gearbox rinse

K Effective · Nov 2, 2017

Draining the fluids from the pump and fan gearbox on my vineyard sprayer today. Both are gear oils, and I wondered the benefits from refilling each with say diesel fuel and running it for a few moments then draining and refilling with new gear lube. I think cleaner is better, but don't want to ruin any seals or such, perhaps just new fluid is good enough. I see motor flush products sold in stores but have heard of more problems being caused by breaking the sludge loose.

Any fact-based arguments?

DENNIS MIN · Nov 2, 2017

K effective,

I use clean diesel fuel to clear out debris from nearly every lubricated gearbox, chaincase, etc. I am not a scientist with a lubrication degree, but clean is a good place to start for re-filling.

I doubt you'll find any gear manufacturer that'd recommend leaving abrasive wear particles within the (fill in the blank).

D>

Dean · Nov 2, 2017

It depends upon where the drain plug is located.

Can you drain all of the liquid from the unit? Usually, you cannot.

Dean

showcrop · Nov 2, 2017

I flush gear cases with fuel but I don't run them. The bad stuff will be on the bottom any way. You could just rock it.

rustred · Nov 2, 2017

the best rinse is a light hyd. oil. you need viscosity to flush out the solids. diesel is useless, i know as i have tryed it. the solids just sit on the bottom. even kerosene is better than diesel. gas even works better than diesel for final washing.

Dan in North Houston · Nov 2, 2017

Many years ago I worked on drilling rigs, where we had many diesel motors. Usually we had Detroit diesels on the air compressors, 6V82's, 8V92's, and usually a 12V92TA or a turbo'd Caterpillar motor on the draw works, 3208 if I remember correctly. We changed the oil regularly, but our standard procedure was to drain the oil, fill with diesel, run for about 5 or 10 seconds, drain the diesel and fill with oil.
Before I get crucified here, let me point out that I was 18 and was not getting paid to think - just doing what the boss told me to do. With what I know now, I would never dare do this to any of my equipment. But we ran those motors almost continuously for days on end, mostly at full throttle, only shutting them down twice a day for a few minutes to check the oil and coolant. I don't recall we ever had any major problems of any kind. I don't recall how often we changed the oil, but it was probably every two or three weeks.

K Effective · Nov 3, 2017

Thanks for the responses, guys. Of the many issues is any residual rinse fluid remaining in the case- which makes me like the hydraulic fluid idea better than fuel.

Gary Mitchell · Nov 3, 2017

My experience with restoring older tractors shows me that with scooping, scraping, and hand digging goop out of rear ends and transmissions and THEN sloshing something around in there using a parts cleaning brush, one can get a lot of the "stuff" cleaned out. Same goes with engine blocks that were previously blessed with STP, motor honey, etc. Merely slopping some room temperature liquid of any sort around those places seems like a waste to me. That's my experience anyway. gm

gearbox rinse

K Effective

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DENNIS MIN

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Dean

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showcrop

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rustred

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Dan in North Houston

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K Effective

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Gary Mitchell

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