Clark 2420 Transmission Oil?

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Hi, I recently purchased a Clark Michigan 85 IIIA articulating wheel loader. I’m slowly going over the entire machine and changing all the oil and filters.

My next job is the transmission and torque converter which share the same oil reservoir. I own a maintenance and operators manual but oil requirements are confusing. It appears as if the manual recommends straight 30 weight engine oil for temperatures above 30 degrees. This is fine for me in Florida but it just doesn’t sound right putting engine oil in a transmission. I do see that you can use dexron or dexron 2 for temps down to -30 but aren’t dexron and 30 weight engine oil completely different. How could either one work in this transmission?

I attached a copy of the manual page for both the torque converter and the transmission. They are both basically the same but do have some differences. I just want to make sure I am supposed to use regular straight 30 weight engine oil before I mess something up. If anyone has a recommendation for a specific brand let me know.

Thanks for the help.

Dan

TorqueConverter.jpg


Clark2420Transmission.jpg
 
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If it recommends 30-weight engine oil, use it. Go get some SAE30 HDEO (Delo, Rotella, etc.) and you'll be fine. 30-wt engine oil is somewhere in the neighborhood of an 80W or 85W gear oil.
 
Well I’m using Delo 100 in the engine right now. Would It matter if I used the Delo 100 or 400. Delo 400 seems much easier to find.

Thanks for the help.

Dan
 
A recommendation for engine oil, atf, and/or hydraulic oil depending on temperature range is not uncommon at all for heavy equipment transmissions. This is the norm.

If that was my machine, I'd probably fill the transmission with the cheapest 10W30 that money can buy... so long as it meets a fairly recent API rating. But really you could probably fill it with hydraulic oil, universal tractor fluid, 30wr, 15w40, or ATF... I doubt it would make any differnce at all.
 
I’ve decided to go with Chevron Delo 400 SAE 30W. Thanks for the help. I’m sure I will be posting more questions as I go over this machine.

Thanks, Dan
 
Originally Posted By: 6v53
I’ve decided to go with Chevron Delo 400 SAE 30W. Thanks for the help. I’m sure I will be posting more questions as I go over this machine.

Thanks, Dan


For the climate you're in, that choice would be hard to beat.
 
I worked at a material handling dealership and there many trannies run 30wt or 15W-40 "HDEOS" they are great oils.
 
Normally you don't want to put multigrade oils in those transmissions. You need to be very careful not to put sulfur/phos oils in there. SAE 30 is normal, although I normally see SAE 30 meeting a TO-4 spec for friction modification to eliminate disc slipping.
 
Why aren't multi-grade oils suited for that transmission?

I'm not saying that this is correct practice- I don't have ANYTHING in writing to prove that it is. But I do know from experience that lots of heavy equipment shops would simply fill that transmission with 10W30 or 15W40 and call it a day. And it would operate just fine on either oil.

Other than a little more resistance to shear, what advantage is there to a single grade oil?
 
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