"edb" wrote:

Hi George,
to drain the actual Torque Con. Rotating Housing that is within the main T/C outer housing that is drained by its big lower drain plug, you will need remove the T/C scavenge pump, inside there you will find a ring of bolts that retain the big alloy T/C Impeller to the steel T/C rotating housing.

Only Two of the bolt holes are drilled right thru to the inside of the oil compartment of the housing.

Around the side of the steel rotating housing should be 2 markings, opposite each other, with DRAIN stamped into the rotating housing steel case--the 2 opposite bolts that align to the stamped DRAIN need to be removed to drain some 4-5 gallons of oil from the actual T/C Rotating Housing.
Early units had an Allen head plug or two in the side of the case but these were nasty to try and remove.

If you did not drain the T/C case previously then this is a likely source of most of the current discolouration you have as it now seems not all of the system's contaminated oil was drained previously.

You will need to de-compress the engine and turn it so as to locate and remove the two Drain bolts, set one bolt hole at around the six o'clock position to drain the case--Refit BOTH bolts after draining.
There is no need to refill the T/C as when you start up again it will refill itself safely.
BUT, be sure to put around 2 gallons of oil into the main outer T/C housing for the Scavenge Pump to pump until the T/C housing refills and starts to leak the required oil to keep the Scav. Pump lubricated so as it does not seize up.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

Hi Eddie,

Thank you for the above info... I ran it again today for 40 minutes got it warm and dumped the torque converter and the transmission plug... I estimate at least 33-34 gallons came out and it was nasty looked like baileys Irish cream... I can't believe that it was brand new to-4 50 weight and within 4 hours it looks that bad... Didn't want to chance anything and am dumping it and putting fresh in and if that is bad will dump it again until oil looks good....

Dozer is working wonderfully and I am not using my brakes and got the hang of slowing down with the decelerator and switching the power shift...

My steering clutches work but probably need adjusting... I am not sure but when I go left I pull the steering clutch lever and it needs the brake to really make it move in that direction. I want to only slightly correct steering when in gear either 1st or 2nd.. It seems that the right moves better and reverse moves the best...Not sure if the clutches need to be replaced as the age but she definitely can be steered but am getting to begin to get the hang of it... Any suggestions would be helpful and any real videos to show how to not stress the machine... I fix her so I want to be good to her...Cheers...

"Neil" wrote:

George, if you have containers, you can let that new oil sit and separate out the water and sludge. Might take a year but you can salvage some of the oil.

Hi Neil,

Appreciate that but my wife would kill me keeping old nasty oil around for that long... Well its time to just cut the losses and throw it away. Wasteful yes, but need to make her right... She is an amazing machine and I do believe I am over the hurdle and will get some much needed seat time with her...Thanks for all you do and hope everyone is well...

"Neil" wrote:

George, if you have containers, you can let that new oil sit and separate out the water and sludge. Might take a year but you can salvage some of the oil.

-i agree Neil, i think most of the water and glycol will separate and sit on the bottom if given some time undisturbed, that's why i like to crack the drain plugs periodically...

-is water condensation a problem in some climates? High Humidity? Large Temperature swings? it's a lot of cold iron....and if the oil doesn't see some warm temperatures to drive the water off....it's constantly collecting H20...?

Hi Team,
have seen my Dad sit a pan of oil watery/milky oil on the gas ring and gently heat it until he saw the steam rise and kept the heat there to continue driving off the water as steam, gently stirring from time to time--took a while but seemed to work.

According to the grey OMI for 46A 3044-up D8H, with Oil Single Stage Torque Converters, they operate in the White Range of T/C Temp Gauge at around 160-180 Deg. F, and up to 250 Deg. F in the Red range--so heating very gently and stirring to stop hot spots on bottom of pan temperatures at around 212 Deg. F should be safe for the Trans oil.

Your experience may vary.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

"edb" wrote:

Hi Team,
have seen my Dad sit a pan of oil watery/milky oil on the gas ring and gently heat it until he saw the steam rise and kept the heat there to continue driving off the water as steam, gently stirring from time to time--took a while but seemed to work.

According to the grey OMI for 46A 3044-up D8H, with Oil Single Stage Torque Converters, they operate in the White Range of T/C Temp Gauge at around 160-180 Deg. F, and up to 250 Deg. F in the Red range--so heating very gently and stirring to stop hot spots on bottom of pan temperatures at around 212 Deg. F should be safe for the Trans oil.

Your experience may vary.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

-yes that's what i was thinking Ed, gentle heat, just enough to drive the water out..

-do you think the condensation problem is worse with Standard Direct Drive units? that probably operate even cooler than a Torque Converter trans?

-i changed the oil out completely last summer, got a bit of seat time running down some light brush and piling, and pushed some snow thru the winter...and i can already see a change in the oil, to me it looks whiter (moisture)? (all fluids are maintaining level)

Hi KL123,
I guess that it mostly depends on the ambient humidity, air moisture content, and temperature differences after operating and so the amount of moisture laden air drawn into the compartments as the unit cools down.
I could see that not a lot can be done to stave it off when machines are stored outside overnight other than to ensure the unit is worked enough next shift to heat the compartments long and hot enough and so drive off the condensates.

At The Dealer we often recommended that machines be operated for a reasonable amount of time to and at full operating temperatures to help achieve this drive off or else condensation issues may appear with low temperature short operating cycles--kind of double edged I guess.
Scheduled Oil Sampling used to give an indication of the water % content present in oil samples (judged by the amount of sizzle of the sample on a hot plate device) and so point to short low temperature cycles of operation or not.

This is my experience and thoughts, so yours may vary.

Cheers,
Eddie B.

"edb" wrote:

Hi KL123,
I guess that it mostly depends on the ambient humidity, air moisture content, and temperature differences after operating and so the amount of moisture laden air drawn into the compartments as the unit cools down.
I could see that not a lot can be done to stave it off when machines are stored outside overnight other than to ensure the unit is worked enough next shift to heat the compartments long and hot enough and so drive off the condensates.

At The Dealer we often recommended that machines be operated for a reasonable amount of time to and at full operating temperatures to help achieve this drive off or else condensation issues may appear with low temperature short operating cycles--kind of double edged I guess.
Scheduled Oil Sampling used to give an indication of the water % content present in oil samples (judged by the amount of sizzle of the sample on a hot plate device) and so point to short low temperature cycles of operation or not.

This is my experience and thoughts, so yours may vary.

Cheers,
Eddie B.

Hi Eddie,

Clearly you have vast experience with these old girls. Well yesterday I worked her for a solid 7 hours.... It was truly amazing... All of a sudden the engine smoothed out and was idling like a clock.. These old girls need to be used and started... Not just sitting around looking pretty.... I am getting the hang of things... I was pushing some trees over about 10 and they where pretty big... Lets just say it was not problem and I was gentle and opened up the throttle with the decelerator when times were needed and kept it steady... She is truly a beast.... Its amazing what she can push and the power oh my.... My D7G is nice but I love the Power of the D9G..... So I really need to figure out covers for the engine... I am pushing trees and sometimes it the leaves and pine needles get in the engine compartment and under the oil pan... I like to keep her clean and besides that it is a fire hazard... I had a tree branch push into the top of the turbo feed line and make a mess... New gasket and it turns out the bolts where not the right size... Some idiot put 2 locknut washer and a washer to make up the difference in size as they used to big of a bolt.... I will go and get the right size grade 8 bolt....

Well she is working like a top shifting ect... You really need to let these old girls warm up real good before you start using them... Probably at least 20 minutes I say... Does that sound right... Remember 70 degrees here in Hawaii in the am 7ish... The temperature is good she stays nice and cool... The gauge for the engine is a quarter up from cold and the transmission is about the same or a little less. So Nice to be able to use the equipment all day... When taking a break is it better to let her idle or shut her down... Say 15-20 min break? And I must say she starts up amazing now no hesitation just straight lets get to work..... I truly am amazed how that engine is running now.... I believe the rings needed a good working and finally they reseated.... It just feels different meaning the engine and the machine... I guess that is why you need to exercise them. Remember she was being fixed for the last 9 months and she sat unused for at least 5 years with water down in the engine and god only knows how much she was used prior to her being parked... Sorry for the rant just am very pleased with her.... A lot of work and now of course it would take me no time but the learning curve was a little steep....

Hi George,
great to hear that the engine is settling in with more run time.
The warm up time should be covered in your Grey OMI--from memory, run engine at half RPM for around 5 mins. also the book would say another 5 at full RPM until the engine and transmission, etc. is warmed up. I usually am easier on equipment than this and 3/4 speed should suffice.
As you suggest times can vary according to the ambient temperatures--wind chill, etc. and I did not pickup on a rant--you merely stated the facts about your particular machines past that after much hard work and cost you now have operating well and improving with run time also it seemingly is now exceeding your expectations.

The hallmark of a good operator is how smooth he can operate his machine with no sudden impacts and such, all done with the least number of RPM's for the task at hand.

Recently Misterskill put up a video of ripping his opal mine site, doing the job easily and gently at less than full RPM and available power--this is economic on fuel and longevity of the machinery--any cowboy can rip tear and bust with lots of noise, smoke, and speed and achieve little more than a good steady operator but certainly ruin a good quality machine that costs mega to fix with parts that are now getting harder to find.
In fact the mine sites here used to rack back their D9's etc. to try and prevent/slow down the cowboys wrecking them.

If ever you get to operate a drag-line equipped excavator you will soon come to realize that smoothness is the order of the day for best performance that shows.

Cheers,
Eddie B.