Grease/lube for self propelled push lawn mower?

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NSG

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My father gave me his Husqvarna 7021r. It's a 9 year old self propelled lawn mower. I am in the process of pretty much making everything new on it. Honestly I have like $200+ in it and it's a fun project. New wheels, pulleys, springs, blade, bearings...etc. All the easy fun stuff that was never changed because he never knew to change that stuff.

I took off the rear tiny transmission. It appears to be a plastic/metal type housing held together by 9 screws and a seal in the middle. I was able to break apart the transmission halves and inside there is grease that is very black/dark. Smells almost like rear diff fluid to me. Not NEARLY as runny. I know this is probably a "lifetime" type of grease as they way the seal was in the middle they probably don't intend for the end user to break it apart.

My first question is what is the best way to fully clean all the grease out? I would normally use brake clean however I know that stuff isn't good on plastic... so what would be best? Just a normal McGuire's degreaser or simple green and spray out with water?

Next would be what type of grease should be used? I have a ton of Timken red wheel bearing grease on hand, and Mobil 1 syn grease. That stuff seems a little too thick though. I read somewhere that someone recommended 00 grease, but I've never used or seen that so I don't know what the consistency is on it.

Should I replace with this:
https://www.amazon.com/Stens-770-123-00-...words=00+grease

Seems like a good grease. Or should I just put the two halves back together and not do anything? Seems weird to not do it considering I've changed just about everything on the mower. A new transmission is $80 but this is completely fine. The axles have a little rust on the outside but internally the plastic gear and metal worm gear are 100% fine. I checked and see zero metal shavings or plastic gears stripped. The grease/oil is just super dark, and looks like to me personally it should be changed for new so that it lasts another 9 years for me...lol

Side Note: I found an old thread indicating that some of these smaller push mower transmissions use bentonite grease but when googling a picture of that stuff it almost appears that it is like peanut butter, and that definitely does not look like what is in this transmission. If I took a picture and posted it tomorrow of what the inside looks like with the grease would that help anyone on what specifically to use?

Thanks,
-Nigel
 
Picture of what the transmission looks like.

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Hope that helps on the outside... probably pretty standard as it's used in a lot of rear wheel drive mowers.

-Nigel
 
I doubt the grease is going to be the early failure point, but yes you should aim closer to 00 grade like the one you linked. The consistency is semi-fluid, just a little too thick to flow like a liquid.

Now that it has been opened, was there a gasket that may need replaced to get a good seal? Mowers can kick up a lot of dust.
 
I'll snap pictures once I get home.

There definitely was a seal, almost like a rtv type of seal that I had to sort of break/snap apart. I could have unscrewed all the screws from the housing and it would have still been held together via the grayish colored seal that was used at the factory. However, when screwing the two halves back together it definitely creates the seal again. Worst case scenario I could always add just a touch of the rtv that I use for my truck diff cover when I do that.

This is going to sound dumb but what is the best way to get the old grease out? Or should I just take a rag/paper towel and scoop the stuff out/wipe it off and squirt new stuff in there? I'd like to get all the old stuff out but worried that something like brake clean would mess up stuff inside especially since the gears are plastic, minus the metal worm type center gear.

Thanks again,
-Nigel
 
I didn't even know it until I bought a Lawnboy for parts and took it apart but the newer two stoke 1990s one that were the last real Lawnboys have grease fittings on the rear drives. Never even knew they were there.
 
Originally Posted By: NSG
... what is the best way to get the old grease out? Or should I just take a rag/paper towel and scoop the stuff out/wipe it off and squirt new stuff in there? I'd like to get all the old stuff out but worried that something like brake clean would mess up stuff inside especially since the gears are plastic, minus the metal worm type center gear.

Thanks again,
-Nigel


Use a piece of cardboard to scoop the bulk out, then dump some gasoline on it and hit it with a toothbrush, more gas, more toothbrush. If you have a larger brush it'll go faster. Particularly, get the gears themselves clean and make sure you get grease into their bushing/bearing support areas.

However, if it has sealed ball bearings, don't use gas. The seals are probably shot and gas getting in could wash the factory grease out of them. In that case I would cover them first or apply gas to other areas sparingly if at all, or of course replace those bearings too because they wear out like anything else.

Keep in mind that old plastic exposed to years of UV can get brittle so no matter how much care you take, it may not last forever. The propulsion system on a push mower is usually the first thing to go if you don't count regular maintenance issues like cleaning or rebuilding the carb.
 
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Appreciate all the info.

I found the manual for the 7021r lawn mower and found something interesting about the gear lube. I've attached the screen shot below.

750534_gear_lube.jpg


I tried searching for that but couldn't find it. I already have the bigger Stens bottle on order so I should get that next week. I couldn't justify spending $8 for a tiny tube for a couple bucks more I will have enough to last a lifetime..lol

Forgot to upload pics of the gear box internals will do that shortly.

-Nigel
 
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Pics of the inside of the gear box. Gears all look good. Not worn at all. Just the grease is super dirty looking/smelly.

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-Nigel
 
Originally Posted By: NSG
Appreciate all the info.

I found the manual for the 7021r lawn mower and found something interesting about the gear lube. I've attached the screen shot below.

750534_gear_lube.jpg


I tried searching for that but couldn't find it. I already have the bigger Stens bottle on order so I should get that next week. I couldn't justify spending $8 for a tiny tube for a couple bucks more I will have enough to last a lifetime..lol

Forgot to upload pics of the gear box internals will do that shortly.


-Nigel



That's just a number 1 grease. Chevron Starplex #1 is what you need if you are doing it by the manual. Chevron bought Texaco years ago. Should be able to buy various brands of #1 grease locally very cheap.

Here is the old Texaco Starplex. http://www.wowtscherk-mineraloele.de/tl_files/pdf/Produkte/StarplexPrem.1.PDSDetailPage.pdf

And here is the Chevron Starplex. https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=323778&docFormat=PDF
 
Yucko. Unless you see water. I would just button that back up. Especially if it worked quietly. My Toro 20622 takes regular black grease at the wheels
 
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