The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hi I'm newby and just bought myself a Major (1958) and I think I need to change the oil. The oil in the gearbox is a distinctly milky colour (at least that on the dip stick). I see the recommendation is 20W/50 multigrade for engine, gearbox and back end and I found a company called rye oil that seem to do oil at a reasonable price. Has anyone else used them? They do a "Classic 20w50 Engine Oil – High Zinc" (see www.ryeoil.co.uk/shop)

Also would it be wise to use the old oil from the engine to "flush" out the gearbox before I put some new oil in. I'm thinking do the engine first (oil in the engine looks good just old) and then drain gearbox and fill with the old engine oil (perhaps after straining it) and use this to absorb some of the left over custard in the gearbox and drain off? I've yet to look at the rear end but I suspect it needs changing as well.

Peter

hello Peter,
Good choice for a tractor
The dipstick by the gearleaver is actually for the rear-end/hydraulics.Gearoil is checked/refilled at the large alu-plug that is screwed in near the clutch pedal,level should be near-overflow at the opening.
I would not recommend old engine-oil for flushing as it contains acid!
User manuel says 15w-40 for motor/gearbox/rear-end.
I think Ithink 20w-50 would be fine too,unless it gets VERY cold in your part of the world,then I would stick with the 15w-40 (for easy starting)
best regards
svend.

Hi Svend,

Thanks you for the information. I had wondered where the dipstick for the rear was, now it all makes sense and also it suggests that oil most be leaking between gearbox and rear end. The oil level on the dipstick is above max whilst the oil in the gearbox when I look through the filler is low so I guess a seal/seals have gone. I found a youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJRDCQVcLPg) on how to change the PTO seals so I will start there (easier than splitting the tractor). Especially as there is small oil leak(s) at both the PTO output end and around the PTO box under the tractor so i need to fix those leaks anyway..I guess I should the fix seals/leaks first before changing the oil? or is changing the oil from custard to normal colour also likely to help reseal the leaks? Anyway tractor is unlikely to be used over the winter so I have plenty of time .

Peter

-Hi Peter,
I dont think the oils condition has much effect on the amount of leakage.
Something you could check before tearing her down is wether the gearbox is able to "breathe". One of the bolts that fix the steering-box to the top of the gearbox should be altered so as allow preasure in the gearbox to escape throu it,these bolts are often misplaced or blocked with rust and crap.The bolt must be in a hole that goes through to the inside of gearbox.
If preasure cannot equlize,oil will be forced out thru the seals,into bell-house or rear-end.
Som owners use the tractors own hydraulics(and a hose) to shift oil from rear-end back to gearbox when needed!
best regards,
svend.

I just used the trick of shifting the oil last week. I use a 5 L container to store the oil from the backend and put it in the gearbox when needed.
Great video. But my nek is hurting a bit now.
As I remember the oil seal must be a double lip version or two seal opposit to each other. There were two coming out in the video.

SvendH wrote: Something you could check before tearing her down is wether the gearbox is able to "breathe". One of the bolts that fix the steering-box to the top of the gearbox should be altered so as allow preasure in the gearbox to escape throu it,these bolts are often misplaced or blocked with rust and crap.

Thanks for the info I was wondering where the gearbox breather was. I shall see if I can find this bolt with a hole at the weekend.

No prob. Peter,on mine the breather had been replaced with a normal bolt!

I found the breather bolt. Absolutely caked in gunk so no way it was breathing through that. After a good clean and can now blow air through it . So progress made one job done only 999 jobs to do Wonder how often that needs to be checked?

Peter

Peter L wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 29, 2019 8:49 am

I found the breather bolt. Absolutely caked in gunk so no way it was breathing through that. After a good clean and can now blow air through it . So progress made one job done only 999 jobs to do Wonder how often that needs to be checked?

Peter

Re the breather bolt, I've just fitted a live drive box, new oil and seals etc and find that there is oil seeping from the steering box/gearbox joint when it gets warm and on reading this I am assuming that it is being forced out by pressure because there is either no breather bolt or it's blocked.
Having got everything back together and working am reluctant to take it all down again.
Can someone please tell me if these bolts are available as a spare part and what the thing looks like, and is it possible to fabricate one ?
Thanks in advance,

Rye Oil are a well known supplier of regular and speciality lubricants, and up until recently produced a form of Tractor Vaporising Oil, so you will be OK with their products.

You can fabricate a breather bolt by drilling across from one flat on the head of a regular bolt through to the opposite flat, then drilling longitudinally up the threaded length into the head until you hit the cross drilling through the head - you will need to be spot on with your centres though! Make one drilling larger than the other to improve your chances of a hit.

You say your tractor is a 1958 Major, the Major, Power Major and blue/orange Super Major use two single lip 89 x 54 mm oil seals fitted back to back in the PTO gearbox unit, the New Performance blue/grey Super Major uses one double lip 89 x 44.5 mm oil seal in the PTO gearbox. You will be very lucky to get away with just changing the PTO gearbox seals, usually it is necessary to change the gearbox rear output shaft seal as well which involves splitting the tractor between the gearbox and the rear axle. That is why many people just pump oil back from the rear axle into the gearbox! It is not difficult to change the gearbox output seal if you stick to a routine, just time consuming.

I have a question about the choice of engine oil if I may. Since the old spec is 30HD, do we assume it was a comparable oil to today’s Diesel engine oils such as used in highway trucks? And is it necessary to use a detergent type oil in the gear cases?

Until 1959 the spec was 20HD winter 30HD summer for the engine and SAE 90 for transmission, this was then changed to universal oil, the engine remained the same, but the transmission became 30HD. The steering box is SAE 90.
Sandy