# Oil Leaked During Shipping



## jjborders (Feb 13, 2016)

Just received my Toro Powermax 826 OXE yesterday. When the box came off the truck I noticed some oil penetrating the cardboard. When I opened the box it was obvious that the box had probably been turned on its side and the oil leaked out of the machine. I haven't taken it out of the box yet because I want to make sure I don't have a problem. In your guys experience is this a matter of cleaning off the machine and adding oil, or should it be returned? 

My guess is that I need to take it out of the box and do a thorough inspection to ensure there's nothing broke and/or cracked.

Thanks,
James


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## Cardo111 (Feb 16, 2015)

jjborders said:


> Just received my Toro Powermax 826 OXE yesterday. When the box came off the truck I noticed some oil penetrating the cardboard. When I opened the box it was obvious that the box had probably been turned on its side and the oil leaked out of the machine. I haven't taken it out of the box yet because I want to make sure I don't have a problem. In your guys experience is this a matter of cleaning off the machine and adding oil, or should it be returned?
> 
> My guess is that I need to take it out of the box and do a thorough inspection to ensure there's nothing broke and/or cracked.
> 
> ...


I had a similar issue with an Ariens Deluxe 28+ special edition I bought, it turned out to be a leaking gear case. As you said it is likely just from being tipped, but you won't know until you investigate further. I don't think it warrants returning the machine at this point. Sometimes the oil leaks out on the cylinder head and will appear to be a leak after the engine runs hot but will disappear after a few uses.

Best of luck with it!


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## mikebby20 (Jan 31, 2016)

Read about this a lot. Happens when unit is tipped. No big deal. 

You gotta let me know what you think of the 826 OXE. I wanted that one and ended up buying 824QXE. Felt like 826 was too big for my townhouse driveway.


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## jjborders (Feb 13, 2016)

mikebby20 said:


> Read about this a lot. Happens when unit is tipped. No big deal.
> 
> You gotta let me know what you think of the 826 OXE. I wanted that one and ended up buying 824QXE. Felt like 826 was too big for my townhouse driveway.


I picked it for the steering assist. Sounded like a nice feature.

There's a Winter Storm Watch for our area so maybe I'll get a chance to fire it up on Monday which means I need to get out and assemble tomorrow.


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## bad69cat (Nov 30, 2015)

I am surprised they ship with oil in them? Didn't think the shipping co's would allow that ...?


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## skutflut (Oct 16, 2015)

Take pictures of the box before you open it, from all angles, in case you have to make a claim. You need approximately 1 zillion photos, because any insurance company will claim that you didn't provide enough. You might also think about calling the shipping company before opening and having their rep come and inspect, and witness the opening so they can't blame it on user error.

It's not that I don't have the utmost confidence and respect for insurance companies and shipping companies, but ..... wait, yes it is because I have no confidence in insurance and shipping companies.


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## jjborders (Feb 13, 2016)

*Update*

So I got out this morning and took care of what assembly was required, and did an inspection to determine if I had any major problems. Looks like the box was tipped on its side and the engine oil came out of the breather tube next to the valve cover. After adding oil and gas, it started the first pull and smoked pretty good as you would imagine. Let it run for about 10 minutes, shut it down, and looked for any other leaks. Nothing found. Good to go. Thanks for everyone's input on this post.

James


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## brickcity (Jan 23, 2014)

bad69cat said:


> I am surprised they ship with oil in them? Didn't think the shipping co's would allow that ...?


my machine came with two owner manuals, one from briggs and one from ariens. the briggs manual states it was shipped with out oil. the ariens manual states it comes with 5w30. mine had oil so I assume briggs shipped it dry to ariens where they put oil in it before shipping


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## Steve G (Jan 23, 2016)

I had a very similar issue with a Toro Powermax 826 OXE that was delivered. Noticed oil penetrating the bottom of the box as well. Everything looked ok, so proceeded to use and halfway thru the snow the auger stopped working. Turns out the auger gearbox sealant had failed causing oil to leak out and seize up. Took to my nearest Toro dealer 2 weeks ago and it was covered under warranty. Definitely check to make sure that gearbox is still sealed and has not failed.


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## jjborders (Feb 13, 2016)

Steve G said:


> I had a very similar issue with a Toro Powermax 826 OXE that was delivered. Noticed oil penetrating the bottom of the box as well. Everything looked ok, so proceeded to use and halfway thru the snow the auger stopped working. Turns out the auger gearbox sealant had failed causing oil to leak out and seize up. Took to my nearest Toro dealer 2 weeks ago and it was covered under warranty. Definitely check to make sure that gearbox is still sealed and has not failed.


Thanks for the heads up. I took a quick look at the gearbox but didn't remove the plug. I'll definitely do that tomorrow.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

I heard they started shipping them with oil in them because, even when they included a quart of oil in the box they had too many people running the engines with no oil...


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## cdestuck (Jan 20, 2013)

Anti-rust option!!


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