Filtering Gearbox oil for Reuse

[cobblers]

I know you're gonna call me a tight bastard for this, but I've just swapped gearboxes on my van and the new one is more than likely a baddun - Pops out of reverse for a start, so I'm sticking the old one back on that there was nothing wrong with (I swapped from a 5 speed to a 4 speed simply because 4 speed ones are stronger and cheaper and the 5 speeder is worth MEGAMONEY to the right person)

 

I put 4.5l of nice clean new gearbox oil in this "new" box and don't really fancy tipping it in the used oil bucket for me to only have to buy another £25 worth, so I'm going to drain the box over some kind of filter to make sure no actual chunks of metal get through, then tip it back into the other gearbox that I refit to the van. I was gonna use an old tshirt or a towel or something like that, but it seems to me like there will be a few people on here who are tight enough to have done the same?

[Parky]

Shame to waste a t-shirt! You could always drain it into a bucket and once its settled, slosh a nice strong magnet about to pick up any swarf? Thats how a gearbox normally does it...

[Albert Ross]

Haven't you got a coffee filter machine anywhere???

[sporty-shite]

Haven't you got a coffee filter machine anywhere???

 

Coffee filter in a funnel and pour slowly?

[cobblers]

I tried coffee filters a while back with some gunwash thinners and some and they just blocked up dead quick cos they were so fine - I'd be waiting months for any gearbox oil to filter through under gravity, Which is a shame cos my mate fixes coffee machines for a living so he's got stacks of them.

[Cavcraft]

Haven't you got a coffee filter machine anywhere???

 

Coffee filter in a funnel and pour slowly?

 

I thought he meant making a brew while you waited for the AA.

[HBR]

We reuse oil in tractors a fair bit, if there's nowt wrong with it except some debris you need to remove why not? & in our case we're talking mabye 10 gallons!

A trick I've learned is to syphon it into another container slowly if you have time, let it settle with the container on a sight slope & then syphon with a small tube (mabye windscreen washer tube?) with the pipe at the bottom of the container but at the high side of the slope. If you use a container that's relatively tall & narrow you'll lose less in the waste that cant be syphoned at the bottom.

The flow rate is slow so the muck gets left behind, & if you want it'd be slow enough to let it go through a fine filter as it goes into the second container.

Works well if you can set it up over night & come back in the morning etc. Crap method if you need it now!

[cobblers]

We reuse oil in tractors a fair bit, if there's nowt wrong with it except some debris you need to remove why not? & in our case we're talking mabye 10 gallons!

A trick I've learned is to syphon it into another container slowly if you have time, let it settle with the container on a sight slope & then syphon with a small tube (mabye windscreen washer tube?) with the pipe at the bottom of the container but at the high side of the slope. If you use a container that's relatively tall & narrow you'll lose less in the waste that cant be syphoned at the bottom.

The flow rate is slow so the muck gets left behind, & if you want it'd be slow enough to let it go through a fine filter as it goes into the second container.

Works well if you can set it up over night & come back in the morning etc. Crap method if you need it now!

 

 

Great plan! I'm bound to end up with a gobful of gearbox oil getting it started like.

[michael1703]

Magnet wont remove the bits of phosphur bronze you might have swimming about, you might have a bit of plastic off the speedo drive possibly too

 

wtf is the avatar btw?

[jonny69]

Can't see a problem myself. Gear oil will never in a million years go through a coffee filter in a funnel though, don't waste your time! I'd probably leave it in a container to settle then slowly pour it through a strainer in case any bits jump out. Leave any sediment behind etc. I don't think the little bits will do the box much harm anyway, because whenever I've drained a box there have always been bits of swarf and a bit of gold dust in the oil.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Tea strainer!

[Twiggy]

A pair of lady`s tights will do the job admirably. I`ve used them to filter quite thick varnish in the past.