Help with what to do next

[Chippenice]

My mother inlaw has a kubota bx tractor. I just found out that it probably has not had a oil change in 8 years or about 900 hours. I went and bought a gallon of t4 Rotella and a filter. The oil was pretty thick and coal black coming out. I ran it for 5 minutes after the oil change and the new oil is coal black. I wasn't really surprised by that at all. Should I change it a couple more times with like a 10 hr interval? Thanks for your help!

 

[ecotourist]

I'd start off by changing it a couple of times after an hour or so. And I'd change the filters too.

 

[atikovi]

Should I change it a couple more times with like a 10 hr interval?

More like 10 minutes. New and old oil will mix thoroughly by then.

 

[oggb]

I'd be feeding it the cheapest 15w40 and cheapest filters I could find, run at ~2000 RPM for 10 mins or so, change it, rinse and repeat until it stops coming out black. Then I'd probably change the oil on short intervals thereafter. Maybe find some Valvoline Premium Blue Restore and give that a shot once you've got the oil staying relatively clean.

 

[Zaedock]

I would run the new oil for a day and change to inexpensive Supertech 15W40. Running for short periods is not going to heat the oil enough and is a waste IMO. Work the next oil change for a day and change again hot. The engine was screwed up over 8 years, It's not going to clean up in a few days. My JD wasn't taken care of when I bought her years ago. It took some time, but now you can see clean metal in the valve cover. Also, don't forget to check your air filter!

 

[Chris142]

Can you see down the oil fill hole?

 

[Strokenmerc]

At least a couple short OCIs and filter changes. If it's hydrostatic, I would be changing the filters, draining and filling with UDT2. Even a gear tractor is overdue for fluid change.

 

[Chippenice]

Can you see down the oil fill hole?

Yes. No sludge that I can see

 

[dlundblad]

If the oil is this bad, I’m assuming the HST fluid and filter and front axle needs changing as well as the whole machine needing greased. If it has a belly mower, especially grease the PTO that feeds the gearbox.

 

[TnT_M]

My mother inlaw has a kubota bx tractor. I just found out that it probably has not had a oil change in 8 years or about 900 hours. I went and bought a gallon of t4 Rotella and a filter. The oil was pretty thick and coal black coming out. I ran it for 5 minutes after the oil change and the new oil is coal black. I wasn't really surprised by that at all. Should I change it a couple more times with like a 10 hr interval? Thanks for your help!

Any idea what the OCI is for this unit? I wouldn't be too worried about the color. My 2012 Ram has the oil black as coal in about 500 miles. Diesel's engines are very different than gasoline engines when it comes to oil color.

If you didn't find any sludge I'd change it after a few hours and move on. I bet you would be amazed how many of these types of machines go to the grave with little to no oil changes.

Just my $0.02

 

[BeerCan]

Any idea what the OCI is for this unit?

200 hours per factory

 

[dnewton3]

You said there's no sludge that you can see. You might try pulling the valve cover, as you can get a much better view with the cover off. Typically those little BX engines are very easy to get at. If it's as clean as you indicate, there's no problems. My oil in my two Kubotas comes out as black as you state, yet under the valve covers they were as clean as a whistle. Don't let the color of the lue fool you; these old IDI diesel engines run fairly dirty and the oil is just doing it's job. And for the sake of adding to a knowledge base, for goodness sake get a used oil analysis on that "old" fluid and post it up, please! I would love to see what a super-long OCI presents in terms of wear and soot loading.

I'd do a few very "short" O/FCIs with Super Tech 15w40 and inexpensive filters. Then a few "moderate" OCIs with the same. After that, all should be good. Try this as a suggestion:
1) 1 hour OCI
2) 10 hour OCI
3) 25 hour OCI
4) 50 hour OCI
5) "normal" OCIs thereafter

The hyd/trans fluid isn't as big a deal because there's no soot in the hydraulic fluid, so less particulate build up to worry about. I'd just to a full service (fluid and filters) on the transmission fluid and it should be fine.

 

[ripcord]

Personally, unless you see evidence of heavy sludge, I would just change all fluids, grease it up and put it to work. Next season is soon enough for another oil change. If you change it once a year at that rate, it will be fine.