Chaincase lube

chsdaddy · Nov 26, 2008

I looked around for a little while and there are a lot of people using a lot of different stuff in their chaincases with no problem. No AC dealer is close by and I have at my disposal: ATF, Transmission Fluid (90w and synthetic), motor oil (20-50W), Delo 400, and lower unti Lube for an outboard.
04' MC 800, clutched for 9000+ 144 2'' track

What is most like what is specified in the manual as Arctic Cat Transmission Lube PN 0636-817?

SpeedRacer8888 · Nov 26, 2008

I have always used marine grade gear lube in my chaincase. Never have had any problems.

flying pig · Nov 26, 2008

we've used hydraulic oil, hydrual 56.

onlyrotax · Nov 26, 2008

Synthetic 5w30 motor oil, ATF, synthetic gear lube, about anything will probably work, when I use up my stash of overpriced chaincase oil I will probably start using 5w30 Mobil I because that's what I keep around for my vehicles.

chsdaddy · Nov 26, 2008

Yeah I kinda figured the AC stuff was nothing special. Probably go witht he lower unit gear lube.

farwest · Nov 26, 2008

I was stuck last year with only 80w90 gear oil .Stuck it in intending to test and change.I forgot about it till this year and can see no problem when I changed it out.:beer;

BradT · Nov 26, 2008

The difference with the chain case oil is that it has better clinging agents in it, I've used 5-30 with a little Lucas oil stabalizer in it. You could even put a bit of STP in it. Just so the oil rides up on the chain to the top sproket instead of just splashing around. Just my .02

76FOMOCO · Nov 26, 2008

80-90w gear oil. cheep and easy to get and holds up well.

volcano buster · Nov 26, 2008

I've used 80w-90, but I believe it to be too thick until it has time to warm up and thin out. It sucked at about 0° and the track wouldn't hardly turn due to the oil. I believe it would take more HP to turn the thicker oil as well.

I use ATF with no obvious problems.

What about chainsaw bar oil, winter blend? It is sticky tacky stuff, surely that would ride up the chain and stick to everything inside. Remember to buy it in the fall/winter to get the thinner blend. It is either cheap or you know someone that has a gallong laying around.

VB

mobsled · Nov 26, 2008

If you can sift it through a dirty T-shirt it will probably work. I use 5w-30 mobile1 myself. if I dont have a new quart I drain some out of my saturn. I would rather have my chaincase full than the saturn.

onlyrotax · Nov 26, 2008

76FOMOCO said:
80-90w gear oil. cheep and easy to get and holds up well.

Doesn't the 80-90 get kind of thick and stiff when it get below zero ??? I think the newer 75w-90 synthetic would be better, just my .02.

Rprecision · Nov 26, 2008

onlyrotax said:
Doesn't the 80-90 get kind of thick and stiff when it get below zero ??? I think the newer 75w-90 synthetic would be better, just my .02.

Thats what I used, Havent tried it yet though.

The previous post talking about how the track would barely turn becuse of 90W makes no sense. While I agree is is thicker when cold, there are other things on a machine that needs to warm up too. A cold belt eats more HP then chaincase oil!

These chains are like many of the transfer cases out there. In that light next time I will probably use a decent ATF.

donbrown · Nov 26, 2008

ATF fluid.

Use it in vehicle transfer case similar to snowmobile chaincase.

sledhead699 · Nov 26, 2008

yes i been running 75-90 in my DD. and it dosnt seem to get thick in the colder weather. never had a problem.

Coldfinger · Nov 27, 2008

Mobil 1 Syn gear oil 75-90 specs (pour point -50 fahreheit)

Typical Properties

Mobil 1 Synthetic Gear Lubricant LS

SAE Grade 75W-90
Viscosity, ASTM D 445
cSt @ 40ºC 106
cst @ 100ºC 15.2
Viscosity Index, ASTM D 2270 150
Pour Point, ºC, ASTM D 97 -46

1BIGCAT · Nov 27, 2008

Amsoil

Beels · Nov 27, 2008

There's been multiple threads on this. Anyhow, I'd advise against gear lube. Even though the pour point on synthetic gear lubes can be quite low, the oil is too heavy to penetrate the pins on the chain leading to premature wear. Put it this way, how many transfer cases that use chains in automotive applications run gear lube? None that I know of.

I use hydraulic oil because I've always got at least one pail open in the shop. ATF is fine as well. There's no need to overpay for specially branded chaincase lube. I've been running it for years and have never had a chaincase failure.

Coldfinger · Nov 27, 2008

My Toyota Sequoia transfer case requires 75/90 gear oil but I can't say for sure if there is a chain inside.

The Doo synthetic oil for my 99 Summit X is "thicker" than 75/90 gear lube.

Tranny oil seems pretty thin but I heard that is all they used to use back in the early days, but that was when a 500cc sled was considered big.

BigRed118 · Nov 27, 2008

I think this started as a Diamond Drive thread which uses a different oil than the chaincase. The reason to run the specific oil is that is the only oil that held up in Arctic Cats long term tests. The Diamond Drive can turn up to 40,000rpm(quoted from Mike @ BDX). Based on the price of a new Diamond Drive, the A/C or BDX(the same) DD oil is pretty cheap insurance.

Beels · Nov 27, 2008

BigRed118 said:
I think this started as a Diamond Drive thread which uses a different oil than the chaincase. The reason to run the specific oil is that is the only oil that held up in Arctic Cats long term tests. The Diamond Drive can turn up to 40,000rpm(quoted from Mike @ BDX). Based on the price of a new Diamond Drive, the A/C or BDX(the same) DD oil is pretty cheap insurance.

If it is a Diamond Drive, you'd be a fool not to use the spec'd fluid.

Chaincase lube

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