Thoughts and Opinions on service questions..

[JimmyFunk]

Hello everyone,

I am getting ready to completely service my new to me JD 350 and I have a few questions.

I am going to flush the cooling system according to the book it takes 13 quarts.

#1- For the engine oil the book calls for 9 quarts straight 30w... I run Rotella in almost everything. Will this oil be okay, or do you recommend something else?

#2-Trans case, final drives call for 80w or john deere 303, What oil do you guys prefer?

#3- For the reverser and tractor hydraulics, and dozer reservoir it says deere 303 or type a automotive tranny fluid. What do you guys prefer?

#4- The book states to flush finals with diesel as well as fill the reverser, and tranny with diesel and run it forwards and reverse to flush everything. Do you guys think this is a good procedure or not? I know in many of the old 2cylinder owners manuals it states the same thing with distillate fuel to clean everything up. I just don't want to risk harming anything. I say get everything good and hot and drain it, dad says flush it for maximum performance.

#5- What all filters do I need to buy, according to what I got from the book, I need an oil filter, reverser filter, transmission case filter, and hydraulic filter for the reservoir.


If there is anything that I am missing?

Also where is best place for all filters? Can I order them from you Lavoy or should I stop at the deere dealer?

[jthornton]

Wix has a good lookup thing that will give you all the filters for your model. I just looked up my 350 and it has 5 filters...

http://www.wixfilters.com/

JT

[Tigerhaze]

Hello everyone, I am getting ready to completely service my new to me JD 350 and I have a few questions.

Hello and welcome. I am going to preface what I say with two points- one is that what I say pertains to a straight 350 or 350B and the other that I don't own a 350 but have read a lot about them and inspected them for purchase so others that own one may have a varying opinion. There are a lot of posts on these subjects if you want to search them for more detailed info.

I WAS going to make a point of saying that you should search the archived posts because many of these lubrication questions have been asked before, but upon a search myself I noticed that a former member's deletions struck again so have to be answered new.

#1- For the engine oil the book calls for 9 quarts straight 30w... I run Rotella in almost everything. Will this oil be okay, or do you recommend something else?

I assume you have a 3152 diesel engine- if so a multi-weight diesel engine oil is acceptable and actually preferred as the crawler specs were written 40+ years ago . However I would point out concerns about lack of ZDDP in newer oil blends. If you read this thread (after the discussion on fuel) you will see the discussion on ZDDP. [Note: the use of a multi-weight diesel engine oil does not apply to certain other types of older JD crawlers with Detroit Diesels.]

http://www.jdcrawlers.com/messageboard/ ... low+sulfur

#2-Trans case, final drives call for 80w or john deere 303, What oil do you guys prefer? ?

#3- For the reverser and tractor hydraulics, and dozer reservoir it says deere 303 or type a automotive tranny fluid. What do you guys prefer?

There are a lot of discussions about this, but I think most prefer HyGard (i.e. the Deere replacement for the now superceded JD 303 spec) over the alternate fluids to simplify lubrication. In addition if one has a JD350C then if there is a leak between the reverser and transmission or final drives and "wet" steering clutch housings then it is similar lubricant. I still assume you have a 350 or 350B with "dry" steering clutches so this last part does not apply to you.

There are also universal tractor hydraulic fluids that meet the JD 303 spec that are cheaper than HyGard. While many use them instead, Hygard is the JD recommended lubricant for these crawlers.

#4- The book states to flush finals with diesel as well as fill the reverser, and tranny with diesel and run it forwards and reverse to flush everything. Do you guys think this is a good procedure or not? I know in many of the old 2cylinder owners manuals it states the same thing with distillate fuel to clean everything up. I just don't want to risk harming anything. I say get everything good and hot and drain it, dad says flush it for maximum performance.?

This is another point of discussion in past threads. I personally would not flush as my concern would be that those fluids may be hard on old seals and cause leaks. If a leak happens on your pinion seals on the final drives, it could also contaminate your steering clutch discs necessitating replacement. Whether that is a valid concern or not, others can weigh in on. I have done OK just draining.

#5- What all filters do I need to buy, according to what I got from the book, I need an oil filter, reverser filter, transmission case filter, and hydraulic filter for the reservoir.

Again assuming you have a 3152 diesel I would suggest replacing the diesel fuel filters if you don't know when they were changed last. You should also clean the air filter- I don't know if you have a precleaner dry filter pan and oil bath filter, but that should be inspected.

Is there is anything that I am missing?

I would inspect undercarriage components- some of them may need lubrication and also check the track adjusters for proper tension.

Also where is best place for all filters? Can I order them from you Lavoy or should I stop at the deere dealer?

I'll let Lavoy answer that one

[jthornton]

When you say "assuming you have a 3152 diesel" did JD put more than one diesel engine in the 350? If so how do you tell what you have?

JT

[Tigerhaze]

I say "assuming" because at this point I don't know for sure which 350 model he has. Many times on here people think the have a 350C and it turns out to be a straight 350, or vice versa. For all I know he may have a 350D. I believe the 350s through a "C" used the 3152 engine and the 350D and later used a 3179 engine for diesels, although someone else can confirm. That wouldn't affect the grade of engine oil but could affect filter selection.

I also don't know if he has a gas or diesel version; that WOULD certainly affect the type and grade of engine oil he selects as well as whether it has two diesel fuel filters I believe the gas engine is a 3135 but others can verify.

For best answers on this site it is helpful for folks to indicate the serial number so we know the correct model as well as whether a gas or diesel engine and whether a loader or dozer (although I did figure that out later in his post).

[JimmyFunk]

Tigerhaze,
Thanks for your reply and time responding. I have a straight 350 with reverser on dash, and it is a diesel. I might as well just run hyguard in everything and keep it simple then. I will have to figure out how many gallons I need. I agree I am afraid to flush it and hurt the seals as it doesn't leak a drop now.

Thanks again,
Jimmy