I would like to know the way to fill oil into the gear case in the
auger of a John Deere snow thrower.

I have an old John Deere snow thrower from 1990's that I got from my
father-in-law (who has retired to sunny Florida and doesn't need to
worry about snow any more). The model number is 522. It is a small
dual-stage snow thrower with a 4-stroke engine. I want to get it ready
for the winter.

I am supposed to check the oil level in the gear case in the auger, and
then refill if needed. The part that I don't understand is how I am
supposed to refill the oil into the gear case? According to the
operator manual, there is a small plug in the gear case that I am
supposed to open, and see if there is any oil draining out. If oil
doesn't drain out, this means there is not enough oil, and I should
slowly fill it with oil. But the manual doesn't say exactly how to
refill the oil. I don't see how I can refill the oil because the plug
hole is facing sideway.

I thought only way to refill the oil is to place the snow thrower
sideway in order to have the plug hole facing upward. But I doubt this
because if I needed to place the snow thrower sideway, the manual would
have say so and would have also asked me to drain the fuel from the
fuel tank and all those safty requirement before turning the snow
thrower sideway.

I thought the gear case may have another plug hole for filling oil.
But I cannot find it in the gear case, and I cannot find any info about
this in the manual.

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Since it difficult to reach the fill hole with a funnel you could try
using a small paper cup filled with oil to reach in there and fill it
up. It probly don't hold much oil anyway. Be sure to have the machine
on level ground when doing so. You can fold a sharp crease in the cup
to help direct the oil.

wrote:
I would like to know the way to fill oil into the gear case in the
auger of a John Deere snow thrower.

I have an old John Deere snow thrower from 1990's that I got from my
father-in-law (who has retired to sunny Florida and doesn't need to
worry about snow any more). The model number is 522. It is a small
dual-stage snow thrower with a 4-stroke engine. I want to get it ready
for the winter.

I am supposed to check the oil level in the gear case in the auger, and
then refill if needed. The part that I don't understand is how I am
supposed to refill the oil into the gear case? According to the
operator manual, there is a small plug in the gear case that I am
supposed to open, and see if there is any oil draining out. If oil
doesn't drain out, this means there is not enough oil, and I should
slowly fill it with oil. But the manual doesn't say exactly how to
refill the oil. I don't see how I can refill the oil because the plug
hole is facing sideway.

I thought only way to refill the oil is to place the snow thrower
sideway in order to have the plug hole facing upward. But I doubt this
because if I needed to place the snow thrower sideway, the manual would
have say so and would have also asked me to drain the fuel from the
fuel tank and all those safty requirement before turning the snow
thrower sideway.

I thought the gear case may have another plug hole for filling oil.
But I cannot find it in the gear case, and I cannot find any info about
this in the manual.

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan


use a funnel with a hose on it, or a suction gun.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I would like to know the way to fill oil into the gear case in the auger
of a John Deere snow thrower.

snip

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan




use a funnel with a hose on it, or a suction gun.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

To expand on Nate's suggestion, there are a couple of options. The funnel
and hose are spot on so I'll just add these suggestions; Get thee to a
dollar store for a stack of funnels of different sizes, then go to a home
supply store and buy 16-18" of vinyl tubing (sold by the foot). Pre-measure
how much will be required to make your tsk tolerable. You will need to
force the correct size tubing on the end of the funnel so take the funnel
with you as well as the knowledge of the size of the hole in the case. That
way you can use the largest hose for ease of filling. Be careful that the
hose isn't too tight a fit or there might be an issue whichisn't worth the
hassle. Pour your room-temp (house temp, not garage temp) very slowly and
be sure to have rags under the crankcase for the inevitable overflow.

My second suggestion was to replace the funnel with a dollar-store turkey
baster. Draw oil into the baster with the hose already attached. Cover the
end of the tubing with your finger as you pull it out of the oil so that you
can capture as much as possible and prevent drips. Now, feed the tubing
into the hole and squeeze veeeery gently.

That should do it. I changed the gear oil in my garden tractor and had this
issue when I found the fill hole to be beneath the seat and fender. The
funnel trick worked great.

Nate Nagel wrote:
wrote:
I would like to know the way to fill oil into the gear case in the
auger of a John Deere snow thrower.

I have an old John Deere snow thrower from 1990's that I got from my
father-in-law (who has retired to sunny Florida and doesn't need to
worry about snow any more). The model number is 522. It is a small
dual-stage snow thrower with a 4-stroke engine. I want to get it ready
for the winter.

I am supposed to check the oil level in the gear case in the auger, and
then refill if needed. The part that I don't understand is how I am
supposed to refill the oil into the gear case? According to the
operator manual, there is a small plug in the gear case that I am
supposed to open, and see if there is any oil draining out. If oil
doesn't drain out, this means there is not enough oil, and I should
slowly fill it with oil. But the manual doesn't say exactly how to
refill the oil. I don't see how I can refill the oil because the plug
hole is facing sideway.

I thought only way to refill the oil is to place the snow thrower
sideway in order to have the plug hole facing upward. But I doubt this
because if I needed to place the snow thrower sideway, the manual would
have say so and would have also asked me to drain the fuel from the
fuel tank and all those safty requirement before turning the snow
thrower sideway.

I thought the gear case may have another plug hole for filling oil.
But I cannot find it in the gear case, and I cannot find any info about
this in the manual.

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan


use a funnel with a hose on it, or a suction gun.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

Thanks for the idea, especially the suction gun. I will go to a home
center to see if I can find it.

Jay Chan

wrote:
Nate Nagel wrote:

wrote:

I would like to know the way to fill oil into the gear case in the
auger of a John Deere snow thrower.

I have an old John Deere snow thrower from 1990's that I got from my
father-in-law (who has retired to sunny Florida and doesn't need to
worry about snow any more). The model number is 522. It is a small
dual-stage snow thrower with a 4-stroke engine. I want to get it ready
for the winter.

I am supposed to check the oil level in the gear case in the auger, and
then refill if needed. The part that I don't understand is how I am
supposed to refill the oil into the gear case? According to the
operator manual, there is a small plug in the gear case that I am
supposed to open, and see if there is any oil draining out. If oil
doesn't drain out, this means there is not enough oil, and I should
slowly fill it with oil. But the manual doesn't say exactly how to
refill the oil. I don't see how I can refill the oil because the plug
hole is facing sideway.

I thought only way to refill the oil is to place the snow thrower
sideway in order to have the plug hole facing upward. But I doubt this
because if I needed to place the snow thrower sideway, the manual would
have say so and would have also asked me to drain the fuel from the
fuel tank and all those safty requirement before turning the snow
thrower sideway.

I thought the gear case may have another plug hole for filling oil.
But I cannot find it in the gear case, and I cannot find any info about
this in the manual.

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan


use a funnel with a hose on it, or a suction gun.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel


Thanks for the idea, especially the suction gun. I will go to a home
center to see if I can find it.

Jay Chan


You'll probably have better luck at an auto parts store, although the
last one I bought was utter and complete crap. I'd actually appreciate
a lead on where I could get one that actually works without paying
Snap-On prices.

For what you're doing I would probably just get a set of small kitchen
funnels and some clear hose that will fit in the fill hole, and use the
largest funnel whose end will fit inside the hose. It's probably not
worth investing in a suction gun unless you do a lot of under car work.

Another option would be a hand pump that's designed to fit in a gear oil
bottle; I forget which FLAPS I got one of those at but I do find it
handy. The only problem is, I think they're designed for Sta-Lube brand
gear oil bottles and the Redline bottles are a different thread so it's
kind of a PITA if you're a synthetic snob :/

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

C & E wrote:
"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I would like to know the way to fill oil into the gear case in the auger
of a John Deere snow thrower.

snip

Can someone tell me the right way to refill the gear case oil?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Jay Chan




use a funnel with a hose on it, or a suction gun.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

To expand on Nate's suggestion, there are a couple of options. The funnel
and hose are spot on so I'll just add these suggestions; Get thee to a
dollar store for a stack of funnels of different sizes, then go to a home
supply store and buy 16-18" of vinyl tubing (sold by the foot). Pre-measure
how much will be required to make your tsk tolerable. You will need to
force the correct size tubing on the end of the funnel so take the funnel
with you as well as the knowledge of the size of the hole in the case. That
way you can use the largest hose for ease of filling. Be careful that the
hose isn't too tight a fit or there might be an issue whichisn't worth the
hassle. Pour your room-temp (house temp, not garage temp) very slowly and
be sure to have rags under the crankcase for the inevitable overflow.

My second suggestion was to replace the funnel with a dollar-store turkey
baster. Draw oil into the baster with the hose already attached. Cover the
end of the tubing with your finger as you pull it out of the oil so that you
can capture as much as possible and prevent drips. Now, feed the tubing
into the hole and squeeze veeeery gently.

That should do it. I changed the gear oil in my garden tractor and had this
issue when I found the fill hole to be beneath the seat and fender. The
funnel trick worked great.

Thanks for the trick of using a funnel and hose to fill gear case oil.
One thing that I don't understand is how to fit the hose into the plug
hole without having oil leaking out all around the hose. The hose will
have to be a tight fit to the plug hole, right? Do you use some kind
of fitting to secure the hose into the plug hole? Do you just happen
to find a hose with the right size that fits the plug hole?

Jay Chan

Put cardboard under the machine. Add oil until it drains out the plug
hole. Remove hose, replace plug.

You're gonna spill a little. It's a given. All the best mechanics do.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

wrote in message
ps.com...

Thanks for the trick of using a funnel and hose to fill gear case oil.
One thing that I don't understand is how to fit the hose into the plug
hole without having oil leaking out all around the hose. The hose
will
have to be a tight fit to the plug hole, right? Do you use some kind
of fitting to secure the hose into the plug hole? Do you just happen
to find a hose with the right size that fits the plug hole?

Jay Chan

I thought I needed to fill up the entire gear case, and that made me
wondering how I could fill up the entire gear case without leaking all
over the place from the plug hole. Thanks for pointing out that all I
need to do is to fill oil up to the plug hole. This means the hose
doesn't need to be a tight fit, and a slightly undersized hose probably
will work well. OK, I think I am ready to go looking for those items.

Jay Chan

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Put cardboard under the machine. Add oil until it drains out the plug
hole. Remove hose, replace plug.

You're gonna spill a little. It's a given. All the best mechanics do.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

wrote in message
ps.com...

Thanks for the trick of using a funnel and hose to fill gear case oil.
One thing that I don't understand is how to fit the hose into the plug
hole without having oil leaking out all around the hose. The hose
will
have to be a tight fit to the plug hole, right? Do you use some kind
of fitting to secure the hose into the plug hole? Do you just happen
to find a hose with the right size that fits the plug hole?

Jay Chan

Last year's turkey baster may do the job. Sorry about the confusion --
fill to the level of the plug hole. While the machine is level and in
the usual user position.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

wrote in message
ups.com...
I thought I needed to fill up the entire gear case, and that made me
wondering how I could fill up the entire gear case without leaking all
over the place from the plug hole. Thanks for pointing out that all I
need to do is to fill oil up to the plug hole. This means the hose
doesn't need to be a tight fit, and a slightly undersized hose
probably
will work well. OK, I think I am ready to go looking for those items.

Jay Chan

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Put cardboard under the machine. Add oil until it drains out the
plug
hole. Remove hose, replace plug.

You're gonna spill a little. It's a given. All the best mechanics
do.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
.

wrote in message
ps.com...

Thanks for the trick of using a funnel and hose to fill gear case
oil.
One thing that I don't understand is how to fit the hose into the
plug
hole without having oil leaking out all around the hose. The hose
will
have to be a tight fit to the plug hole, right? Do you use some
kind
of fitting to secure the hose into the plug hole? Do you just
happen
to find a hose with the right size that fits the plug hole?

Jay Chan

Thanks for everyone that has replied.

I bought a bottle of gear case oil that has a pointy cap. I could have
cut the tip off the pointy cap, and stick the pointy cap into the plug
hole of the gear case, and sequeeze the oil into the gear case.
Unfortunately, the other objects are very close to the plug hole, and I
cannot position the oil bottle in position. At the end, I bought a
vinyl tub, a 99-cent store small funnel, and a brass fitting to fill
oil into the gear case. Everything is just like what people here had
suggested, and this works out great.

By the way, the gear case was running really low on oil. I am very
glad that I have checked the oil level and had it filled up.

Jay Chan