Crawling under the D2

Still going through the service/maintenance checklists for my first personal Caterpillar, D2 5U1731.

The other day while draining the tranny, I realized the drain plugs for the steering clutch housings are missing. Is this a bad thing? Or was it common to leave them out?

Have to also share that I was going to get some gear oil while at NAPA yesterday, and it was $80/gal!!! WTF?!!! I asked if I was hallucinating, and was assured that I was not! I quickly decided it was worth shopping around for, and ended up with a 2 gal jug for 40$ from TSC.

Anyway, 5U1731 is running awesome. Pony started on first pull the other day, and the main is smooth. I think I really lucked out with this little tractor. I’ve gotten in a few afternoon sessions of dozing brush and I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of this thing. It’s a gas!

Hi, Potato Wilson.

As I understand it, it was not uncommon to leave those drain plugs out to stop water building up in the steering clutch cases and causing stuck plates. If'n yer worried about it, get plugs to fit the holes, drill small holes in the plugs and put split pins in the holes so that they can move around to help keep the holes clear to facilitate drainage.

Just my 0.02.

you can use the one oil in the transmission and the hydraulics. so that can save you money. also 20lt drums and 200lt drums are the cheap way to buy oil and if kept clean and stored out of the weather it will keep for years.

i use its a caltex/chevron product textrans tdh in the hydrualics and trans on our d4 made for the transmission, hydraulics and differentials on case ih/toft harvesters and most ag tractors. its equivalent of iso68 hydro oil