Oil viscosity question for the room

[ReBob]

I've got a '97 1845C with ~2,400 hours on it, I got it in '01 with <700 hours. Minor repairs since then (hoses mainly, and all the hydraulic ram seals fell apart in the last several years) except for rebuilding the injector pump. It still runs fine and I use it mostly for hauling firewood out of the forest and trying to keep roads scraped somewhat smooth. I've noticed that it seems like it doesn't have quite the hydraulic power it used to, lifting capacity, etc. but this is mostly just gut-feel and completely subjective, and seems most noticeable when it heats up. The manual says (and I've always used) 10W-30 motor oil with the HTO additive. A number of years ago I bought some old and well used maintenance manual material and I noticed that in one section it specified 10W-40 with HTO. A friend that operated a big Cat skid steer for forest mulching has a big auxiliary oil cooler on top of his rig and when I asked him he said that the aux cooler made a big difference in his perceived hydraulic power. I'm wondering if I should switch to the 10W-40 to see if that helps my power loss issue, but I'm concerned about voiding the warranty (just kidding). Any thoughts on this idea?

 

[brdgbldr]

I've got a '97 1845C with ~2,400 hours on it, I got it in '01 with <700 hours. Minor repairs since then (hoses mainly, and all the hydraulic ram seals fell apart in the last several years) except for rebuilding the injector pump. It still runs fine and I use it mostly for hauling firewood out of the forest and trying to keep roads scraped somewhat smooth. I've noticed that it seems like it doesn't have quite the hydraulic power it used to, lifting capacity, etc. but this is mostly just gut-feel and completely subjective, and seems most noticeable when it heats up. The manual says (and I've always used) 10W-30 motor oil with the HTO additive. A number of years ago I bought some old and well used maintenance manual material and I noticed that in one section it specified 10W-40 with HTO. A friend that operated a big Cat skid steer for forest mulching has a big auxiliary oil cooler on top of his rig and when I asked him he said that the aux cooler made a big difference in his perceived hydraulic power. I'm wondering if I should switch to the 10W-40 to see if that helps my power loss issue, but I'm concerned about voiding the warranty (just kidding). Any thoughts on this idea?

It all depends on if you are running in a warm or cold climate. I know some owners that have to go with a thinner oil in winter and then change to a thicker oil in summer due to the huge temperature change. Car manuals usually have a graph so you can pick the closest viscosity range to your year around climate but that is normally not the case for heavy equipment.

Personally, if I was working in a warmer than normal area and I noticed a big change in performance I would try a higher viscosity oil but only if it was a big difference in performance and I was planning on doing a lot of work in that warm weather.

The problem is that you can never fully change the oil in a hydraulic system so you may not really notice a change in performance until after several oil changes.

 

[mrbb]

I agree, you will never drain all the old fluid out and just mixing things, isn't going IMO net you any noticeable difference
changing oil and getting more power, is IMO more a advertisement trying to make sales than anything real

if youir machine is showing signs of lower power, be in in general or to just implements

maybe you need to change the hydraulic filter/'s and maybe a few times,
as if you have older dirty fluid,. it can cause flow restrictions, and a filter will only do so much!
even a lightly used machine can get water in its system from condensation, which will also dilute the fluid, causing it to perform differently than fresh new fluid would

next IMO< would be how clean is your air filter, lack of air flow, lessens power as well
over time again, mice build nests in air filter housings, filters themself just get dirty and need cleaning or replacing

after this stuff, compression tests, come to ind, as since you haven;'t owned this machine since new to know its REAL full history,
hours alone will never tell the true story of how well it was cared for or used,
lot's of bad owner/operators out there that don't value machines as many others do and as such, engine damage can occur at almost any time hour on a gauge!
1997 was a long time ago, so how again knows what all or not was maybe done or not done!

NOT saying you have engine issues, just saying, I highly doubt switching oil weights will net you any noticeable gains here, but clean air filter furl filter hydraulic filters all MIGHT or IMO more so over changing oil weight! unless again working in extreme temps be then high or low!