I decided to get after my gearbox oil change. Who knows if I have accumulated 2500 hours of run time since post-break-in change done by draining through the plug. That mode is inconvenient to access the plug & a real mess trying to route oil & sop up spillover in the chip tray. & on the floor I wanted to peek under gearbox cover plate so went in from the top this time. I pre-scored the bondo/paint around the lid & unscrewed the 4 cap screws.. Don't think it was ever off since new (1998) so it took a gentle chisel pry on the corner after a rubber mallet failed to motivate it off. Gasket seal is plain rubber looking & in good shape.
I was pleasantly surprised. The inside gearbox was painted white. I've heard of many offshore machines of this vintage that are bare steel (rust) or flake off primer. The oil was quite clear all the way to the pool bottom & no obvious shrapnel. The gears & shafts looked brand new actually. The floor looked good except for what look more like stains in the crevices, not even silt. I used my brand new shop vac & proceeded to suck all the oil out <just Kidding>. I bought a Canadian Tire super sucker hemostat looking thing & it worked perfect. Once I got it drained I worked a rag around the floor to mop up everything & look for any shrapnel.
Remember to only use one rag at a time & remove it so the patient doesn't go into convulsions after surgery. I replaced it withused ISO-46 hydraulic oil. I know we beat this subject to death in another post but I decided to run with this viscosity more or less as evaluation because its about half what my manual calls for (and what was in it). I can also get the same brand in lower viscosity & it wasn't expensive. 5L was exactly what it needed to sight glass full. Buttoned it up, wiped it all clean, ran the motor, no leaks. Oh whats this? The magnet I was going to put on a strategic spot of the floor. Sheesh. Next time. As I transferred my oil from bucket into disposal container I noticed thus gold panning dust sediment. All that came from a mop up area that was under the sliding assembly but by some casting webs. Maybe the oil whirpools or something.
I was pleasantly surprised. The inside gearbox was painted white. I've heard of many offshore machines of this vintage that are bare steel (rust) or flake off primer. The oil was quite clear all the way to the pool bottom & no obvious shrapnel. The gears & shafts looked brand new actually. The floor looked good except for what look more like stains in the crevices, not even silt. I used my brand new shop vac & proceeded to suck all the oil out <just Kidding>. I bought a Canadian Tire super sucker hemostat looking thing & it worked perfect. Once I got it drained I worked a rag around the floor to mop up everything & look for any shrapnel.
Remember to only use one rag at a time & remove it so the patient doesn't go into convulsions after surgery. I replaced it with
Attachments
Last edited:
