"craftsman" MTD snowblower, what gearcase oil?

[SOHCman]

Has the brigs 178cc (?) OHC engine.

At least I think its made by MTD? Anyway, the manual states nothing about the fluid type or interval for the gearcase up front. It was its first season, so I wanted to get the glitter out and use a quality fluid for next season.

 

[johnachak]

Mine has drive belts, no gearcase sorry. For the engine I used Advance Auto 5 w 30 synthetic. Seems to like it. It was cheap enough too. Good luck.

 

[Jeepster_nut]

My crafstman does not have a drain plug, only a fill plug. From what I fished out with a toothpick it looks like some sort of grease.

 

[JTK]

It's grease in there. There's no way to get it out unless you take it apart and wipe it out. No worries, just leave it. I've never heard of an auger worm-gear failure, even on the cheapest of cheapies.

Joel

 

[SOHCman]

Hmmm, maybe I am miscalling it a gearbox? Its sandwiched right in front of the motor and the belt cover that runs the belts down to the drive for the wheels and the auger. I assumed it was a "gearing down" from the engine to the belt pully giving the unit a bit more oomph and slowing down the wheels. I can only find a fill port on the left side of the unit (iirc), its a yellow screw in cap. when you remove it there is some sort of oil inside, looks like you would fill till overflow as it sits low and the factory fill came right up to the bottom of the cap hole.

I have been using Valvoline synpower 5w30 in the engine which has seperate drain and fill (dipstick). Always pulled really easy and started first pull!