Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

have a 1986 ariens snowblower and the drive does not release fully when the leaver is released.it seems the disk does not move back and forth freely when the leaver is engaged and more importanly when disengaged. what's the best way to free the disk movement and what lube would you use to keep it sliding ? thanks for you help in advance . mike

Check your control cables adjustment.  Sounds like your cable (s) are adjusted too tight.  Make sure nothing is causing the cable to bind.  

it appears to be in the aluminum disc that the drive wheel moves from center to outer edge on. this disc actually is attached to a throwout bearing type bracket and it is suppose to move freely forward and back to engage the friction wheel. when the lever is pressed down the disk is thrown rearward to engage the rubber drive disc. it is not travelling freely and the drive disc drags on the aluminum disc because it doesn't retract all the way to the non drive position which is all the way forward toward the chute.need to know how to lube and what to lube it with? it does not appear to travel no more than an 1/8" which seems normal but it binds in the drive position when the lever is released and the blower still wants to continue forward.there seems to be no good way of accessing to lube .

mkd55 wrote:
The is a common problem for older units in the 924,XXX series where the maintenance might have slipped.



Parts 5 and 8 need to be lubricated so they slide freely.

PK

snowman! what do you recommend to use to lube these parts? they are in real tight quarters and hard to get anything in there! mkd

mkd55 wrote:

White lithium grease  is good for cold weather but all usage grease can do the job. It is very important to grease the unit before storing it in the spring because hot days in the summer drys the grease.

Good Luck

mkd55 wrote:
One of those parts is electroless nickel plated, the other is hard anodized aluminum and there should have been some anti-seize between them. What happens is the anti-seize dries out (not really a good application for anti seize, it's not really a lubricant). Short of taking this thing apart, you'll probably need to use an oil that will penetrate some. Lithium grease would be hard to get in there without taking it apart. I'd try some chain oil or similar. Something to loosen up and provide some fluidity to the dry anti-seize.

PK

I'd recommend a couple drops of Synthetic motor oil.  Draw some up into a long piece of thin tube or hose.   Block the end with your thumb, feed the hose to the desired area and release a few drops, rotate and release some more.  Be careful not to get any oil on the drive components.    

tipped the thrower over onto it's auger housing and took the bottom plate back off. it took me a while to figure out the aluminum disk actually moves towards the rubber friction wheel and how that is accomplished. by standing it on end  it puts the aluminum disk horizontal and i was able to squirt the heck out of the shaft underneath the disk with wd40 and spray nozzle while i took a small pry bar and started working the disk up and down. i put rags on top of the two pulleys that the wd40 would run down on .once a liberal amount of wd 40 washed the shaft so it was working free i put some 5w30 engine oil in a metal squirt can and used that to lubricate the shaft. it would be easier to get at from the top by removing the plastic cover over the belts right behind the discharge chute. the shaft is vertical then but you have some exposed shaft in front of the pulleys to apply some lube. probably wouldn't have to take the bottom cover off that way. can't complain thrower is 21 yrs old and never been lubed there before. i have some carb issues from time to time,seems to be needing adjustments on high mix. setting from year to year and the front auger gearcase leaks out the horizontal auger shafts on both sides.it is the pot metal type housing. does anyone know if it has seals and bushings that can be replaced,how big a job it is,and what type of lube to use.i could not find the ariens lube for it so i put lower gearcase outboard synthetic lube in it. thanks everyone for your help, later mike