Oil leaking from top of kenwood

Your mixer has a vegetable based lubricating grease in it, that grease can separate from time to time. One way is non use the other way is end of life from normal use.

If you do not use your mixer regularly, get a towel and put it on the counter, get your mixer and turn it upside down on the towel (to protect the finish) turn the mixer on while holding up the mixer (balance it) run the mixer for 2 minutes on speed 6, shut it off and turn the mixer rite side up and turn on again for 2 minutes, then repeat the process at least once. If your mixer continues to leak your lubricant is at end of life and it needs to be replaced along with a new motor housing gasket. KA will service it for you for about $100 dollars, you can do it yourself but it requires a full tear down of the mixer, you may have an "after warranty" service tech in your area but you will have to look for small appliance repair shops. If you do it yourself it will cost you about $20.00 bucks and a roll of paper towels as it is really messy. There are videos on utube that will show you how. The process I described above is a simple re-mix of your existing grease and in at least 60% of mixers I have repaired this is the problem with leaky oil / grease, it will last two or three years before it starts to leak again, longer if you do not use your mixer much, The grease is food safe and will not hurt you or anybody that may eat a recipe that might have a drop in it. But yes; I know it isn't really appealing to have grease dripping in your cooking. So the first thing to do is try and remix your existing grease, then try baking with it, if the drip has stopped your OK for a few years. If not you need to re-pack the grease and change the gasket.


Also the existing gasket is fiber and when the machine is put together the screws that hold the upper and lower motor housing parts together is not torqued down very hard (that is intentional on KA's part), the weight of the upper motor housing is about ten pounds and after years of having the mixer sit on top of the gasket it compresses and allows the grease liquid, (once it separates), to leak out and to get all over the place.


If you do decide to take your mixer apart you might try to just tighten up the screws that hold the two pieces together and try the re-mix process, that solution works on about 20% of all mixers I have repaired. Do this if you don't want to spend the 20 bucks on parts and grease. Let us know if this helped.

It's not oil in the A200, it's #2 weight grease. Although when it gets old enough it can break down far enough to basically become oil (either that or someone put oil in it previously). There are a number of answers written on fixya.com explaining how to disassemble the transmission and change the grease. Fill with 36 ounces #2 grease. FYI : disassembling the transmission and changing the grease is a very messy task and one can VERY easily reassemble the transmission incorrectly, so consider bringing the mixer to Hobart to have the job done.

My chef A901 started to smell and leak oil. I started to dismantle it but found that a service manual is needed. Kenwood will not supply this for "Health an safety" reasons. can anyone help please.

Hi FDLISS, sorry to hear about your mixer’s ‘leaking’ issues. KA mixers should never be placed on their sides, or you see what can happen. So how bad is this oil leak problem and what can you do to fix it?
First, if the amount of oil you found leaking was small and if your mixer otherwise works normally with the missing oil you really don’t need to take your mixer apart to refill it. The good news though, is that you can take the mixer apart and refill the grease, if you feel it is necessary.
The internal gears are factory packed with enough grease to last a 'lifetime', whatever that means? Depending on the age of your mixer, where it’s been stored, degree and intensity of usage; all these factors contribute to cause the oil to come out of suspension and seep to the bottom of the transmission box. When you laid your mixer on its side, the oil flowed to the lowest point and found a way out. Gravity is very insidious.
What should you do? Clean your mixer head where the oil came out with a sponge and hot, soapy water (DO NOT immerse your mixer in a sink of hot soapy water, though!) Hopefully it did not come out of your electric motor brush ports (those ‘screw’ heads on each side of your mixer head.)
The inspection and troubleshooting of the inside of your mixer is a DITY capability, particularly if your mixer is out of warranty. Just be sure to have the Parts List manual on hand. If you're lacking one, you can download a PDF version from the KA website at: http://www.kitchenaid.com/flash.cmd?/#/page/home. Click on Customer Care>Locate Manuals & Guides> Enter the 6 character model number, in your case use KSM50P, and select the file that matches your mixer under Parts List (4) from the three versions listed.
Turn to pages 4 & 5 for the disassembly and reassembly of your mixer, along with all the parts. It can be messy but gratifying. You might want to reorder the gasket and an ‘O’-ring for starters. Once apart you can check for any other unseemly wear and tear on the gears, etc.
If you think you need to replenish the grease in your transmission, you should use a food-grade grease that you can order online (although I’ve seen automotive bearing grease used too – your call).
Here are five potential vendors in no particular order: RepairClinic.com; mendingshed.com; searspartsdirect.com; partstore.com; and Grainger.com (for grease). You should search for ‘food grade grease’ online (although I’ve seen automotive bearing grease used too – your call). Prices can vary widely between vendors, so do some comparison shopping.
Here are links to three excellent websites that detail the disassembling/reassembly of a KA Mixer.

• http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/discussions/kitchen-aid.htm
• http://www.neilcrockett.com/mixer.htm
• http://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2009/04/how-to-repair-a-kitchenaid-mixer-yourself.html

Between these three websites and their excellent pictures and descriptions and your Parts List manual, you should now be able to completely disassemble, regrease and reassemble your mixer.
Finally, if you feel this is beyond your capabilities and will be too difficult to do by yourself you can take your mixer to a local small appliance repair shop and have them troubleshoot and fix your mixer. KA Customer Care can provide you with the name and phone # of the closest authorized KA repair shop in your area or you can do a Online web search, but be sure to get at least three estimates before deciding to commit to one repair shop.
Good luck. I hope this helps. Howard, Burke, VA
If this solution has helped you, please rate it, thanks! - hslincoln

Hi AQUACLAY. For starters, for your next move remember to tell your packers to pack the mixer upright...J
OK, to answer your main question, your KA mixer’s internal gears are factory packed with enough grease to last a 'lifetime', whatever that means? Depending on the age of your mixer, where it’s been stored and how long it's been idle and/or how heavily it’s been used; these factors all will eventually cause the grease’s base oil to separate from its additives, with the resultant oil seeping from openings beyond the gasket and generally following the path of least resistance down to the lowest point, i.e., the agitator shaft. Gravity can be very insidious. Of course, laying our mixer on its side offers a whole bunch of other exits points for the oil. With that much oil lost, you definitely want to replace the transmission gear grease at some point in the future.
The good news is that this can accomplished quite easily (OK, maybe with a little effort) by yourself if you are a DITY type person, and feel adventurous and your mixer is not under warranty. Before you start to disassemble your mixer, be sure you have the Parts List manual on hand. If you're lacking one, you can download a PDF version from the KA website at: http://www.kitchenaid.com/flash.cmd?/#/page/home.
Click on Customer Care>Locate Manuals & Guides> Enter the 6 character model number, in your case use KSM50P (Your KSM5 mixer falls within this manual), and select the first file KSM50P.pdf (438.31 KB) listed under Parts List (4) and then check to verify this matches your mixer model.
Turn to pages 4 & 5, titled “Case, Gearing and Planetary Unit”, which provides and exploded view for the disassembly and reassembly of your mixer, along with all the parts. Besides replacement grease you might consider replacing the Transmission Case Gasket (Illus. No. 26) and “O”-ring (Illus. No. 53), too. I’d also check to make sure there is no oil residue lingering where the oil leaked when it was lying on its side during the move; particularly if it leaked out of a brush hole on the side of the mixer head. Oil and electricity don’t mix, so here’s the opportunity with your mixer apart to wipe down the path the oil took to ‘escape’.
Here are five potential vendors in no particular order: RepairClinic.com; mendingshed.com; searspartsdirect.com; partstore.com; and Grainger.com (for grease). You should search for ‘food grade grease’ online (although I’ve seen automotive bearing grease used too – your call). Prices can vary widely between vendors, so do some comparison shopping.
Once apart you can check for any other unseemly wear and tear on the gears, etc. It can be messy but quite gratifying to diagnose and repair your mixer yourself.
Finally, here are some links to several excellent websites that detail the disassembling/reassembly of a KA Mixer. The mixers displayed in the links are different KA models, but the principles are the same.

• http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/discussions/kitchen-aid.htm
• http://www.neilcrockett.com/mixer.htm
• http://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2009/04/how-to-repair-a-kitchenaid-mixer-yourself.html

Between these three websites and their excellent pictures and descriptions and your Parts List manual, you should now be able to completely disassemble and reassemble your mixer.
Good luck, I hope this helps. Howard, Burke, VA
If this solution has been helpful, please rate it, thanks! - hslincoln

there are two oils to change. one for the trans. and one for the planetary.the drain plug for the trans. oil should be in back of the planetary take out plug let oil drain ,remove top cover take outstand off where front screw to top cover threads into put new oil in there till you hit line in sight glass on right side of mixer.

on a a200 there is no oil. this mixer requiers grease. if mixer is leaking oil it is because the grease is broken down .you have to pull tpo cover off mixer remove trans. parts clean out old grease clean all trans. parts reassemble put top cover back on .then make sure mixer runs in all 3-speeds before putting 1.5 cans of -47grease back in grease can be bought @any hobart office

Hi, BRIANMICHELL ? How much oil are we talking about, and over what period? How old is your machine? Your KA mixer?s internal gears are factory packed with enough grease to last a lifetime, whatever that means. Depending on the age of your mixer, where it was stored (warm temps possibly?) and how long it's been idle and/or how heavily it?s been used; these factors all will eventually cause the lubricant grease to separate into its base oil from its additives, with the resultant oil seeping from openings beyond the gasket down the agitator shaft. Gravity can be very insidious. The inspection and troubleshooting of the inside of your mixer is a DITY capability, particularly if your mixer is out of warranty. Just be sure to have the Parts List manual on hand. If you're lacking one, you can download a PDF version from the KA website. Click on Customer Care>Locate Manuals & Guides> Enter the 6 character model number, in your case, try KSM150PS, and select one of the files listed under Parts List (check to see it this matches your mixer model). Turn to pages 6 & 7, titled ?Case, Gearing and Planetary Unit?, which provides and exploded view for the disassembly and reassembly of your mixer, along with all the parts. For starters you may want to order parts #15, transmission gasket, and # 16, O-ring, along with some food-grade grease. Also, while you?re inside the guts of your mixer you can check for any other unseemly wear and tear on the gears, etc. It can be messy but gratifying. As far as parts go, here are four potential vendors in no particular order: RepairClinic.com; mendingshed.com; searspartsdirect.com; partstore.com. Prices for the same part can vary widely between vendors, so do your comparison shopping. Finally, here's a link to an excellent site that details the disassembly and replacement of a mixer's grease, which might be helpful, too. http://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2009/04/how-to-repair-a-kitchenaid-mixer-yourself.html Good luck and have fun. I hope this helps. Howard, Burke, VA If this solution has helped you, please rate it, thanks! - hslincoln

Hi, TBKISH. To answer your main question, if the amount of oil you found underneath your mixer was small you really don’t need to take your mixer apart to replace the 'lost' oil. The internal gears are factory packed with enough grease to last a 'lifetime' (whatever that means). Depending on the age of your mixer, where it was stored (high temp possibly?); these conditions may have contributed to the oil that’s come out of suspension and seeped beyond the gasket, and out of your mixer. Did you notice where the oil came from? If it came out of the planetary gear (agitator) you should be able to use your mixer without any problems, just clean the agitator shaft. If the oil came out of the brush cover cap holes (on either side of the mixer head), then you'll need to clean the brushes off before I'd fire up the mixer again.

If you are DITY type person, and feel adventurous, and your mixer is not under warranty you can troubleshoot it yourself. Be sure you have the Parts List manual on hand. If you're lacking one, you can download it from the KA website. Click on Customer Care>Locate Manuals & Guides> Enter the 6 character model number (in your case, try K45SSW select Parts List (1) and then check to see it this matches your mixer model). You can check on page 4 & 5 for the disassembly and reassembly of your mixer, along with all the parts. It can be messy but gratifying. You might want to reorder the gasket for starters. Once apart you can check for any other unseemly wear and tear on the gears, etc.

If you really feel the need to re-grease your transmission, you should use a food-grade grease that you can order online (although I’ve seen automotive bearing grease used too – your call). Here are five potential vendors in no particular order: RepairClinic.com; mendingshed.com; searspartsdirect.com; partstore.com; and Grainger.com. You should be search for ‘food grade grease’. Prices can vary widely between vendors, so do your comparison shopping.

Finally, here's a link to a site that details the disassembly and replacement of a mixer's grease, which might be helpful, too. http://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2009/04/how-to-repair-a-kitchenaid-mixer-yourself.html
Good luck and have fun. I hope this helps. Howard, Burke, VA
If this solution has helped you, please rate it, thanks! - hslincoln

I called KitchenAid about this issue with my mixer. The agent on the phone told me they are aware that it tends to happen to some mixers after they sit for some time. Basically, a "lifetime" of grease has been packed into the assembly and it is normal for it to release grease on occasion. I was told to run the mixer at 10 for at least 2 minutes to get it going and I should see a reduction in the oil leak. I had about a tablespoon worth of oil dripping down off the assembly. I was told that if over time it seemed to amount to about 1/4 cup then I should call to see about repairs due to a potentially bad seal. I was also told that the repair for that would most likely NOT cost the same as a new appliance.