I was changing my shock springs today and noticed that there was oil on the top of my rear skid plate. I hav'nt seen any oil leaking from the machine onto the garage floor, so I guess its not leaking a lot. But...is this a common problem, whats the fix, and what do I put in to replace it? I don't even know what kind of fluid is in that rear differential (which is what I assume its coming from). The machine is off warranty and only has 30 hrs/125 miles on it. It was only used easy for icefishing until I started plowing snow a couple weeks ago, but its seen some hard use in the past 8 hours of the meter.....is this from an overheat situation from being worked too hard?

 

Chances are that it is not engine oil back there. If it is coming from your diff or final drive it will be 80/90 Gear Oil. One way to tell would be to smell it, gear oil smells bad, kind of a heavy industrial smell, you'll know if you try it. If its on top of the skidplate, check your axles where they enter the final drive and make sure they are all the way in. Feel underneath the dustplates next to the final drive for seepage. I have had the rear axles on my 04 Grizzly pop out which in turn causes gear oil to leak out onto the skidplate. Hopefully this isn't the situation with your machine.
Let us know how you make out.

 

Yea, it smells like diff oil....but does'nt smell burned like when it comes out the rear end of a car. I can see that it is not coming from the axles, but I'm gonna have to pull the wheel and skid pan off it tomorrow and find out where this is coming from. Is it ok to switch that final drive over to synthetic 90 weight....like in a boat outdrive?

 

The gear oil has to be Hypoid type. I've never seen synthetic Hypoid oil, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist but if it doesn't say Hypoid on the bottle don't use it.

 

OK...thanks Daniel. I'm anxious to get under that tomorrow and find out what's going on .......

 

I still can't find the source of this leak....I'm wondering if maybe the dealer spilled the excess oil when they filled the final drive prior to me picking it up when it was new. Would this be a plausible? I guess what I mean to ask is .....does the dealer fill the final drive with fluid before delivery to the customer, or is that done by the manufacturer at assembly?

 

Make sure that you breather tube didn't fall off. If it has that could be where the oil is coming from.

 

thanks sparky...I'll add that to the list of things to look for. I did'nt get anything done today....stupid football games....duh......

 

We found the same thing with my brothers new Kodiak 450 (oil on the skidplate). He took it down to get it serviced and it turned out to be the seal where the axel comes out of the housing, it had gone bad for some reason, his was covered under warranty, but they said it would of been a $100 job.

 

My rear seal is also leaking. It sounds just like what you described. I noticed it cause where it leaks from attracts and hold dirt. Guess I know what my winter project is going to be.