Ariens Snowblower Gearcase Oil

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bdleonard

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A friend of mine just got a new Ariens 5520E Snowblower for the season, and I gave him a hand getting it set up. While running through the manufacturer's checklist prior to the first run, I noticed that the auger's aluminum gearcase was dry as a bone.

The manual calls for using Ariens L2 gear lube, and a little bit of research indicates that it is a 90W AGMA 5 gear lube. Not having any on hand, and a large pile of snow in his driveway, we filled it up to the appropriate level with some Mobil 1 75W-90 that he had on the shelf.

My question is, should he be concerned with the Mobil 1? I am unfamiliar with AGMA specs, and the AGMA website (www.agma.org) is a bit overwhelming. Will the Mobil 1 do any harm to the gearcase? Ideally this would be put off until the weather improves a bit, but if its urgent I'll let him know that he should do it soon.
 
Many of the auger drive worm gears on today's snowblowers are just loaded with grease.

Joel
 
Mine sucks in water as it cools after use. When I drain it every year, the oil comes out milky green. The EP additives in the gear lube might be corroding the bronze screw, but I don't think it really matters for something that's used less than 30 hours a year.
 
oilyriser, I am not sure that the green color is from corroded copper (as you seem to be implying). The factory oil I drained out of our Ariens, with just 8-10 hours and a few months time on it was also green.

The milkiness certainly seems to be an indicator of moisture, however. This is why I don't like to treat this application as a life-long fill, only topping off as needed.
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If you read through Arien's list of impossible-to-find alternatives to their L2 lube, you'll see most labelled "EP" as in "Extreme Pressure."

This suggests to me that the oil should have an EP additive ... like molybdenum disulphide (suspended solid form of moly).

Maybe Specialty Formulations has something to fill this bill ... but if I could put anything in these augers that i currently know about, it'd be the middle-weight Red Line Shockproof gear oil.

Does the Mobil 1 gear oil smell like sulfur? If that's the case, I wouldn't use it.
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If he has this stuff in there already, I'd run it for a handful of hours and then dump it replacing it with a non-corrosive oil like Red Line or whatever MolaKule recommends.

--- Bror Jace
 
I remember tracking the old Ariens gearbox thread LAST year!

During the summer I drained out the factory fill gear oil. It was definitely very green, and mine came out clean as a whistle. (5-10hrs on the unit at that time) I replaced it with generic Coastal 75w-90 from autozone I believe.
 
Hey burnout that 'generic' Coastal gear oil is actually pretty good stuff. I suspect they are using a fairly advanced boron-based anti-wear additive package. Safe for extended use (time in the unit).

Isn't it rated GL-3, GL-4 & GL-5? Does it smell like sulfur?
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--- Bror Jace
 
Actually now that you mention it... I think I do remember it being GL-3 4 and 5 rated. I will check next time I'm in the garage and I remember.

It DOES smell TERRIBLE too, I guess you could say sulphur-like. When I got it on my hands once, even after washing them I couldn't get the smell off.
 
I put in fresh Canadian Tire synthetic 75w90, and at the end of the season it also came out pale green, but I don't worry about it anymore. I even looked at the oil under a microscope, and saw the tiny water droplets suspended in there.
 
Often mfg.'s will use a oil/lube with a dye in it at the factory. Makes it easy for them to identify and cut down on the wrong lubes used on the lines.
 
The Mobil 1 definitely had a bit of a sulfur smell to it (in fact Mobil says right on their website that it contains a sulfur-phosphorous additive package). I'm certainly not concerned with the Mobil 1 for the time being, but once we decide on a suitable alternative, I'll suggest that he change it out. I'd love to hear Molakule pipe in with his suggestions, perhaps I'll send him a PM.

- Brad
 
burnout, all gear oils are gonna be at least as smelly as motor oils ... but the sulfur oils smell two to three times nastier than the Coastal gear oil I have. If you could smell them both side-by-side, I think you'd understand what I'm getting at.

--- Bror Jace
 
for something like this i'd use outboard/outdrive gear oil, they do real well at preventing corrosion and still lubricating when mixed with a lot of water. walmart and similar stores usually carry lubrimatic brand oils, 10oz tubes, either 90wt gear oil or 90 hypoid. You can get them at boat stores like west marine, usually for a couple dollars more.
 
For what it is worth - I have an older Ariens machine (1998/99 - 8 hp w/ differential). It uses a more grease like lubricant for the gearcase. I found this out when I purchsed the L2 Ariens gearlube and noticed it had the normal gear oil consistency when compared to what I found in the gear box. An Ariens technician told me my model used a more waxy type lubricant and the L2 was different. He suggested that adding a bit of the L2 might actually mix well with the original lubricant, sort of keeping it from getting to dry, so I added it (I know not real scientific but it sounded good). I noticed a little seepage through the gasket initially, but now it is fine, and when I check the level, things seem okay. I do not know if I accomplished anything but the machine still runs like new. If you have any questions, the Ariens technical help people are very good.
 
In one of the many snowblower threads, you'll see some of the older/cheaper/smaller snowblowers used grease to lubricate the auger's differential.

However, it was discovered at the time that the grease tends to squish off of the gears and ends up on the inside of the case over time and that gear oil does a better job in this application (just like it does in car/truck differentials, etc ...)

I'd say your 'soup' will do a decent job but after I got it good and mixed up, I'd tip the unit up and drain that stuff out of there and replace with all L2 or other high-quality, EP gear oil.

See how "silvery" your used lube looks.

--- Bror Jace
 
Bror Jace - your description was good in that it will ultimately squish off. That is why the Ariens tech suggested adding a little L2 to sort of make it more fluid. Problem I have with going to all L2 is the gear case does not have a gasket meant to contain a more fluid type lubricant. I did ask a lot of questions when I spoke to the Ariens tech, in the end, he said they used this grease type lubricant for a long time and it should hold up well.
 
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