350d trans oil

[ignatiusreily]

where is the drain plug for the transmission, I know i will have to bite the bullet & buy a service manual,...but funds are low & the oil on the dip looks a tad milky,...also is there a filter????

[DaveP]

I've looked through my manual and could not locate a picture the shows the actual location of the transmission drain plug. The book just says to drain the transmission. This leads me to believe there is a drain plug. You will probably need to drive the machine over a pit. If there is not a hole in the underbelly shield, you'll need to remove it and than you should be able to see a drain plug. The other option is to use an oil suction device and suck the oil out through the fill hole.

[Tigerhaze]

The parts manual should show whether there is a drain plug.

[DaveP]

Got curious, and since I changed the hydraulic oil thought I should check the tranny and reverse direction. The tranny had water in it, so am draining it.

The drain plug is located on the bottom at the rear of the tranny, just below the PTO shaft exit at the back of the machine. There is a hole in the belly pan to access it and drain. Takes a 3/8" hex. The fill/dip stick is located by the PTO engage lever, behind your left foot if seated in the seat.

Tranny capacity: 9 quarts
Reverse direction capacity: 3 gallons
Hydraulic capacity: 6 3/4 gallons for crawler
12 1/2 gallons for loader

Per my manual, all use John Deere Type 303 Special Purpose Oil or equivalent.

[Tigerhaze]

FYI, you may want to see what others on here that operate these 350 series dozers routinely have recommended to use in the common sump for the transmission. I think they generally recommend avoiding the use of a UTF that meets multiple specifications besides JD 303.

[DaveP]

I'm going to put the same hydro oil that I use in the hydraulic system in the tranny. John Deere apparently doesn't mean an 80/90 gear oil that you'd use in an auto manual trans. The Reverse direction box is its own unit with its own hydraulic pump, so I can see using hydraulic fluid in it.

I'm defenately not an expert on these machines, so if I'm wrong on the type of oil to use, please let me know.

[KenP]

deleted

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

HyGard is Deere's newer fluid and spec'd to be used anywhere 303 previously had been spec'd.

As others have noted, I also do not use off-brand hyd oil that lists 303 along with a bunch of other spec's, I just buy Deere's HyGard. It's not like I go thru a lot of it, so the cost isn't really a factor.

Later!

Stan

[JWB Contracting]

We use THG (Transmission Hydraulic Gear) since the early 80's in place of 303. Much cheaper and available at Walmart. Never had any issues with poor lubrication or function on everthing from 350C and 450C crawlers and 440 and 540 skidders.