HELP! GL90 gear oil in old machine

[53gravely]

Any lube experts out there?
I'm changing the oil in the gearbox of an old (late 60s) Yardman snobird snowblower....kinda sentimental....my Mom, when pregnant with me (I'm turning 40 in March), MADE Dad go out and buy a snowblower, "I'm not getting stuck in a snowstorm in labor"....imagine your wife demanding you buy a power tool! **** Techumseh SnowKing engine still runs strong...but I digress...

The original manual says "GL 90" or "GX 90"can't recall....will the 80-90 I have in the shop suffice?

 

[Diamondpilot]

I think it will be fine. The only place I can remember seeing a straight weight gear oil is in boat outdrives. I have always just used 80W90 in them and never had a problem. You could go to your marina and check but you will pay dearly.

Chris

 

[53gravely]

now that you mention it, I think I have a tube of outboard stuff. Thanks Diamond!!!!

Happy New Year!

 

[DieselPower]

The GL is a API gear oil rating, very similar to the API system used for engine oils. Most modern gear oils meet both GL-4 and GL-5 API requirements. As far as "GX" rated oil, I can't say I have ever heard of that spec. Using a multi-viscosity oil such as 80W/90 should be fine for your application. Not knowing if there are any yellow metals in your gear box I would make sure the gear oil you use is rated GL-4 (a yellow metal safe gear oil).

 

[Old Iron]

Any lube experts out there?
I'm changing the oil in the gearbox of an old (late 60s) Yardman snobird snowblower....kinda sentimental....my Mom, when pregnant with me (I'm turning 40 in March), MADE Dad go out and buy a snowblower, "I'm not getting stuck in a snowstorm in labor"....imagine your wife demanding you buy a power tool! **** Techumseh SnowKing engine still runs strong...but I digress...

The original manual says "GL 90" or "GX 90"can't recall....will the 80-90 I have in the shop suffice?

G stands for Gear and L stands for Lube, GL 90 is a straight cut oil (90 weight) you can use the muti viscosities ie 80-90 but keep in mind the new gear lubes have detergents and if there is a lot of contaminants in your gearbox, they become part of the lubricant and will wear out your gears all that much faster.
DO NOT use the boat drive lube as it does NOT have the W after it and is not designed to be used in winter. Depending on where you live this could be catastrophic as your gears will not be lubed until the case warms up if the temperature is much below freezing unless you keep it in a heated garage before you snowblow
The correct oil should read GL 90W. Walmart has it.
Hope this helps, if you follow it you should get another 40 years out of it and have more time for making babies instead of rebuilding snowblowers.

 

[Old Iron]

Any lube experts out there?
I'm changing the oil in the gearbox of an old (late 60s) Yardman snobird snowblower....kinda sentimental....my Mom, when pregnant with me (I'm turning 40 in March), MADE Dad go out and buy a snowblower, "I'm not getting stuck in a snowstorm in labor"....imagine your wife demanding you buy a power tool! **** Techumseh SnowKing engine still runs strong...but I digress...

The original manual says "GL 90" or "GX 90"can't recall....will the 80-90 I have in the shop suffice?

G stands for Gear and L stands for Lube, GL 90 is a straight cut oil (90 weight) you can use the muti viscosities ie 80-90 but keep in mind the new gear lubes have detergents and if there is a lot of contaminants in your gearbox, they become part of the lubricant and will wear out your gears all that much faster.
DO NOT use the boat drive lube as it does NOT have the W after it and is not designed to be used in winter. Depending on where you live this could be catastrophic as your gears will not be lubed until the case warms up if the temperature is much below freezing unless you keep it in a heated garage before you snowblow
The correct oil should read GL 90W. Walmart has it.
Hope this helps, if you follow it you should get another 40 years out of it and have more time for making babies instead of rebuilding snowblowers.

 

[Soundguy]

You can get 90w gl-1 oil at napa.. 65-205 for a 5g pail, or 65-201 for a 1g jug.

If you would like more like a gl-3 90w.. you can go to TSC and buy the 'for ford 1939-1952' oil in the 2g jug or 5g buckets.

Fords of that era have lots yellow metal in their rear sump... thus the low rated oil..

Penzoil and castrol both have a 'gearplus' lube that is 80w90 and yellow metal safe.

here is one of their pdf's..

soundguy