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Engine oil??

LOWGEAR

Member
47
0
6
Location
HOUSTON, TEXAS
My m135 transmission was rebuilt by a large military truck rebuilder and they replaced the 30w transmission oil with gm automatic transmission fluid. This fluid is eating the nos seal they used in the rebuild. What product can I use to flush this fluid out so I can go back to 30w and stop the leaks?
 

m1010plowboy

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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2,712
83
Location
Edmonton, Canada
My m135 transmission was rebuilt by a large military truck rebuilder and they replaced the 30w transmission oil with gm automatic transmission fluid. This fluid is eating the nos seal they used in the rebuild. What product can I use to flush this fluid out so I can go back to 30w and stop the leaks?
Do you have pictures of that truck?

I was trying to find some info on flushes like kerosene or varsol but the best info I can find suggests dump, re-fill and run. There's a ton of info on mixing atf in your engine and it's scrubbing abilities are the only reason I could find 'not' to put it in the hydramatic. It is mixable however. The atf is known to break down some types of rubber but by this thread it might have just cleaned things for you.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?47056-Tranny-fluid-mystery

"""He said to definitely get the engine oil out of the transmission and put Dexron in it if I wanted it to live. He said the shear and detergent qualities of the engine oil were all wrong for an automatic. The military did it, in his opinion, to keep from complicating the supply lines. I drained the transmission and converter, put Dexron in it and ran it for 500 miles. I then drained it again and put in fresh oil to make sure it was cleaned out by the Dexron"""""

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?47270-m211-plow
""""did not have any problems with tweaked frame, etc. in 15 years of using it. You will have weight lifter's arms after steering it for a long time! Use low range, and I would highly recommend getting the engine oil out of the transmission and going to Dexron."""

and the final word.........

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?17023-Hydramatic-Heaven
""""""As to oil, for over 30 years we have used hy-tran which is the International Harvester hydraulic drive transmission oil. It will not deteriorate the early style clutches. It has a higher sheer factor than Dexron and is more viscosity consistent than motor oil. This is by far the best choice for fluid."""""

Let us know what works!
 

cmpman

Member
85
7
8
Location
Manitoba Canada
I just want to relate my experience with the oils used in the M135Cdn. When I joined the service in 1978, we were pretty much changed on the engine oils, going from the single weight oils (30 in summer, 10 in winter) to 10W30. We ran all the transmissions on straight 10W all year round, although the manual called for 30 in the summer. We just didn't waste the oil and time doing a needless oil change. By about 1982, as a results of the American's success using 15W40, we were directed to use that in all the military pattern engines. It was a little heavy at -20s, but since most of our deuces didn't have heaters anyway, nobody was in a rush to use them at those temps. And when we did, a can of ether and slave cables were the order of the day. We never changed the transmission oil grade though...10 weight summer or winter, and it stayed that way until the last of them left around 1987.

Currently I work for a museum here in Shilo that has a M135 with Dexron in the tranny. Works fine, but it took a bit of work to get the transmission to quit leaking. The oil change was done before I got here or I would have left it with 10w.

Re the 10W oil, the military also used that in the M109 transmissions, and it is also the spec for a host of heavy equipment transmissions in the Department of National Defense. However, I did note, while working in Afghanistan a few years ago, that some of that heavy equipment (the Zedelmeyer loaders for instance) had been changed on refurbishment to use 15W40 in it's transmission as well as for hydraulic fluid.
 

cmpman

Member
85
7
8
Location
Manitoba Canada
The manuals cover what each is meant to do. There is no one "go to" manual. For instance, wrt the topic covered in this thread, I would go to the operators manual (which for the Canadian trucks is CDN-OM9-819A). Even better would be to find a copy of the later Canadian Forces Technical order DU (lubrication orders) for the deuce.

The majority of the manuals are available on line for download, so it's no as if economics prevent you from getting all the volumes. Personally, I prefer the hard copies, so to that end have managed to acquire pretty much all the relevant pubs. Turned out I even had a brand new copy of TM9-8617 which covers the winch and power takeoffs.
 
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