BobSmith

Hi everyone--Haven't posted in many years--still have my Ariens 7524E 7.5hp and has provided great service over the years. One issue that I have never really resolved in this machine is the gear case oil level. Early on in its life it seemed to have a gear case seal problem whereas it seemed to leak pretty regularly. When I would go to top it up it would sometimes be nearly empty. Over the years I have paid some attention to it, topping it up with minor squirts of 75-90 gear case oil but rarely doing the full job of a true top up where you fill it to the point where you let it find the level of the screw holes and wait for it to stop dripping and you know it's filled. Somehow I have gotten away with a likely under filled gear case over the years but it has performed well and there's no damage that I am aware of.

This fall I dragged out all of my notes and perused the web, in hope to do things properly. The consensus is, and the manual states, that, yes, you fill up to at least the bottom of the hole or just fill until it leaks out and stops dripping (on level ground), that way you're at the right level when it stops.

I have read from, I believe, Snowmann previous posts that, at least on the 11528 LE, that you should put 4 or 5 inch blocks under the rear wheels to tip it forward, then let it leak and when it stops you have the proper level. This is also backed up by my vendors statement that Ariens had it a bit wrong in the manual and that the level should be at the mid-way point between the axles, which would probably roughly be the level where Snowmann stated with the tip forward leveling technique. I was never sure of a way to get it to the mid-axle level so I just pressed on with what I had always done, which was not a heck of a lot other than very unscientific Fall top-ups. Yeah, pretty dumb.

Questions:

1. I know Snowmann was referring to the 11528 LE re the tip-forward technique; would the same apply to the 7524E? (instructions for the 11528 LE also state to get the oil to at least the bottom of the hole like the 7524's manual, so I suss out it's the same issue of Ariens getting it wrong on the level but not sure if it would also apply to the 7524E.

2. Am I overthinking this? If I simply go by the manual and top to the hole level like I did a couple weeks ago, even if this is possibly overfilling, is it still OK? Can damage be caused by filling it level with the hole? I would bet my life that my recent proper (per the manual) fill up will result in leakage after some intense blowing but I don't know if that would be the result of overfill or bad seals or maybe it just leaks to the proper level then the oil pressure levels out and it stops??...

Any thoughts appreciated!

Jason--I have the Ariens 724 circa 2005 model with the 7.5 Tecumseh OHV engine bought new in 05. I recently experienced the up and down revving engine thing myself. The machine had sat pretty much the whole summer (except for oil change in Aug) with old gas in the tank. When I started it for the first time to do some clearing in early Dec it rev'd up and down. I shut the machine down and waited for about a half hour (shovelling!) and started it again. It ran normally then. I went down to the shop I bought it from and asked them and the guy said it'll do that with old gas because the gas has lost its volatility. He also said to get the highest octane you can and no ethanol in the gas. I went out and got some fresh gas and mixed it with the remaining gas that I had and am kind of gradually getting the old out of there as the new stuff mixes in. It has run fine since. Oxidation is another problem if they haven't been run for a while. I'm curious, as I have essentially the same machine, how your engine is running now. These little machines are tough and it has cleared some rugged EOD that should have been cleared by a much bigger machine, by all rights, but it did it many times over even as undersized as it is.

Hi folks. I have an Ariens 7524 that I bought in Nov 05. I'm performing some maintenance on it and I had a question about grease. I'm not a grease guy so bear with me.

The manual recommends Stens Hi-temp grease for the zerk fittings and other grease points but I can't find it anywhere in Ontario. Canadian Tire sells a "#2 Lithium" grease in a small tube which is more appropriate for the amount of grease involved here and requires a smaller, cheaper grease gun.

Would it be OK to use the #2 Lithium on the Ariens or would I be better advised to get an official hi-temp grease?

Also, is "lithium" grease the standard grease type that is generally used for everyday stuff?

Thanks for any advice!

Bob

Thanks Allan

I talked to my dealer and he said the stuck wheels problem was due to frost getting into the the friction plate area and causing it to freeze to some other part in there--not sure, some rubber part. Said that with the design of the friction drive itself there is a risk of this. Said it wasn't the axle at all so the silicone spraying down there was a waste of time. He also said that the discharge out of the ends of the wheels was grease and water and some rust running out from the grease that is used between the wheel and the axle and that using a lithium grease on the end of season servicing in this area would alleviate the dripping. Said that the inevitable water that gets in that area mixing with the grease as you're blowing causes it to drip. Next time you look at your blower see if there isn't some grayish deposit on the rims of the wheels. I'd be curious to hear. Maybe you have a different grease type that doesn't run. Oh yeah, that pancake thing behind the impeller-I get that a lot, especially if it's heavier wet snow. When I first got the machine it really built up and I got a screaming belt one time when I engaged the impeller. I now religiously run the auger after clearing for a minimum of three minutes and I haven't had the screaming/stuck impeller problem since. The factors that affect this machine the worst for me are a heavy wet clearing followed by a sharp cold snap--everything freezes hard and there is more chance to run into the stuck wheels or frozen impeller.

I think if I had known all this stuff before I would have gotten a larger Ariens or Toro. This is a basically good machine and it has surprised me with the strength of the blow, especially with a heavy snowfall, but it does have running-up-over problems, especially EOD if it's really bad. That's a weight thing though and weighing a hundred pounds less than its bigger siblings is the reason. It works well mostly but I don't have a real warm fuzzy feeling about it. I basically got the machine I could afford and store, plus-wifeability as far as handling it but you do get what you pay for. Regarding the cold-related problems if you have a semi-heated or heated garage I think a lot of these cold issues wouldn't come into play.

hirsch--Just thought I would ask you something else: when you use your 7524, do you notice or have you noticed grease/water dripping from the ends of the wheel bolts, right around the little clasps that bolt the tires to the axle?