City. We only burn ULSD and routinely use a 500hr interval on all of our rental fleet machinery (200+ units). The only reason we would go to a lesser interval is if we know that a machine has been abused or run in excessively dusty conditions for an extended period of time. Best, Tony
Make sure you use the very best oil filters and oil.I use JD 50 plus oil.There are some others that come close to this.Keep in mind protecting your investment cost just a little extra and helps prolong the life and save alot of money over the years of operation.
Damn Tony, the best fuel we get here is 50ppm! On our Volvo's they spec 500hr intervals if running 50ppm or less. Most of out customers throw whatever plonk they can get so we stick to 250hr.
Thanks for the replies.