I just replaced my JD L118 tranny with one I found from an L110. Tuff Torq K46. it's now working like new. Only advice I'd give you is to make a long tubed funnel and top off the fluid after the first use. It was full but later took 1/2 quart more. The running sound improved a lot.
Nice work. Just finished doing this for the third time on mine ride on. These K46 tufftorq hydrostatic transmissions are junk. They are in Husqvarnas and a heap of others also. Very light duty. Okay on the flat but they hate hills. They are meant to be unserviceable in a lot of cases but changing the oil can help mask the inherent flaws.
Hey bud, did you split yours and clean the magnets? I have a question if you did. That is all I did to mine was split the case and clean the magnets on a k46 with ~ 200 hrs. Anyway now it is weak going up hills…. Or rather won’t even go up hills. Any clue what I may have done? I know at one point the trans kind of rolled over when I had it split and the “neutral/ engage bar” went from neutral to engaged and the reduction gear with washers and spacer fell out. I was sure to put the pin with the cut in it facing up like it was. Anyway do you have any ideas what May have happened to make it now not climb? Thanks in advance for any information.
Yeah we cleaned the magnets if I remember correctly. What fluid did you put back in it? Assuming everything went back together right, I would guess it's the fluid.
The type of fluid depends on exact model of trans. 10W30 full synthetic is common but a couple of models are different. Tuff Torq has a website and the torque specs and actual fluid types are listed there.
Amsoil synthetic Hydrostatic Transmission Fluid 20w-50 will protect it better, and the transmission will last for many years. Factory says regular 10w-30 synthetic so you will have to replace the transmission sooner! Read about the differences in these oils!!
Wee bit late worrying about it aren't you??? That model is is already 10 - 12 yrs old The tuff torque should of been done @ least x4 times by now......else cost you a new replacement tuff torq which $800.00 so definitely not cheap for replacement parts 🙄
@@jazpanoz4996 I’ve got a ‘04 L118 with the Tuff Torq K46. Six hundred hours on the machine. Transaxle runs fine, tractor still hits full speed (5+ MPH) and does not bog on hills or when hot.
Hey curious if this held up at all? I am in the same situation with my LA165 and want to do this myself but just want to see if it was worth the time. Is yours still holding up?
did the tractor have trans slip before you did the service? I got a JD L130 and it will run good until it warms up(about 20-30 minutes) then trans slips. was gonna replace the drive belt and try this oil change
It leaked out all the oil everywhere and wouldn't move at all You might want to polish up the circular pistons inside the transmission. That's what other have done and it worked. Maybe a little thicker oil might help also.
Beyer Forestry, Welding, and Other Stuff Yeah I'm not a fan of having to pull the transmission out of the machine to fill it with oil. That is not cool. For a shop to do what we did, I'd imagine it'd be cheaper to buy a new transmission or just buy a new machine. Plus we waited to long to do this fix and that caused the carb to clog up some. It didn't sound good in the end of the video. We ran it for a few hours and that seemed to clear it up.
They tell you that so you junk your tractor every couple of years and get a new one. We've gone from having the ability to fix things ourselves to just tossing it and buying new. It's quite sad to be honest.
That's why we try to fix ours as much as possible. This fix maybe cost $50. Not $2500 for a new mower or 700 for a new transmission. They make them so you can't work on them or make it really difficult to work on them and time consuming which is what happend here.
Dale, they say they are not serviceable but we certainly serviced ours. Lol. It's not fun having to pull the transmission out of the mower to fill it. Imagine having to do that in a car or big farm tractor. That wouldn't fly with people.
@Love2boar92: There are some newer BMW and Mercedes cars that advertise having "lifetime" transmissions in them. They don't have dipsticks under the hood. So you can't even check the tranny fluid levels. Which is dumb especially when you're paying for a car upwards of $70,000. They do it because people tend to lease cars for about three years and just get a new car to keep the cycle going. As for old garden tractors, the old Cub Cadets from the 60's back when International Harvester made them had driveshafts going to the tranny. They were built so well that when MTD acquired Cub Cadet in the 70/80's that they made them cheaper.
I just replaced my JD L118 tranny with one I found from an L110. Tuff Torq K46. it's now working like new. Only advice I'd give you is to make a long tubed funnel and top off the fluid after the first use. It was full but later took 1/2 quart more. The running sound improved a lot.
Nice work. Just finished doing this for the third time on mine ride on.
These K46 tufftorq hydrostatic transmissions are junk.
They are in Husqvarnas and a heap of others also.
Very light duty. Okay on the flat but they hate hills.
They are meant to be unserviceable in a lot of cases but changing the oil can help mask the inherent flaws.
Hey bud, did you split yours and clean the magnets? I have a question if you did. That is all I did to mine was split the case and clean the magnets on a k46 with ~ 200 hrs. Anyway now it is weak going up hills…. Or rather won’t even go up hills. Any clue what I may have done? I know at one point the trans kind of rolled over when I had it split and the “neutral/ engage bar” went from neutral to engaged and the reduction gear with washers and spacer fell out. I was sure to put the pin with the cut in it facing up like it was. Anyway do you have any ideas what May have happened to make it now not climb? Thanks in advance for any information.
Yeah we cleaned the magnets if I remember correctly. What fluid did you put back in it? Assuming everything went back together right, I would guess it's the fluid.
@@Lanninglongarmmowing I read somewhere to use 15-w50 synthetic motor oil. I went with mobile 1 . Maybe that is where I screwed up.
The type of fluid depends on exact model of trans. 10W30 full synthetic is common but a couple of models are different. Tuff Torq has a website and the torque specs and actual fluid types are listed there.
Thank you this video built my confidence enough to take on this project
I love the usability of hydro static, but I really love the durability of spline drive!
What is spline drive?
@@parkerbirch1475 gear to hear. The old fashioned way
@@parkerbirch1475 gear to gear
@@jeffshaw5202 Thanks!!
Crap! I just put mine all together and forgot the little washer between the pulley and the fan! Thanks for the video
5/50 synthetic and good job extending the life of that rig.
Amsoil synthetic Hydrostatic Transmission Fluid 20w-50 will protect it better, and the transmission will last for many years. Factory says regular 10w-30 synthetic so you will have to replace the transmission sooner! Read about the differences in these oils!!
I hate oil recommendations. Others are saying 5w-50. Which one is it ??
Nice to see you can keep these cheaper versions of jd running. I was worrying about my la 115 in a few years
Wee bit late worrying about it aren't you???
That model is is already 10 - 12 yrs old
The tuff torque should of been done @ least x4 times by now......else cost you a new replacement tuff torq which $800.00
so definitely not cheap for replacement parts 🙄
@@jazpanoz4996 I’ve got a ‘04 L118 with the Tuff Torq K46. Six hundred hours on the machine. Transaxle runs fine, tractor still hits full speed (5+ MPH) and does not bog on hills or when hot.
Tyson Bower @ That's great, consider yourself Lucky as K46 is one of the better model transaxle 👍
So after watching all these video's, I've come to the conclusion that the tuff torque transmission isn't worth a crap and intended to fail!
Great job gentlemen.
PB Thank you!!
you said 20 bucks in seals????? do I need to buy seals for this?
When you took the trans apart where you had to RTV it, was there a gasket there or did you have to make one
I mean I know you made one, but was there a paper gasket there? I couldn’t tell.
No paper gasket.
They are silicone sealed at the factory.
I thought tuff torque recommended 5w50 synthetic?....im gonna use mobil 1 15w50....read they approved that too...
Hey curious if this held up at all? I am in the same situation with my LA165 and want to do this myself but just want to see if it was worth the time. Is yours still holding up?
Still working like a champ. No leaks.
@@Lanninglongarmmowing Awesome thank you!
@@Lanninglongarmmowing How many hours do you have to date?
@@TyBower 400 to 500 if I remember correctly.
I'm doing 1 now, why didn't you leave the tires off ???
One less thing to remove and it sortof rolls.
Good job.
easier to remove deck first?
Does the fill plug unscrew or just pop off? Id rather not break it
If I remember correctly, it just pops off. Just be careful with it.
It pops off but you have to mind the copper press ring inside. Remove it uniformly.
You did it after 100 hours?
did the tractor have trans slip before you did the service? I got a JD L130 and it will run good until it warms up(about 20-30 minutes) then trans slips. was gonna replace the drive belt and try this oil change
It leaked out all the oil everywhere and wouldn't move at all You might want to polish up the circular pistons inside the transmission. That's what other have done and it worked. Maybe a little thicker oil might help also.
ok thanks
Nothing runs from work like a Deere
More like crawls or pushed from work like a deere
No wonder people will junk-out lawn tractors. Pain in the a** and expensive to have a shop do that work.
Beyer Forestry, Welding, and Other Stuff Yeah I'm not a fan of having to pull the transmission out of the machine to fill it with oil. That is not cool. For a shop to do what we did, I'd imagine it'd be cheaper to buy a new transmission or just buy a new machine. Plus we waited to long to do this fix and that caused the carb to clog up some. It didn't sound good in the end of the video. We ran it for a few hours and that seemed to clear it up.
Love2boat92 Seafoam and gasoline anti-freeze clears most things up.
26ftlbs on the bolts
5w50 synthetic is what TT suggests.
Headphone wearers beware that the first few seconds of this video will make your ears ring if your volume is turned up more than 50%.
dont make it super tight, just make it rrrrrrrrrrraaaaah tight
Go to all that work & hassle but dont bother to install drainplugs ??
The housing is even designed with bosses to be drilled & tapped...
You want it as tight as a good “arrrrgghhh” 😂
I thought the trans were not servicable
They tell you that so you junk your tractor every couple of years and get a new one. We've gone from having the ability to fix things ourselves to just tossing it and buying new. It's quite sad to be honest.
That's why we try to fix ours as much as possible. This fix maybe cost $50. Not $2500 for a new mower or 700 for a new transmission. They make them so you can't work on them or make it really difficult to work on them and time consuming which is what happend here.
Dale, they say they are not serviceable but we certainly serviced ours. Lol. It's not fun having to pull the transmission out of the mower to fill it. Imagine having to do that in a car or big farm tractor. That wouldn't fly with people.
@Love2boar92: There are some newer BMW and Mercedes cars that advertise having "lifetime" transmissions in them. They don't have dipsticks under the hood. So you can't even check the tranny fluid levels. Which is dumb especially when you're paying for a car upwards of $70,000. They do it because people tend to lease cars for about three years and just get a new car to keep the cycle going.
As for old garden tractors, the old Cub Cadets from the 60's back when International Harvester made them had driveshafts going to the tranny. They were built so well that when MTD acquired Cub Cadet in the 70/80's that they made them cheaper.
John Deere won't service. Cuz if they did you would have to buy a new mower
All Wrong ! Smoke One For Me.