Changing Hydro Tranny Fluid on LX277 AWS

[jhortonvt]

I'd like to change out my hydrostatic transmission fluid and replace it with synthetic 10w-30. I can't seem any instructions on draining the fluid. Has anyone done this or know where to find some tips on it?

 

[chrisjbell]

I have the JD repair manual for the LX200 series tractors and it says that the correct transaxle oil is 10W30 synthetic. On your LX277 AWS the transaxle is a Kanzaki K62B (the rest of the LX200s have a Kanzaki K62A transaxle).

The transaxle capacity is 2.5L (2.7qt). Make sure your drain pan will handle that much.

There are two drain plugs located on the bottom of the transaxle. They are located near the axle shaft on either side. If you have trouble figuring out which ones they are, let me know. I tried to scan in the picture of them but the file turned out to be huge and I don't do a lot of image manipulation so while I know it can be made smaller I can't do it easily.

Once you get it drained and refilled, you'll have to bleed it. To do that, you need to put the tractor up on jackstands so the rear wheels are off the ground. Start the tractor and run at slow engine speed. Press the forward and reverse pedals until the wheels start to spin. According to the manual this can take 5-10 minutes. If I recall, it took longer than that when I did it once, but that was after having the transaxle rebuilt so it was *really* empty. I think that after a simple drain and refill it didn't take long at all.

Hope this helps...

 

[jhortonvt]

Chris, thanks for the tips. The last time I looked under the rear axle I saw about a dozen bolts and none of them looked like obvious drains. Now that youv'e given me more specific info I'll take another look.

I also heard about a wire mesh filter screen. Do you know if I need to get to that and clean to do this properly? Boy I would prefer to just drain and bleed it as you described. Speaking of bleeding once up on stands and running, how long should I press forward, then reverse?

Thanks
Justin

BTW, how many pages is the repair manual? Is it too many pages to copy and mail, obviously I would pay you for your time and effort.

 

[jhortonvt]

BTW, how many pages is the repair manual? Is it too many pages to copy and mail, obviously I would pay you for your time and effort.

I retract that silly question, I looked at them on ebay and see there is a reason they go for $75-they're thicker than my towns phonebook.

 

[jhortonvt]

Chris,
I found the right drain bolts and drained about 2.4 qts of oil. Upon filling it only took about 1.1 qts. OK, I thought I just need to bleed the air out. But after running forward and reverse while up on jack stands for what seemed to be at least 10 min, I only got about another 0.3 qts in before it was back to the full line.

Are there any other directions on this that I'm missing? I wouldn't want to drive it with the transmission a quart low.

 

[chrisjbell]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you...

Here's the whole kit 'n kaboodle from the Giant Manual on bleeding the transaxle:

HYDROSTATIC TRANSAXLE
BLEEDING PROCEDURE

Reason:

This procedure is performed to eliminate air from the
hydrostatic transaxle after repair or leakage of the
transaxle.


Check hydrostatic transaxle oil reservoir oil level. If
necessary, fill to correct level with oil.

1. Raise rear wheels off the ground. Support rear
axles with jack stands.
2. Start and run engine at SLOW idle.
3. While alternately depressing the forward and
reverse pedals, engage and disengage the
freewheel valve lever. Continue this procedure until
the rear wheels start to rotate. This step may take
5 to 10 minutes to perform.

4. Turn off engine and lower the tractor to the ground.

5. With engine off and control pedals in neutral, push
the tractor forward and then rearward to turn the
motor rotating group.

6. Start and run the engine at FAST idle.
7. Quickly depress and release the forward and
reverse pedals until the tractor moves without
hesitation.

Results:
• Tractor moves without hesitation
reverse pedals are depressed.


That's all folks...scanned and OCR'd...

 

[jhortonvt]

Chris, I appreciate your help. I worked out the kinks and I'm back in business.

The website is great thanks to folks like you who take the time to spread their knowledge.

Thanks again