How often do you change your transmission oil?

[jjhdozing]

I have a 2016 CAT D6N with 3600 hours. I haven’t dropped the trans oil yet and I was reading in the book it calls for every 1000hrs. That doesn’t seem like a lot of hours to me but just curious what everybody else does for maintenance intervals? I haven’t changed the filters yet (winter maintenance) and was thinking about draining it. Also the hydraulic says every 2000hrs change hyd oil.

 

[Coaldust]

1000hr is a good interval. Especially if you are not doing SOS. Lube & filters are cheap compared to what it costs to rebuilt the trans.

 

[Nige]

I think you'll also note that the manual says something like "every 1000 hours or 6 Months" or "every 2000 hours or 1 Year". If your D6N isn't doing a lot of hours you might well be better on time-based oil changes. EDIT: On that basis I would say transmission oil could be stretched to every year between changes and hydraulic oil every 2 years but no further than that.

With 6 years on it the trans oil is probably well f'ked by now. You really ought to drop it sooner rather than later and while you're at it cut the filter open and look for particles plus pull the magnetic strainer and see what's in it.There are plenty of "how to" videos on YouTube.

Remember that good quality oil & filters are the best insurance policy you could ever have, and that if you cut filters open every time you change them and do stuff like observing the colour of the oil drain stream or checking out the mag plugs on a regular basis it's amazing what sort of heads up they can give you of problems looming on the horizon. YMMV.

 

[jjhdozing]

I think you'll also note that the manual says something like "every 1000 hours or 6 Months" or "every 2000 hours or 1 Year". If your D6N isn't doing a lot of hours you might well be better on time-based oil changes.

With 6 years on it the trans oil is probably well f'ked by now. You really ought to drop the it sooner rather than later and while you're at it pull the magnetic strainer and see what's in it.

Remember that good quality oil & filters are the best insurance policy you could ever have, and that if you cut filters open every time you change them and do stuff like observing the colour of the oil drain stream or checking out the mag plugs on a regular basis it's amazing what sort of heads up they can give you of problems looming on the horizon. YMMV.

I would say the 6N probably gets 700hrs a year put on it average so going every other year. Especially since it may have only 500-600 actually working hours. Thank you for the reply just wondering what everybody else does.

 

[Nige]

Are you cutting filters at every change and looking at mag plugs and/or the mag strainer in the transmission suction side every time you drain the oil.? If not you really ought to be based on extended oil drain intervals such as you're doing.

I would say the 6N probably gets 700hrs a year put on it average so going every other year.

Is that an oil change every other year on the transmission and the hydraulics.?

 

[jjhdozing]

Are you cutting filters at every change and looking at mag plugs and/or the mag strainer in the transmission suction side every time you drain the oil.? If not you really ought to be based on extended oil drain intervals such as you're doing.
Is that an oil change every other year on the transmission and the hydraulics.?

I don’t normally cut the filters open but when I do drain trans I pull out the strainer and check the magnets for any debris

 

[Nige]

I don’t normally cut the filters open

It might pay you to, it's not difficult.

 

[CM1995]

Thank you for the reply just wondering what everybody else does.

Oil analysis in addition to following the Cat recommended service intervals for our working conditions.

 

[HarleyHappy]

My experience on cutting filters open and having an oil analysis done is simple.
What I see and feel is much more accurate than what they tell me in indecipherable numbers and a vague report.

 

[Nige]

What I see and feel is much more accurate than what they tell me in indecipherable numbers and a vague report.

Oil analysis reports in and of themselves are not that difficult to understand, but the biggest misconception is that a single sample analysis result can actually tell you something meaningful. 99 times out of 100 that is not correct, where oil analysis comes into its own is in showing trends over an extended period of time.

 

[ahart]

Oil sample analyses are all about developing trends over a machine’s and/or component’s life cycle. I’ve never seen an oil sample report that was indecipherable and the more you have on a machine or component, the more meaningful they become. With almost every engine failure, transmission failure, etc., the numbers were there to support what happened with the engine. Occasionally they don’t catch something. For example, we had a D6N GB6 prefix that had a couple holes rotted in the aluminum engine oil pan from cement t stabilized dirt that sat around the pan for an extended period of time. Engine dumped all oil out of engine and ate the rod and main bearings. Sample showed no trends of contamination and engine oil filter was full of metal. This is fairly rare. I’m a huge supporter of oil sample analysis programs as I have seen the effects of the program when they are used as well as when they are not. As for only cutting the filter open, you’ve already missed many of the “heads up” signs and many times damage is much further along by this point. This isn’t my 2 cents, it’s fact proven by data.

 

[Nige]

If I could like the above post multiple times - I would.

 

[Volvomad]

If the oil has gone over interval 400% i think oil sampling may be a bridge too far. I cut more and more filters with age. If we were running more valuable gear, oil sampling would be well worth doing.

 

[ahart]

And I think you’ve missed the point.

 

[Truck Shop]

Yellow equipment yes-just because what's expected of it and the initial cost of that type of equipment.
Trucks-it's a waste of time, just set a realistic service interval and things will be fine.

 

[Truck Shop]

DD15 oil filter below-nice thing about a cartridge-if there's metal it's right in front of you all that has to
be done is look. Same with DD15 fuel filters, I've found one that was loosing the high pressure fuel pump.
Very fine metallic material in filter-found all because it is a cartridge type filter. Cartridge filters have a
real advantage over spin on.

 

[Volvomad]

Maybe i did, but I think that machine would benefit more from more frequent oil changes than random sampling but a machine of that value could benefit from the full works but basics first

 

[CM1995]

Maybe i did, but I think that machine would benefit more from more frequent oil changes than random sampling but a machine of that value could benefit from the full works but basics first

Oil sampling of all the fluids being changed at the proper interval is also a very important part of maintenance IMO.

We were able to get a $5K drive motor on a Cat 279D covered with no cost under warranty because we had a trend on that final drive oil under the warranty period. At $27 per sample it's cheap insurance in my experience.

 

[ahart]

I agree CM1995, trend data is the more broad point I was driving vs “random sampling” which I agree gives you mostly “indecipherable” data. Just having the history is worth a fortune in future repairs IMO. I almost always go back on the SOS data on a machine and look at the data when diagnosing an issue. Makes the things you’re seeing make a lot more sense when there’s data to back it up.

 

[suladas]

I always follow the hour intervals, but not the time. Why does a air filter need to be changed yearly if it's not seeing enough hours for example? I don't buy that it hurts it go to longer if it's under the hours. Even engine oil, i've went 2 years many times because the hours aren't anywhere close to the interval in only a year, and confirmed with samples the oil was still fine.