gear oil and grease mix

[gwtx]

I have a 15' flex wing shredder that's 2 1/2 yrs old. One of the wing gear boxes(Omni rc130 I think) started getting a bit noisy. At the same time the seal on the center box went out. The gear boxes have a 5yr LIMITED warranty, so I had it picked up by a the nearest dealer(33 miles). They replaced the seal, but the manufacturer of the shredder
would not warranty the gear box saying there's nothing wrong with it.(why is it noisy then?) The whole experience was a nightmare.
Anyway, to keep this from being too long(there is a lot more to the story), I'll get to the question. The rep said "put some heavy oil in it so he won't hear it". They said they would do that, and only charge for the labor. So, I found out in a "round about" way that what they did was put a couple tubes of grease(of some kind) in the box to mix with the oil. I have heard of doing that to try to "get by" until it's convenient to actually fix it. I haven't found out yet what kind of grease, and how much they put in. I ran the machine for about 10 minutes, and then looked in the gearbox. It looked "foamy" to me. It is of course a bit quieter but I'm not sure I like the idea. It will probably make it just barely past the warranty period. What do you guys think? They also tore up the pto/cv shield, and are not yet owning up to it. I don't know if they will even tell me what kind of grease they used. If I don't get better co-operation, I'll get back to the forum with more details, AND NAMES. Maybe help someone else avoid this mess.
Thanks for any comments, and/or advice. Gary

 

[dennyd]

Pretty much the same thing as farmers using cornhead grease in gear boxes that leak, it'll work more than likely for a while anyway for a leak.

But a noisy gearbox might be bearing trouble, I would want it looked at instead of covered up.

 

[flyerdan]

If it's just a bit noisy and not showing excessive play in the shafts or grabbing when you turn it, I'd put in some heavy moly grease and some Power Punch or similar brand gear oil treatment.
Many years ago my dad bought a boat that had an old Scott-Atwater outboard that the lower unit had leaked. The prop shaft and bearings were pitted and rough, he put a new seal and moly oil in and it got smoother the more he ran it.
The grease and STP concoction will flow enough when warm to lubricate everything, but set up like pudding when cool so it all won't leak out. This is pretty much what I do on all angle grinders as they'd otherwise run dry after throwing off the OEM cosmoline.