Will JB Weld or something work?

[Tom7227]

I managed to crack the housing on the gear box for the auger on the snowblower. I know it's not an automotive question but you guys are most likely to know the answer. Can I use JB Weld or something similar to make the repair? The housing is aluminum and the crack is about 1/4 the way around. The housing has lithium grease for the lube and there is virtually no pressure or heat build up. My mistake was to try and use that blue slicone gasket material and so the parts got too crunched up. I figure the gasket was thick enough to not let this happen but the silicone allowed too much compression. Right now there is a gap when I have the piece off but with a light pressure it closes and disappears.

The sort of thing that makes me angry is that the shop misdiagnosed the problem and the dang gears were fine and didn't need to be taken apart in the first place. Of course I can blame my daughter who used regular bolts instead of shear pins and didn't realize that it quit because of a rock and not gears that were boogered up. The replacement gear box costs $110 mail order and so it is getting close to not making sense to do the repair at all and just buy a used machine.

Thanks for your time.

Tom

[merkman]

I would fully trust J B Weld.... it is amazing stuff.

Of couse the prefered fix is a new or used part but sometimes it makes sense to fix what you got.

Fix it with J B Weld untill you can find a used part... if it goes very long without breaking and you not finding a part then let it go...

It cost less than $10 to give it a try.

.

[WalleyeJeff]

I have used it many times to fix things. If it does not flex it should be good. Just follow the temp guide lines and let it completely dry. It may also be fixed by welding/brazing. Talk to a shop in your area.

[harvey lee]

I JB welded a small hole in the gear case on my Chevy pick up. Been over a month with maybe 4,000 miles with no leaks. A good welder could also fix it but that would run a tic more.

If you have the case clean and get it prepped well, the JB weld should cure your issues.

I know many will say, it's a patch job but the patch job will work without breaking the bank.

[Tom7227]

Well the work is in progress. By chance if it doesn't work does anyone know of a snow blower boneyard that may have used parts for sale? Check Ebae and had no luck at all.

[leech~~]

I know one of the guys I rode with on a Dual Sport bike ride last summer put a nice crack in his gear case the first day out and used JB to fix it and it held the rest of the weekend for him. Just make sure you scuff it up well and clean the area with something like Gumout first to help the bond.

[Tom7227]

Well is didn't work for me. Maybe I didn't get things clean enough and it was a very narrow space to get the material into. Cracked and broke when I was hand tightening. I think I managed to not even swear when it happened as I expected it.