Actually, the mixer was right side up, with the tongue in the air, when I unbolted the cover. I put a layer of paper and cardboard underneath to catch most of the spill. No plug on the bottom side, and reaching the plug on top under the tank would be very difficult without removing the tank. We turned it over for accessibility for cleaning, and for filling.
The mixer was working fine even with the water in it, but of course there is no way to determine how long water was leaking.
If you open it and find water in the oil, then that indicates that the seal is really gone since it leaked water since late September. That leaves you with two choices - replace the seal or just keep going with the water in it. Replacing the seal is not an easy task and might be (probably) more difficult than just replacing the whole differential, if you can even find the right seal. Personally I would ignore. My mixer ran for seven years with water in it, and I finally replaced the differential last fall for another problem, not related to water in the oil.
If you do decide to check the oil, this time turn it over first and you can open the cover to look without much leaking out. It would be interesting, though a lot of work, to check again after the first load to see how fast new oil becomes contaminated.
spaceman All opinions expressed or implied are subject to change without notice upon receipt of new information.
On 4/11/2010 7:59 PM, Ron Richter wrote:
Judith,
Probably not. You did that so it wouldn't spew oil all over the ground when the cover was unbolted from the differential. Actually if you don't have vents or plugs to fill it with you may be relegated to doing that again and filling it with oil from the HUGE hole you'll have in the side. At least you'll know if there is any water in there either way 1. drain the oil either way. Then fill with fresh through the plug holes or if necessary the differential cover (bolted on).
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