Frigidaire FEX831FS4 transmission leaked oil. Should I refill? With what

oilrepairwashing-machine

While rebuilding the Frigidaire FEX831FS4 washer's transmission, I did not remake the gasket between both transmission halves. So, for the next few days there was a little bit of oil splattering going on (i kinda wiped the front panel, but it shows how situation looked like).

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My questions are:

  1. Should I bother with refilling transmission with oil? Maybe not worth since the splattering has stopped. But then again I don't know if it is running empty.
  2. If yes, then what oil should I use? 1qt of known right oil costs $94.14 That is way too much I am willing to invest in this old washer. What other oil would work here?
  3. In case I don't refill with oil, do I understand correctly that the worst case scenario here is that transmission would break and seize; And either belt would snap or come of pulley? Opposed to stalling motor, overheating it and possibly starting fire?

Best Answer

Don't buy the correct oil if it's that expensive.

Use a high viscosity automotive gear oil typically used in differentials, and just buy the cheapest one you can find in stock at your local auto parts store.

Buy SAE 140 or SAE 110. Those monograde oils should be the least expensive, but if they have a bad selection or a sale then a multigrade oil like 85W-140 would be fine too. Really anything they have there will work, even if it's a 75W-90. If you already have some gear oil in your garage from changing the differential fluid in your vehicle, then just use it.