brcathy

Thanks for your fast reply! I totally understand where you are coming from with the concentricity issue. I recently replaced the gears and rebuilt the case with on my 23 year old machine and it definitely was not concentric where the shaft exited the box. In fact, I had seen some of your earlier threads on the old cases and I brought my case parts into the machine shop at work and asked the machinist to face the surfaces and make them more true. The new bushings fit better and the entire mechanism seemed to go together very easily. I could not get the Mobil Monolith grease, so I installed new rake shaft seals and main shaft o-ring and used permatex in conjunction with the paper gasket on the halves. I switched that machine to the L-2 lubricant - it seeps out the back a little, but considering the age of the machine, I don't find it to be an issue.

I will take your suggestion to lower the oil level on the 11528. I much prefer that to doing an R & R on the front end. Although my Dealer is good, I know from experience that factory assembly is almost always best!

Thanks for your assistance!

Bryan

I am hoping that Snowmann can give me some advice. I recently purchased a brand new 11528 Snow Thro from a local dealer to replace my 23 year old ST724 (which STILL runs!). I have used the machine twice now and I am seeing gear case oil leak from the main shaft seal on the rear of the auger gear case. The funny thing is that the first time I used it nothing leaked and the second time it leaked AFTER I parked it for a day. So, when I noticed the leak, I used a rag and completely cleaned off the gear case so that I could see where the oil was coming from. Nothing leaked out for several days, but I noticed a puddle under the machine again today, and I checked it out with a mirror and discovered that the oil had come out of the main shaft seal. I checked the oil level and it was within range, but below the Full level.

I haven't run the machine for a couple weeks now, so I am wondering how the fluid is getting up there to leak out. And I am wondering if this is a common problem?? Can I use a thicker oil (like synthetic 80-90W)? Do the PRO units have the same sealing technique? If the PRO units seal better, then I will definitely trade.

The part that disspoints me about this is I bought a new machine so I wouldn't have problems like I did with my old one every winter. If I take this in for service, my fear is that I will have a new machine that has been rebuilt - not much better than what I already had.

Any advice you could forward would be appreciated!

Bryan