Hydraulic Oil Question

I know that this a probably a question that has been answered on here many times, and I looked in some of the archives to see if I could find it but
could not. I am going to change the hydraulic oil in my 8n because it has a funny, looking color like maybe there was some water in it at one time and
the previous owner just dumped some more oil in. The manual calls for Ford M2C 134D hydraulic oil, the local TS does not show this product being in
their store when checked online. The manual also suggests that a SAE 90 EP gear oil can be used if the air temperature is above 32 degrees, and being
in southeast Georgia I can say that it seldom drops below that. I want to pick up the oil on Saturday and would like to know what is recommended from
the TS.

Put some 80W90 in it life will be good... A poster will say its bad for your Ford tractor because he has a wanna B European sports car that's a P.O.S. 80W90 eats away the P.O.S. parts in his euro car...
It will not affect your merican made Ford tractor and is light years ahead of straight 90wt...

TSC does carry 134 spec but you will have to look at the bucket for the spec... "Hint" its not listed on the cheap bucket you pay for what you get buy the bucket that list the Ford spec...

Check out tip # 3 at the link.
75 Tips

From TSC you are looking for the Traveler Universal Tractor Fluid.
It has an orange colored label and will list M2C134C/D as a
spec. on the back label of the bucket.

good advice,

I used NAPA GL-1 90 weight mineral oil, my local store ordered it in one day, if they do not have it in stock, they sell it in both 1 gal or 5 gal containers, was around $8.50 per gal

all systems worked fine.

hydraulic lift, transmission and differential

get the tractor as warm as possible, before you drain the oil, plowing disking etc. it took a long time for the oil to drain out, even warm,
I drained the oil after plowing my gardens and truck patches, about as hard of work as my tractor ever does.

take your time refilling the sumps as the oil has to travel from one section to another, ((((do not over fill)))) oil can run out and get on your clutch.

be sure your transmission drain hole is open below the clutch area.

many old tractors had a up side down cotter key in the hole, with the legs sticking out to turn in the grass and keep the hole open.

like said, 80w90 gear oil or GL-1 Mineral oil.
Pump is right in the oil, no long intake lines...
It'll pump whatever [i:11f011be39]clean[/i:11f011be39] oil ya put in there.
So, lets keep the gears happy.....
Modern day will tell me the thin stuff is ok...maybe it is..
But, I'm old, so I don't have to listen.
For me given a choice, big gears with big loads get heavy gear oils.
keeps em happy......and quiet....

(sure, newer stuff with long intake pipes and wet brakes gotta run the thin stuff, but we ain't talking about them...)

(quoted from post at 21:43:19 07/03/15) I know that this a probably a question that has been answered on here many times, and I looked in some of the archives to see if I could find it but
could not. I am going to change the hydraulic oil in my 8n because it has a funny, looking color like maybe there was some water in it at one time and
the previous owner just dumped some more oil in. The manual calls for Ford M2C 134D hydraulic oil, the local TS does not show this product being in
their store when checked online. The manual also suggests that a SAE 90 EP gear oil can be used if the air temperature is above 32 degrees, and being
in southeast Georgia I can say that it seldom drops below that. I want to pick up the oil on Saturday and would like to know what is recommended from
the TS.

Click to expand...

M2C-134D is a Ford properties and performance specification for a universal tractor transmission fluid and CNH sells their version as Ambra Multi-G 134 - very pricey. Most any quality brand of universal tractor transmission fluid is an acceptable equivalent and a whole lot cheaper. At TSC look for their house brand - Traveller [b:4133cd423a][u:4133cd423a]Premium[/u:4133cd423a][/b:4133cd423a] Universal Tractor Transmission Fluid. Avoid their lower quality UTF fluids like the Economy and 303 products.

As for viscosity grade and anti-wear performance the "thin" UTF fluids (aka M2C-134D) actually grade out as a "heavy" SAE 80 gear oil with a premium anti-wear additive package that gives them GL-4 level performance. The SAE 90 GL-1 oil that everyone raves about has no anti-wear additives - e.g. it is plain mineral oil with rust and corrosion inhibitors but no EP additives and is most definitely not the same thing as a "Mild EP" gear oil. Despite being a higher viscosity a GL-1 oil will not perform nearly as well in the API drive axle wear tests as a premium UTF that is loaded with EP additives. It takes more than viscosity to get GL-4 level anti-wear performance.

Hobo is absolutely right on the SAE 80W90 GL-4/GL-5 alternative. Not quite as good hydraulic performance in cold weather as a UTF but still an excellent option in moderate to warm climates. Excellent anti-wear protection and not a danger to anything inside an N-series rear end or transmission.

TOH

This question comes up every so often by some of the newer members. The following was written by llamas way back when. He was a contributor of articles to several farming magazines and quite well known in the farming community.

[u:9105e52864]The full story on transmission/hydraulic fluid for use in N series tractors[/u:9105e52864]

Noah w

(quoted from post at 11:42:03 07/07/15) This question comes up every so often by some of the newer members. The following was written by llamas way back when. He was a contributor of articles to several farming magazines and quite well known in the farming community.

[u:75c331649d]The full story on transmission/hydraulic fluid for use in N series tractors[/u:75c331649d]

Noah w

Click to expand...

Llamas was/is a smart and knowledgable guy. But if he is still around he would do well to edit his (erroneous) description on the relative physical properties of Ford M2C-134D and modern UTF. At the time he wrote that he clearly did not fully understand SAE viscosity grades or exactly what M2C-134D was/is. It's an excellent article that is mostly accurate but wrong in a few critical details. And it's those details that continue to confuse the discussion today.

TOH