My K45SS is leaking some kind of oil or grease from the part of the mixer above where the mixer part attaches. It otherwise seems to be functioning fine.

The grease leaking out of the KitchenAid mixer can be a common problem. Here is the cause, and how to fix it, and prevent this issue from happening in the future.

The KitchenAid mixers use a Benalene 930-2 grease inside of them. It is a dark, thick grease that can break down and leak out of the mixer. The grease is a non-toxic vegetable based grease, basically it is a food grade grease. Over time, or if you do not use your mixer often the grease can break down, so it would appear that there is oil leaking from the mixer. It is most common for it to leak from the beater shaft (agitator shaft) and from the drip ring.

What you need to do is take the mixer apart, clean out all of the old grease, replace it with about 6 ounces of new food grade grease (http://www.mendingshed.com/kagrease.html). It is also recommended that your replace the o-ring on the center shaft (http://www.mendingshed.com/67500-55.html) and the gearbox gasket (http://www.mendingshed.com/mixergasket.html).

To prevent the grease from breaking down in the future if you do not use the mixer very often, it is recommended that you pull the mixer out and run it for about 2 minutes every 3-4 weeks, this should stop the grease from breaking down as quickly.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

This applies to mixer models, K45, K45SS, KSM75, KSM90, KSM103, KSM110, KSM150, KSM151, KSM152, K5, K5A, K5SS, KSM5, KSM50P, KP50 AND KPM5

Thank you,

Colleen
Customer Service
MendingShed.com
[email protected]
800-339-9297

Hiya,

I am sorry to hear you are having an issue with your machine! To solve this problem, you will need to remove the drip ring from your mixer and give it a good clean, this should stop the grease leaking.

I hope this helps you! :)

It's not oil, it's grease. Here is a very detailed article on how to add grease to the mixer. After you have added some new grease and tightened the screws it will stop leaking. The temporary fix is to simply remove the chrome ring as is done in the picture on the attached link, clean out the oil and stick it back on till it fills up again. It is called a drip ring for the reason that it catches the oil component of the grease which drips from the gasket when the screws loosen:
http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/discussions/kitchen-aid.htm

The oil that is "oozing" is actually grease. If it is laying on its side the grease will leak out but isn't really an issue. If it is leaking while the machine is right side up, it usually means you have a problem with the seal. When it comes to the spring not bending allowing the attachments to lock onto the shaft, that is a bizarre problem as the spring is just tension and isn't internally attached to anything inside the machine. If you want you can replace the planetary gear but that seems a bit drastic just for the spring. We usually recommend 1800Parts for parts and accessories because they carry EVERYTHING! So the seal they might have but I would bring the machine to someone to look at the planetary gear to make sure everything is in working order. If you are in New York you can bring it to us.

the gearcase grease and housing gasket needs replacement. this will require alot of disassembly and the use of kitchen aid specific grease.

gear grease is kitchen aid specific; sold by the can though a KA part supplier. while you're at it, replace the gear housing gasket as well.

It's not oil, it's grease. Here is a very detailed article on how to add grease to the mixer. After you have added some new grease and tightened the screws it will stop leaking. The temporary fix is to simply remove the chrome ring as is done in the picture on the attached link, clean out the oil and stick it back on till it fills up again. It is called a drip ring for the reason that it catches the oil component of the grease which drips from the gasket when the screws loosen:

http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/discussions/kitchen-aid.htm

Carefully pry the chrome ring from the gearhead of the mixer. Item 28 on this page :

http://shared.whirlpoolcorp.com/assets/pdfs/literature/Repair%20Part%20List%20-%208212369.pdf



You will find 5 screws under the chrome ring. Tighten them and the oil (grease) will stop leaking from the gasket which seals the gearcase halves.

Firstly I would take the head apart to find out what has failed. The oil you see should be a thick grease. Normally it is thick enough not to leak in this way. Has it been repaired and the wrong grease used? If it is making a funny noise it could be that one of the gears has failed. Most parts are easily available. Have a look at the parts list at:
http://shared.whirlpoolcorp.com/assets/pdfs/literature/Repair%20Part%20List%20-%208212369.pdf

I went to Kitchen Aid'sKitchen Aid's web site and had an on line chat with a tect support person name Jessica. She told me that if the mixer is not used a small of oil will leak out. to fix the problem you must run the mixer for a few minutes every month or so. This seems to work.
Rick