New transaxle for 2007 MTD, have some questions

[Hellnbak]

I have received my new transaxle for my 2007 MTD Yard Machine, and have a few questions before I install it.


I'm going to replace the grease it came with, for several reasons - 1. I have no idea what the quality of the grease they put in it is. 2. It makes no sense to me to have all that grease in there, when, other than what is actually touching the gears and other parts, the rest of it just sits there doing nothing but taking up space. It's too thick and stiff to move around and mix with the grease already on the gears, and doesn't actually provide any fresh lubrication to the parts that need it. So I am going to clean everything out the best I can, and replace it with Super S Cotton Picker Grease 00

From what I've read it is much better for transaxles, in that it provides excellent, long-lasting lubrication, and it is not too thick, and thus can actually sort of 'splash around' in there to ensure the moving parts are constantly lubricated.

So, I have several questions about this. 1. Will the new lubricant play well with the old grease? As I said, I am going to clean out all of the old grease as best I can, but I don't have the means to completely remove it from every nook and cranny. There's going to be some of it left, and I don't know if that will be a problem. 2. Along the same line, I have a question about the new differential. The old one seems to be sealed

but the new one has openings as shown, one each on opposite sides (the original transaxle is no longer available, and has been replaced with several 'new and improved' versions. The new one I have is the latest version, and this is just one of the changes made, hopefully for good reasons and not just to cut costs and increase profit)

I could be wrong, but it seems the only reason for these openings is to be able to add grease to the differential. Can I just fill it with the new grease, or, again, will this cause a problem with them mixing together?

Does anyone have a suggestion on the best way to completely remove the old grease from all the parts?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions

 

[Hammermechanicman]

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.

 

[tom3]

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.

 

[Mower King]

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.

 

[tom3]

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.

 

[Fish]

Put it back together and on the tractor.....

 

[Hellnbak]

I decided to go ahead and install it before I went to the considerable trouble of removing all the old grease, just to make sure it would actually work. Well, after I got it in, I don't seem to be able to shift it very well. I adjusted the shift bracket a number of times, sometimes I could get it to shift to one gear, but nothing else. Sometimes neutral only. Results kept varying. Decided to install the old transaxle, same results. Both transaxles shifted just fine on the bench. So the problem of the grease is on the back burner for now. Should I continue this on this thread, or move it over to the MTD forum?

 

[tom3]

Is the shift problem with the engine running or off? If off can you rock the mower back and forth and then shift it?

 

[Hellnbak]

Well, actually I only installed the transaxle, then connected the shift rod. Didn't install the pully to connect it to the variable speed pully or anything. Would that have affected the shifting?

 

[StarTech]

It can be that the clutch dogs are on the high point the 45 tooth gears on the drive shaft. Sometimes it take up to a third turn of the drive shaft for the gears and clutch dogs lock in place.