New transaxle for 2007 MTD, have some questions

[Hellnbak]

While trying to shift gears I did rotate the input shaft, and also the axles. Wouldn't that have been sufficient to preclude this?

 

[Fish]

Why did you replace the old one?

 

[Fish]

Were there little notches/tabs on the bushings, and did you make sure that they were lined up correctly?

 

[Fish]

And was the detent ball in place correctly?

 

[Hellnbak]

Why did you replace the old one?

Well, that's a strange story. I was starting the first mow of the year when I suddenly got a monster cramp in my thigh muscle. You know that when that happens you have to straighten your leg, immediately. So I stood up, and thanks to that stupid safety switch under the seat the mower began to shut down. For some reason, instead of just letting it do so, I decided to sit back down, with my leg sticking out to the side. Well, the mower stopped shutting down, but afterwards would not move. Still ran fine, mower worked fine, but no forward, no reverse, nothing. I figured that forcing it to start back up again by sitting back down when it was just finishing shutting down must have put some sort of strain on something, it was working fine before that. So, I got it back into my shop and checked everything I could think of, and finally decided to pull the transaxle. Found an excellent video on YouTube

about 48 minutes long, which covers everything about removing, disassembling, checking, repairing and reinstalling this transaxle, plus a lot of really good tips. Anyhow, after I got it apart, the gears and everything looked good, but the left half of the axle was rusted and pitted, and the outer part of the upper and lower housing was etched and corroded, with a thick layer of some sort of white powder filling it (the photo shows it after I had cleaned it up). While this didn't affect the operation of the transaxle (yet), it wasn't something I wanted to just ignore. After pricing the parts needed, decided I would just replace the entire thing. Yes, it's 13 years old, but I've become sort of attached to the beast.

 

[Hellnbak]

Were there little notches/tabs on the bushings, and did you make sure that they were lined up correctly?

Yes, although they were different from the old axle. Instead of two horizontal tabs/notches, there was one tab on the bushing and one detent on the bottom of the housing. Was very careful to ensure they were properly aligned.

 

[Hellnbak]

And was the detent ball in place correctly?

Yes, although, again it was designed differently from the old housing. While the old style required you to insert the spring and ball into the lower housing and carefully lower the indent shaft assembly onto them (after making sure it was in the neutral position, the new one had a hex screw on the upper housing, which you removed after getting everything in place and then inserting the ball and spring. Not a bad change.

 

[Hellnbak]

If the old grease is bentonite it won't play well with the new 00 grease. Bentonite grease is clay based and 00 grease is lithium based. Should not mix them. You need to disassemble the trans and clean all the old grease out before installing 00 grease.

I have no idea whether the old grease is bentonite. Can you tell by looking at it? I'll just assume it's a type of grease that should not be mixed with the new 00 grease, and get something like this at Lowe's (I get a 10 percent discount there) and scrub the hell out of everything. Gonna be fun

 

[Hellnbak]

Can't believe that a gear box is actually lubed with stiff grease. I'm with you on the change of lube. Looks like a pretty heavy duty differential for a mower though. As above, clean it good first.

Well, when I say 'stiff' I just meant that it didn't flow, not enough fresh grease getting to the parts that need it.

I'm kind of surprised to see lube still on the actual gear teeth in that old gearbox. There was some flowing lube in it rather than just dried up displaced grease

You're probably right, but if there's a better grease out there, why not use it, right? Anyhow, that's my way of thinking.

 

[Hellnbak]

I'd say, unless you can seal it back up real good....your thinner lube will just run out of it eventually. Grease clings and will stay longer.....remember, this is a low speed mower, not a car going down the highway at 70 mph.

I was also concerned about this, until I began researching the 00 grease. Found some other people who had the same concerns, with transaxles that 'sealed' using flat metal surfaces like on mine. But they reported that they had encountered no problems after using it for some time, and I will keep an eye on it for any problems.

You mean your mower can't go 70 mph?