Buck 400 oil change

[KeithR]

Can someone tell me how much oil the Buck 400 holds. Also, doe the Buck 400 have an oil filter. I am in the process of changing the oil for the first time.

 

[Mackc]

Owners manual says .34 gallons. There is no oil filter, just a screen that is able to be removed for cleaning after pulling the oil sump plug

The next question may be.....Where in hell is the oil filler cap?

Isn't one you have to pull the hex head bushing and oil dipstick tube to add oil

[jimH]

Isn't the oil fill to left of dip stick and below the exhaust pipe....My question is where is the air filter and how do I get to it?

 

[KentC]

It takes almost 1 1/2 quarts. It has a wet clutch and requires a special oil for ATV and UTV.   I got 3  quarts of  Lucas Oil 10720 from Amazon, enough for 2 oil changes. 

[KentC]

It takes almost 1 1/2 quarts. It has a wet clutch and requires a special oil for ATV and UTV.  By the way,they recommend the first oil change at 25 miles. 
 

 Dild you try the liquid Berliner?  If so, how did it turn out?

[Mackc]

13 hours ago, jimH said:

Isn't the oil fill to left of dip stick and below the exhaust pipe....My question is where is the air filter and how do I get to it?

 

The air filter is in the metal box, with a lid,  on top of the engine kind of beside the battery, inside the frame, raise the cargo bed to get to it.

I think that that white filler plug is for the transmission. Anyone have a more positive answer? 

A local Buck 400 owner said you have to unscrew the dipstick bushing and  his new 400 from TSC came with a wrench that looks like an old timey open top hex spark plug wrench  with a hole in the side to stick a screwdriver thru for a handle.

[jimH]

Thank you for this info...it really helped me out. 

[jimH]

16 hours ago, KentC said:

It takes almost 1 1/2 quarts. It has a wet clutch and requires a special oil for ATV and UTV.  By the way,they recommend the first oil change at 25 miles. 
 

 Dild you try the liquid Berliner?  If so, how did it turn out?

is castrol synthetic blend 10w40 good to use?

 

[Travis]

50 minutes ago, jimH said:

is castrol synthetic blend 10w40 good to use?

 

need to be sure the oil is okay to use with Wet clutches. Valvoline 4 stroke atv/utv oil is for use with wet clutches.

[KentC]

I did a search for recommendations for atv utv oil and selected Lucusoil.  It was $7 a quart when I bought it.  Now Amazon is out and others want $15 a quart. $10 for a oil change on a $6000 utv did not seem excessive. (1 1/2  x $7).  $22.50 is steep.  Do a search and make your own choice what you want to go with. 

[j.fulciniti]

This oil meets the standards and you can pick it up at your local Wally World.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-4-Stroke-ATV-Conventional-10W-40-Motor-Oil-1-Quart/19514362

I did my first oil change on Sunday - way too late (260 miles).    My manual has conflicting info.  Under break in, it says to change the oil after 20 hours or 500 miles.  In the chart, it says 20 hours or 200 miles.  Then I read some posts that say change after the first 25 miles.

It was a bear getting off the drain plug.  Luckily, my buddy is a mechanic and has a lift in his garage.

FYI - take a look at your owners manual in the maintenance schedule.  Be prepared to change your gear oil in the final and differential cases at 20 hr / 200 miles.  We ended up replacing the gear oils in both.  The oil in the final case was funky and had some metal shavings in it.  
 

 

[jimH]

 totally get what you mean regarding the confusion of when and what oil to use. I saw in videos one thing in service manual another. Even the amount of oil differed between videos and manuals. Luckily I changed my oil at 25 miles after break in. I put  Castrol  10w-40 in. It took .34 gallons or 1.36 quarts and it filled it right to the top dot/mark on the dipstick. Yes you need ramps or a lift to get to the drain plug and I find it funny that to fill you need to take out the dipstick assembly. A neighbor had a vac pump to suck out oil. That helped out a lot. Thanks for heads up on the gear oil change. That will be next weekends project..I appreciate you posts and help. Thank you

[KentC]

I did not take the dipstick assembly out. I used a squeeze container like the old ketchup squeeze bottles they use to use in restaurants or the ones in BBQ restaurants.  Took a few minutes, but it was easy. 

[Travis]

1 hour ago, KentC said:

I did not take the dipstick assembly out. I used a squeeze container like the old ketchup squeeze bottles they use to use in restaurants or the ones in BBQ restaurants.  Took a few minutes, but it was easy. 

That's a good idea, i'll have to store that idea for future use for hard  to get to oil fills.

[Mackc]

I did my prep for an oil change this afternoon. I can see where It is better to not pull the dipstick bushing out. The lower gear shifting cable runs close over the bushing , and there isn't room for a box end, or an deep 7/8 socket (I don't have a 7/8"  aircraft sparkplug socket)  I did get the shift cable out of the way and pulled the dipstick bushing  out with a 10 inch Crescent wrench.  I only had to use the wrench to break it loose then unscrewed it by hand.  The bushing is course threaded, hard black plastic and after I got it off saw that a 7/8" open end wrench fits exactly.  I had an old Snap-On 3/4 by 7/8 really thin low torque open end wrench and cut the 3/4 end off and ground down the rather wide  jaws . for a custom fit.  After I run the engine and heat the oil up a bit,  I will use the 12v oil change suction pump to pull out the old oil, rather than try to pull the drain plug,  after I run the engine and heat the oil up a bit.  after I get all of the old oil out I will pour a half a Qt. of new oil in,  My old long tapered ATF funnel is just the right size, then let it sit for a few minutes then suck it out to carry the residual old oil out, Then pour in a Qt of Valvoline 4 stroke ATV/UTV 10W40 in along with the 1/2 Qt.  from the other container, replace the dipstick bushing and check for the oil level.  If it isn't at the full mark I will add more oil and if it is way over full I will suck out some with the oil change pump, it's  small tube does pass thru the dipstick hole okay.

[jimH]

Thank you for this info...it really helped me out. 

[Mackc]

BTW: The manual says "Don't screw the dipstick in to check the oil level after filling with oil" that would make the maximum oil level the length of the threads on the dipstick bushing maybe about less than a 1/4"

Also the owners manual shows that the first oil change should be after 1 month of break in, and then at 500 miles  or more often in dirty conditions and cooler weather, so my read was -"more often is better"

 

[j.fulciniti]

I like the idea of the transfer pump.  That sure would reduce the mess of a drip pan.  Just pump it into an old container.    Those pumps are dirt cheap on Amazon or at Harbor Freight.  I use a battery one to pump gas to my tractor.  I was always spilling from a 5 gal container and 15 bucks changed all that.

SIDE NOTE:  I wonder if this thread could be moved to the Massimo section of the Forum?  There's some good info here.

 

[Mackc]

This is the oil change pump I have: 

ATPTOOL12V 60W Oil Change Pump Extractor, Oil/Diesel Fluid Pump Extractor Scavenge Oil Change Pump Transfer Suction Transf

Sold by: ATP

 

$17.88

[j.fulciniti]

1 hour ago, Mackc said:

This is the oil change pump I have: 

ATPTOOL12V 60W Oil Change Pump Extractor, Oil/Diesel Fluid Pump Extractor Scavenge Oil Change Pump Transfer Suction Transf

Sold by: ATP

 

$17.88

Ha - I did a search earlier and saw that one.  I just put it in my cart.

To be clear, you do not remove the drain plug, you just do that extra 1/2 quart "rinse / remove" to get out any residual.

[Mackc]

On 10/6/2020 at 1:44 PM, j.fulciniti said:

Ha - I did a search earlier and saw that one.  I just put it in my cart.

To be clear, you do not remove the drain plug, you just do that extra 1/2 quart "rinse / remove" to get out any residual.

Yes, I did NOT remove the oil drain plug, and YES, since I didn't remove the drain plug and was going to have a half of a Qt of oil leftover I decided it was prudent to use it as a rinse . (The half of a quart only cost $2.35 )

Well today I buttoned up the Buck 400 after the oil change,   The old oil was really black and  and a little over a quart was sucked out at about 150 degrees F after warming the engine up for 10 minutes. Then I added the 1/2 Qt of oil for the rinse. the engine was still warm and the pump pumped almost all of the 1/2 rinse Quart out.

I did have time for a test ride. I warmed the engine up at an idle for a couple minutes while checking for anything falling off or any leaks, everything is okay, I had a bit of jerking backing out of the shop and then in high gear for a couple of starts and stops then it started smoothing out,  well as  smooth as can can be expected, as the clutch has to have enough RPMs to spin up and engage  the drive. after a half mile ride and a complete stop and start it is doing okay.   the odometer showed 207 and I reckon in the area of 20 to 30 hours before this it's first  oil change.