4518 Hydrostatic Honda Lawn Tractor

[LarryS74]

I have a 14518 honda hydrostatic lawn tractor, needing to know the recomended transmission fluid type. Can you help me with this please would be greatly appriciated have had a heck of a time trying to find out. It is between 1991 through 1998 year not for sure. thank you larry Smith.

 

[Jeffy_D]

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=482161

old post, but prolly has the information you want.

 

[user52165]

You might call this well respected Honda parts dealer - they really know their stuff:

http://www.planopower.com/store/honda/h4518hsa.php

FWIW - they show hydro fluid for your model

 

[LarryS74]

Thanks for the help. Do you know if I could substitut another oil other than using the Honda Hydrostatic oil they recomend.Seems to me there shoul be another oil to use other than the Honda brand, they sure are proud of the oil. Dont know what weight to use or if a synthetic oil or not.Man it is ridiculous to have to pay that much for a quart of oil. same as gas prices twenty dollars and you get five gallons of gas just isnt right.

 

[1 FMF]

in my opinion this is a classic example of a manufacturer withholding info to fear people into buying from them. if you search in this forum i posted pics of the hydrostatic trans in my honda hrx lawnmower i had pulled apart a couple years ago. That has been running transmission fluid since and it has been great. A hydrostatic trans is nothing special, it's just a fluid pump and needs fluid not air to operate properly. Air along with contamination are the two things that will cause problems. After that it's viscosity that will determine the efficiency and power transfer of the pump. Too low a viscosity and the oil may leak past the pump resulting in less than 100% power transfer. Too much viscosity and the unit won't be 100% efficient, ambient temp can also be a factor. There are many makes and models of hydrostatic transmissions and many of them run regular engine oil, there's nothing special in them requiring a special fluid. If I were you, I'd run transmission fluid. If you then have problems where the unit seems to slip which would be because of pump wear then use a heavier lubricant such as 30 weight engine oil. Amsoil makes a 5w30 hydrostatic transmission fluid which i have tried in the mower with no problems, I have enough left over and will be using that in my honda hs928ta snowblower when i change it out this spring. but given that transmission fluid goes for 30,000+ miles in transmissions seeing how much hp and heat, it will do fine in your hydrostatic trans. They probably don't come filled with that because it's more expensive, and the unit does not require any special fluid. If anything honda hydrostatic fluid is oil with less additives than motor oil. biggest thing is when you refill the trans is to make sure it is not underfilled, there cannot be air in the pump circuit.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...rue#Post1859033

 

[1 FMF]

http://support.mtdproducts.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/95/~/what-type-of-oil-does-my-hydrostatic-transmission-require%3F


note the optimum viscosity numbers,
http://www.hydro-gear.com/Main/Products/PistonPumps

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: LarryS74
Thanks for the help. Do you know if I could substitut another oil other than using the Honda Hydrostatic oil they recomend.


Yes, you sure can.

I believe Honda sourced their lawn/garden hydrostatic drives from Kanzaki/Tufftorq. That being the case, they typically spec 10w30 engine oil from the factory, but 15w40 is a better choice for hot weather use and often spec'd in service manuals.

Joel