Doing an oil change on a H-12 Electric transaxle

[pedrocr]

Hi everyone,

I've bought a used Toro Workman e2050 and am very happy with it. It has enough torque to climb our steep paths and carry quite large loads. I've already started customizing it by doing a LED conversion on the headlamps (I'd post a link but I'm a new user and it seems that's not allowed yet).

I wanted to do an oil change to the transaxle. The cart has a Spicer Model 12 Electric transaxle. I'm looking for help with two things:

First the procedure itself. The car service manual points to the service manual of the transaxle for reference and I haven't been able to find it anywhere online. If someone happens to have the PDF I'd appreciate it. Anyway the procedure seems simple enough. There's a plug in the bottom of the case that I can use to drain it, and another plug on the side that I can use to fill it back up to level. Is there anything special I should be looking for?

Second is the problem of selecting the oil itself. Just about the only thing the service manual says is that the transaxle takes 2 quarts of 10W-30 motor oil. I'm having a hard time sourcing that, it seems it's a rare oil these days, at least here in Europe. Could I just replace it with 5W30 or 10W40 (both very easy to find)? What's the ideal replacement? Should I also be looking for a non-detergent oil since it's not filtered or is normal motor oil ok and I should just replace it frequently enough?

Thanks in advance,

Pedro

[pedrocr]

I've now done an oil change with a 10w40 oil. It has the same viscosity when cold as the 10w30 and will have a bit more when hot so should be alright.

I drained roughly 1 liter from the differential and was able to put back about a liter as well. The fill plug is a bit hard to use. The cart has a hose attached to the vent hole so I should be able to use that instead.

The doubt I have right now is if I need to fill it more. The service manual seems to say the specification is 2 quarts (1.9 liters). If that's true I've only left it half full which can't be good.