Scott's 2554 issue

[Deleted member 97405]

Actually, it doesn't have Fwd and Rev ports. The first piston pump only tilts to change the order the pistons-the direction it pumps fluid- thus the direction the mower moves.

It has to run through relief ports and/or a valve block at some point, even if it's built into the pump or motor assembly. That is what the freewheel rod does. It opens a port to allow oil to cycle. So it does have ports between the pump and motor somewhere. Something in between there is more worn on the forward side than the reverse side. Could be swash plates, pistons, a valve, etc. It might be cavitating on the forward side, then purge on the reverse side, which may allow the forward mode to operate fine a bit before acting up again. I usually just scrap these transmissions because they're really not worth tearing down usually, so I'm not going to discuss anymore in depth on the internals. But it sounds like you have nothing to lose at this point to tear it apart and see what you see. Good luck!