Impressions: newGT48XLSi

[motoman]

Transmission is out and gear compartment drained- about 1.3 liter. The fan is nylon, held on by a locking (nylok) nut. Fan has a pattern of 6 holes around the top which looks intended for a spanner type wrench. Fan design is apparently to "wobble) a bit in run. No end float, but side to side about .020" play while locked in position. A 2 point spanner will not hold the fan against the unlocking torque applied (nut will not turn), as the spanner deflects (smears)the fan material. Tried two strap wrenches on the pulley which did not work (harbor freight junk now in the trash). Today will make 6 point spanner. As noted the hydro oil compartment cannot be filled or easily drained without removal of the aluminum cover cap held down by a cap screw which is set under the fan pulley lower rim. This tranny is a very pretty thing and a pity it is hidden within the chassis box. Below the fan nut is a large washer possibly keyed to the input shaft. Maybe a vice grip can be used on it to hold the shaft/pulley for loosening.

Most time was spent in set up. Used cherry picker to raise tractor. Worked well. Have procedure for the curious few. (Not done yet)

Edit: Nope, washer spins. Finally pinched bottom pulley rim with vise grip to stop against trans casting. Easy nut removal. The wobble is due to apparent slight taper of shaft splines. Pulley seated has almost no play, so perhaps a design factor. The 6 fan holes are not meant for spanner removal-very thin.

Overnight drip drain of gear chamber produced another .6 liters of oil which is surprising to me, perhaps due to superior cling of synthetic oil? So total gear chamber drain= 1.9 liters. No wear particles noticed.

 

[motoman]

The hydro side: Remove 12 mm hex cap screw hold-down to uncover fill hole. Nice o-ring design. The aluminum cap pulls up with a 3/4" long spout, another reason this variation of Tuff Torque cannot be filled in place. Initial drain amount .4 liter, still dripping. Catch tank had small trace of wear powder in corner . A metal pickup tube is attached to the black line portion of the connection from tank to fill hole. This metal tube is oriented to one corner of the tank for (apparent) gain and loss. Instructions require a full hydro compartment and then tank addition to the first lower "long" fill tank graduation. (Just now the total 2 compartment volume is 1.9 liter plus .4 liter. Tuff Torque says 2.6 is the full volume).

Edit: After turning the spline shaft a revolution another .3 liter came out over a period of an hour. So the drain total is equal to Tuff Torque guidelines of 2.6 total for the 2 compartments, but slow process. The gear compartment stopped accepting oil at just over 1 liter (need 1.9). Tried tipping and moving trans and axles-no improvement. For me this is a baby in need of burping for the next 5 hours during which it accepts a very little at a time. I say burping ,but no bubbles visible. I finally quit and will check tomorrow because it still needs about another 100 ml. The hydro compartment filled up easily.

Shaft spline is tapered .003" bottom to top. After torque, with dial indicator, pulley wobble is .012" and fan a whopping .090" There are what look like clearance cut notches on each fan blade on the pulley side so this may be design?

 

[motoman]

Overnight the gear side oil dropped about an inch in the narrow fill hole, so the first drain must have been a little less than stated. Closed it up and mated trans to tractor.

Summary: The transmissions did not need the drain/fill. Very little evidence of wear (in the oil-hydro side only). Only about 60 hours easy use.

Most owners should stay away except for extreme usage.

Ironies: Neither oil compartment can be drained/filled in place. The gear side would drive you nuts waiting to fill with a tube. The
hydro side goes glug glug glug, but you cannot access it due to the pulley/fan/gas tank.

The transmission is heavy working alone (50 lbs) . Procedure used showed that a better way exists next time (ha ha). Will advise the
better way to interested parties.

 

[motoman]

About to stop, but need to correct some of my trash talk. Duh, lower the cutting deck to more easily access the zerks! Here' a good one: One tired night I was able to mount the left wheel backwards...felt funny, and now I feel funny telling it. Never a problem with the battery hold downs which I mentioned earlier. I will try to post a couple pics of the trans drain and the dash gauge layout .

 

[motoman]

K66 gear and hydro fill ports, dash gauges

 

[motoman]

Backup on this unit requires pressing the proper button on the smart key ignition surround. Then it blinks at you , giving permission so the reverse pedal works. Just now I can simply press the reverse pedal, suggesting that smart key function has stopped working. Tractor one year usage, about 70 hours. Will check if a connector has come loose.

 

[motoman]

After a recent trickle charge the smart start button surround symbol for "backup " started working again. Do not know why as an LED takes very little current to light up.


Nuts, there is suddenly a strong "surge" in the Intek. It repeats about every couple seconds. I had been using the Husqy to haul tools for a couple weeks where it never reached proper op temp 200F. Yesterday in 95F heat the engine reached 200F and the surge began. It is there also on cold restart. Seems more than a coincidence it occurred after heating engine to proper temp. I can stop it by holding the little down rod from the governor.

Any tips appreciated. Perhaps a gas cutoff half stuck? I will search here .

Edit: Started up, no surging. Changed fuel filter and cut it open. Nothing visible with 10X loupe. Added some Sta Bil. The threads all suggest fuel blockage as the source. Ran this morning in 94F and oil up to 210F . Balky fuel shut off?

Smart start key: The reverse led is functioning but does not stop the operator from backing up when it is not on.

 

[cpurvis]

Ken, Thanks for the tips again. Others also dislike FRAM. I will look at WIX and NAPA.

Baldwin B7165 crosses to the Briggs number. Baldwin makes good filters. Like others, I avoid FRAM spin-on oil filters. You can hide a lot of substandard materials and workmanship in an enclosed filter. Their air filters are OK, you can't hide anything there.

 

[motoman]

I have not seen that brand hereabouts. Thanks

 

[motoman]

Briggs 793569/793685 air filter with foam is one inch longer. A 15 minute mod to the plastic housing.