520 hydro tranny

[scorpion red horse 66 8]

I recntly purchased a 1992 520 I am at changing the tranny oil the book says 5 quarts I only got 4 quarts in I also changed the filter. what is a easy way to fill the tranny Do i have to let it sit over night to  let it settle down 

[953 nut 55,836]

The 5 quarts would be for a dry system. Hoses and cylinder have some in them and if you didn't jack up the front of the  while draining there would be some oil trapped in the front of the sump.

[Cee245 818]

It sounds like you have the Eaton 1100 tranny. 

Great transmission but changing oil is a pain. 

First,

make SURE you have the correct HYDRO FILTER for it. And use MOTOR OIL 10w 30 for the HYDRO transmission. Sounds funny but that is what Wheel Horse designed it to use.

 

Second,

when filling, I've found that when cracking the filter open a little WHILE FILLING to let the air escape works well.

Third, it is a long process! Usually messy for me.

 

4th, as said above, a dry system takes 5 quarts. 4 quarts +/- is typical.

 

Cory

 

 

[scorpion red horse 66 8]

I would like to thank 953 Nut and Cee 245 for getting back to me on the 520 hydro issue. it was very helpfull. ThanksI

[squonk 41,360]

You can also take out one of the bolts that hold the rear lift cable tube on. They are on top of the trans and the holes go thru right to the sump. Taking out a bolt lets the air out of the sump with out the mess of a loose filter. 

[lynnmor 7,354]

4 hours ago, squonk said:

You can also take out one of the bolts that hold the rear lift cable tube on. They are on top of the trans and the holes go thru right to the sump. Taking out a bolt lets the air out of the sump with out the mess of a loose filter. 

That is actually stated in the manual.  One would need to be extremely careful to prevent dirt from falling in the hole, especially on a worker where there is plenty of dirt that is difficult to eliminate.

[Gary520H 2]

Hello all,

Would it hurt if I put synthetic 10w30 oil in it. I have some left over from previous oil change. Thanks for the tip of removing bolt to hydro to vent trapped air. I’ve always put off changing oil because of the mess I created.

Thanks Gary.  

[WVHillbilly520H 10,374]

35 minutes ago, Gary520H said:

Hello all,

Would it hurt if I put synthetic 10w30 oil in it. I have some left over from previous oil change. Thanks for the tip of removing bolt to hydro to vent trapped air. I’ve always put off changing oil because of the mess I created.

Thanks Gary.  

Most of the guys on here now swear by synthetic oil vs dino juice, won't hurt a thing, I use 10w30 "high mileage" blended oil myself, no issues as of yet, Jeff.

[Gary520H 2]

Thanks for the information and quick reply. 👍

[Gary520H 2]

Hello again, 

I cannot find that bolt to remove to help vent hydro when filling with new oil. Is it underneath the seat pan? I don’t think mine has the tube that is referred to in previous post.

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,374]

17 minutes ago, Gary520H said:

Hello again, 

I cannot find that bolt to remove to help vent hydro when filling with new oil. Is it underneath the seat pan? I don’t think mine has the tube that is referred to in previous post.

 

Here's a pic with the fender and seat removed but you'll be able to find it (the bolt holding the hose clamp) after this (BTW a tip to the wise remove seat and fenders and pressure wash and compressed air clean the pump fins and hydro trans clean) or it could end up looking like the next 2 pics, Jeff.

[JAinVA 4,623]

Great pictures of the crap you can run across when you dig into these machines.Thanks for posting them Jeff.I removed the fender pan on one of the 416Hs and except for the top of the pan support everthing was black.That coating was from less than 300 hours use.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,374]

5 minutes ago, JAinVA said:

Great pictures of the crap you can run across when you dig into these machines.Thanks for posting them Jeff.I removed the fender pan on one of the 416Hs and except for the top of the pan support everthing was black.That coating was from less than 300 hours use.

Jim, The one pictured above is the low hour (236) 520 I bought over 2 years ago, my anniversary I bought new was gunked up around the pump after 15 years of mowing and driveway repairs and fluid changes, Jeff.

[JAinVA 4,623]

I think that most of the oil mess on the 416 was from an oil change gone bad.What a mess.I remember those pictures from a previous post and they are a good way to show what a new owner should look for.

Edited September 21, 2018 by JAinVA

[cleat 6,362]

On 6/30/2018 at 11:46 AM, squonk said:

You can also take out one of the bolts that hold the rear lift cable tube on. They are on top of the trans and the holes go thru right to the sump. Taking out a bolt lets the air out of the sump with out the mess of a loose filter. 

That works well but I am always afraid of getting dirt into the system unless the top of trans is perfectly clean.

 

Assuming the filter is new, there will not be any mess using it as a vent, just loosening a full filter causes a mess.

 

That is all I do now, just drain, pull old filter (that makes a bit of a mess so have a container under it to catch spilled oil), clean up, install drain plug, add 4 liters or so of oil then install new filter.

 

Run machine for a while exercising the lift up and down several times to ensure all air is out then shut down and check oil level.

 

If it needs more oil, it won't be much at this point so just slowly add until full.

 

Filter only actually filters return oil from the lift so that is why it will not run out when filling but it then returns the oil to the gearbox up high so it works as a vent with a loose or un-installed filter

 

Cleat.

 

 

 

[Gary520H 2]

WOW 😮! What a mess. Thanks everyone for taking the time to provide advice and suggestions for changing Hydro oil. Thanks for detailed photos. 

Gary

 

[cleat 6,362]

Yes, those photos look terrible.

 

I can only imagine that rear end would heat up fast too.

 

Cleat