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

Now that I have my new Simplicity on the way, I need to fix my Ariens 8524 so I can figure out what to do with it from there.  Either sell it, or give it to my dad to replace his Craftsman.

I ran it trouble free for 4 seasons.  Broke a shear bolt once or twice, but that was it.  Then at the start of this year, checked fluids and gear oil and lubed, second time out the gears in the auger box stripped out.  Just normal use, didn't hit anything.  Kinda bummed that shear pins didn't go first, but figured that I could replace the parts and be good for a number of more years.

After fixing everything, replacing gears, all else looked good, first time out got 80% done and the gears are stripped again!  So now the simplicity is on the way.  Question is why would these gears strip so  easy?  Why didn't the shear pins go first?  Will it just happen again?

I read some other threads here that seem to indicate this is a problem with this model.  Anyone else find a solution, or will Ariens help in the matter?  The machine is 4 or 5 years old, but even my dads 10 year old craftsman is going strong.  It came from a dealer that is to far away to most likely be much help, but it wasn't Home Depot or Lowes, but still seems like the cheapened model that others say had issues with this.

Picked up replacement parts from the ariens dealer.  Originally the worm gear was steel and the lower one bronze.  The replacements from dealer both looked to be steel, but I'm not 100% on that.  I'll find out when I tear it down again.  I had always kept up with the original gear lube that Ariens uses.  When I replaced the gears the Ariens dealer recommended I instead pack the housing full of white lithium grease, so I did with the tube they gave me.  It was completely full.

pgill-I think the white lithium grease is the culprit. I think that machine calls for a gear lube called Ariens L2. I need to check with my friend who owns the same unit. Gear box lube on snow blowers in my experience needs to be pretty stout stuff. My unit which is not Ariens but is 8HP calls for a 90wt gear lube that is EP rated. EP stands for extreme pressure. In addition if any of the gears are bronze you need to use a gear lube that is GL4 rated. GL5 rated gear lubes have an additive package that cause yellow metal to corode.

Marc

pgil-

Just called my friend who has an 8524. The manual is for models 932104 and 932592. Both are badged 8524. The gear box lubricant called for is Ariens L2 part# 00008000. 

The dealer that told you to use white Lithium was absolutely wrong.

Marc

mml4 wrote:

I'm not arguing with you on this one, you may very well be correct.  In that case I'm kinda burned that an experienced ariens dealer, who has sold and serviced them for years, has told me to use the white lithium that resulted in a quickly stripped gear.  It's not like I listened to them but accidently used the wrong grease, I know what I was using, and they gave it to me.  They said that they frequently do this when they service them as the it won't leak out of the case leaving it dry.

mml4 wrote:

pgil- If you have the manual you should bring it to the dealer,show him what it says, and ask him to at least replace the gears at no charge.

Marc

pgill wrote:
It won't leak out, but it won't lubricate the gears well either. You might as well have packed sand in there if the only point was to keep it from leaking. What NLGI grade was the grease you used? Probably #2, waaay to thick... Probably not EP rated either.

Depending on the year of your machine, you should use 90W EP gear oil GL4 or GL5. Older machines (I forget when the cutoff was, early 90's maybe), and AW00 liquid grease (Mobilith is a good one).

PK

I may be mis understanding, but I have been looking around the internet and the forums here and I am under the impression that my Ariens blower has some close cousins in thier line up that used a better gear case set up.  Anyone have any idea if I can convert to the better one?  Or is there not a better one?

pgil- I have no idea if what you suggest is possible or if there is a "better" gear box. If there is you can bet the conversion is not cost effective.

I don't want to seem harsh but I think you are chasing a problem that isn't there. The replacement gears that striped did so as a result of the white lithium. What grease did you use when you serviced the original gear box that ran ok for the first 4 years? Was it the OEM L2 or a substitute sold by the same mis informing dealer? I really believe that if you inspect the box and replace the gears with the exact part# for your exact machine and use the Ariens L2 lube you won't have continuing problems. 

I am not to comfortable with your statement concerning whether or not the replacement gears were steel or bronze. If the dealer sold you one when it called for the other that could also be a contributing factor. Did you replace both gears or just one? Look at the impeller shaft gear when you disassemble the box and make sure it  is healthy before mating it up to another new gear.

As far as the 8524 being problematic. Remember ,Ariens made a lot of those machines and the ones you read about on the net are the few with problems. The net can give the wrong impression sometimes especially on an issue like this. It's not as obvious as the thickness of a metal chasis etc.I have been servicing the 8524 belonging to my friend which I referenced in an earlier post and that machine has been problem free. I am sure there are many more good ones than problems but you are not going to read about the good ones on the net.

Once again good luck with the new Simplicity and the repair of the 8524,

Marc