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thorn


Joined: Dec 11, 2009
Points: 21

Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Original Message   Dec 11, 2009 10:19 pm
I just used my 1350 for the first time (bought used about a month ago, but only a year old)... 944.527394 (well the model doesn't show up, but that's the right number - it's a 27 inch OHV B&S 1350 series 305 cc machine) It snowed about 5 inches of snow a couple of days ago and of course I had to deal with the snowplow "droppings" at the end of the driveway. It went through it all pretty good. Good shooting of the snow and no problems with things when I was blowing the snow. I come out to the garage the next morning and I thought 5 or 6 dogs took a leak on my garage door from the pool of yellow liquid I saw. I open up the garage door and see this pool of yellow liquid under the front of the blower and going out and under the garage door. Question, would this be the auger gear oil? It says it takes Ronex ED #1 (Extra Duty) and I think it is yellow in colour, but wow that just baffles me as to how much was there. After that there seemed to be some light green liquid there too. Maybe the other guy coated it with something, but I'm afraid to start the blower for fear of destroying the auger casing. No gas smell and the oil level is perfect at the fill level... Before I start taking things apart, I'd appreciate some input as to what this likely is and what I need to do (new auger gearcase maybe, new auger gasket,) Also good place to get parts in Canada? I see that these are Husky machines, but not sure if Craftsman parts are cheaper than Husky or not. good info in these threads so hoping borat or snowmachine can chime in http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/32378-A-1.html http://www.abbysguide.com/ope/discussions/33989-0-1.html Cheers
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trouts2




Location: Marlboro MA
Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Points: 1328

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #46   Jan 17, 2010 10:11 am

   I think that gearbox has been around for many years and a proven good design. Something fuzzy is going on to cause the wobble.  Installing a top brace might not be such a good idea.  Given the movement, forcing the gearbox to stay in place might wear the internals even faster.  It would want to wabble and can’t so put even greater pressure on the bearings, flanges and internal thrust washers.  

Knee_Biter


Wicked Pissa

Location: just outside of BOSTON
Joined: Dec 14, 2008
Points: 147

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #47   Jan 17, 2010 10:50 am
I have a Honda hs624.  A few years back while cleaning it I noticed that the gearbox could move if I grabbed it and put pressure on it.  I grabbed the fan shaft and was able to move it up and down aprox 1/2".  I thought this was odd as my Ariens is solid .   I then noticed that the newer Honda's had a brace.   Still I gave it not much thought.  Then I came across the Honda OPE service manual on cd rom. 

 While looking through it I noticed some service bulletins and started reading.  Honda had a problem with the auger shafts snapping in 2.  The Ariens uses a solid shaft going straight through the gearbox and augers to the bucket sides. So it is solid and firm. 

 Honda used a small nub as a shaft that only goes a few inches into the augers so there is flex.  After flexing or hitting some solid ice the auger shafts snapped.  Honda would replace the broken shaft,  Add a new gearbox housing with boss holes in the top and add a brace.  All newer Hondas have this brace.  I think flex is bad.  The brace should help him in my opinion.  When his gearbox moves it puts force on the busings, bearing and seals which could cause his leak.

This message was modified Jan 17, 2010 by Knee_Biter


hirschallan


If it aint broke don't fix it !!


Location: Northern Hills of NY
Joined: Aug 25, 2005
Points: 327

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #48   Jan 17, 2010 11:14 am
 KNEE_ BITER wrote: I think flex is bad.  The brace should help him in my opinion.  When his gearbox moves it puts force on the busings, bearing and seals which could cause his leak.


But then again when you hold back a wobbling shaft your putting a definite stress in the gear box at a given point in the revaluation. After some time you will have wear which at some point will give out. My opinion is leave it till after the season without the bracket and when tinker time is available remove each shaft to find the bent one.All you need is one bent shaft some where to get the whole thing wobbling.
This message was modified Jan 17, 2010 by hirschallan


Knee_Biter


Wicked Pissa

Location: just outside of BOSTON
Joined: Dec 14, 2008
Points: 147

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #49   Jan 17, 2010 11:46 am
If the fan shaft is warped and causing the wobble then I agree with you and that should be corrected.  If the shaft is true and the flex is from the force of the power being applied then the brace is the way to go.  I would think that the shafts are true where I see several doing the same thing.  Sounds like a thin wall where the ends of the augers mount,  A shaft that does not go all the way through, And force of power being applied and released causing wobble like the Honda was doing. 
This message was modified Jan 17, 2010 by Knee_Biter


snowmachine


Location: Washington State
Joined: Nov 12, 2008
Points: 268

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #50   Jan 17, 2010 11:59 am
I'll try to take some video today that may capture where some of the residual slop & play is in my blower.

HTTPs://ouppes.com
snowmachine


Location: Washington State
Joined: Nov 12, 2008
Points: 268

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #51   Jan 17, 2010 12:48 pm
Here is video of slop in mine even with bearings---> http://tinyurl.com/yk898xx

HTTPs://ouppes.com
trouts2




Location: Marlboro MA
Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Points: 1328

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #52   Jan 17, 2010 2:45 pm
The camera is bouncing around while you are making the parts move so fuzzy. It might be better to put the camera on a box a feet away the shake the parts.

When the video first starts you push the left rake to the right. The right rakes moves at the same time so the axle is sliding through the gearbox. The gear could be sliding on it’s key which is probably parallel to the axle but is that doubtful. The gear is probably moving the same amount with the axle inside the gearbox. With that much movement inside it would seem there are no or not enough thrust washers to full up the case. It probably has a flange bearing, thrust washer, gear, thrust bearing and flange bearing with lots of spare room. Maybe the gearbox could use an added set of trust washers.

Last week I put together a Snapper drive shaft which was a little unusual than most. The auger pulley is pinned to the drive shaft at a fixed spot. The drive pulley rides on two roller bearings (not pinned) mounted on the drive pulley. To make the distance of the drive pulley come out right so that the friction disk can be brought against it when the clutch is engaged a series of washers are required to bring the drive pulley to the right position. I rebuilt it with to the factory drawing with new parts ordered from Snapper. When put together the clutch at full adjustment could not bring the yoke with the friction disk close enough to meet the drive pulley (on these machines the drive pulley face is the drive plate). After taking it apart, checking the parts and drawings then putting it back to together again the distance was the same and the drive would not work as before. The drawings or parts callout had to be off. I added thrust washers to fill up the void and got drive. That of course bothered me so I brought the whole assembly to the dealer and asked for his view. He said the drawing was off and the parts callout of 4 spacers wrong. In the drawing at least one of the spacers had to be wrong as the spacer called out is for a half inch spacer fitted onto a ¾ section of the shaft (the shaft is stepped ¾ to 1/2). I looked at two other close model drawings that use the same shaft and pulleys and they had different spacer and thrust bearing callouts. I know the thickness of those parts and think those drawings are off also. It’s not impossible for drawings to be off in important areas.

That might account for the slop left and right on your machine. Possibly the gearbox got built to a drawing with an error. You might need two thrust washers on each side of the gear or a thicker washer. The gear could be wrong, not thick enough or made without a sholder. Who knows, it could be many things. When you moved the drive shaft left and right the back end by the impeller is somewhat fixed but the parts inside holding the spiral have to have enough play to allow the gearbox to move, i.e. the drive shaft at the spiral end inside the case. The drive shaft flange and the front flange are not tight enough to prevent that movement. It’s either a poor fit or they are now worn allowing that movement. It could be a too small diameter spriral.

As mentioned above the axle movement seems to be allowed because it’s too short or not pinned to better tightness. Some slop is expected. The rakes move on the pins but that’s usual also. It seems like the intake area has a few factory build or design problems. Since they handed you a lemon I’d hand them back some broken parts just before the 5th season started and your warrantee was up.

This message was modified Jan 17, 2010 by trouts2
snowmachine


Location: Washington State
Joined: Nov 12, 2008
Points: 268

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #53   Jan 17, 2010 3:34 pm
Thanks for info. We'll see where things stand at year 4.... so I plan to just run it until then. Here is parts breakout of that gear case.

http://tinyurl.com/ykvyl8s

Sorry about camera shakiness... I was using my iPhone.

This message was modified Jan 17, 2010 by snowmachine


HTTPs://ouppes.com
trouts2




Location: Marlboro MA
Joined: Dec 8, 2007
Points: 1328

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #54   Jan 17, 2010 5:42 pm
   The gearbox has the usual parts nothing weird in there and basic. 

    The auger support bearing is a flange bearing not a roller bearing which is unusual these days.  It's held on with two bolts which might be better with three or four which is industry standard.   

   There should be no impeller wiggle if you grab the drive shaft at the impeller and try to move the shaft.  If it moves then two flange support bolts may be loose. 

snowmachine


Location: Washington State
Joined: Nov 12, 2008
Points: 268

Re: Craftsman 1350 Series - Leaking something yellow under the front
Reply #55   Jan 17, 2010 8:11 pm
trouts2 wrote:
Since they handed you a lemon I’d hand them back some broken parts just before the 5th season started and your warrantee was up.


She might be a lemon but it sounds like the whole family is dysfunctional... even the estranged Husqvarna and Poulan cousins. :-) I still have a lot of fun with her though. I'll probably pull the auger pulley off in the spring to check on those flange support bolts.

HTTPs://ouppes.com
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