TuffTorq K46 Repair Guide with Pictures

[GeneralEclectic]

do they really mean, "when the rear wheels start to turn"??

That's my reading of it.

Have you ever seen an owner's manual or repair manual that had no stupid mistakes like this in it? I haven't. Seems like most of them are written by people who have limited familiarity with the equipment at hand.

There's a beauty in the owner's manual for my Husqvarna lawn tr@ctor -- under the heading of "TOWING CARTS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS" it says, "Tow only the attachments that are recommended by and comply with specifications of the manufacturer of your tractor." (I added the bold and italics)

Um, okay. Wouldn't that be YOU, Husqvarna? If not, then who? And if it is you who (allegedly) know how to operate your equipment, then what do you recommend and what are those "specifications" you're referring to? Wouldn't THE OWNER'S MANUAL be a really great place to put that information?

If I were the conspiracy type, I'd immediately suspect that this lack of information is deliberate so they have a ready-made excuse for denying warranty claims for transaxle failures. But application of Occam's Razor suggests that the real reason is that whoever wrote this is an incompetent idiot.

 

[RottenMutt]

Can someone tell me what and where is the "bypass (tow) valve" mentioned in the above Tuff Torq article?

The bypass valve pushes off the motor from the IDS breaking the seal allowing the motor to rotate when you want to push the mower around. Also usefull for priming the pump.

 

[klem]

Next question. Unless I just plain missed it somewhere, I can't find the K46 (mine's a BT) oil capacity. I'm changing the oil before shelling out for the Tuff Torq parts since the trany still works fine but doesn't take the hills like it used to. Anybody know exactly how much 5W-50 to put in?

 

[GeneralEclectic]

It's about 2Q, depending.

But if performance has already degraded, you're just touching up the x-rays with new oil. IMO, you should just bite the bullet and rebuild it. An oil change isn't going to improve full-torque performance.

 

[klem]

Ok. Many thanks for info and advice. She's all back together now, but I will target a rebuild for later this summer. Now that I'm an experience lawn tractor mechanic, I'm ok with a second R&R. FYI, it took about 2Q, 8 oz. of oil. I also found this in a Tuff Torq document for the K46: "Approx. 2.2 liters of oil will be needed to reach this level." -- that's 74 ounces or 2.3 quarts (2 qt. 10 oz.)

Before putting the trany back in, I tried replicating the "bleeding process" on the bench. Seems to have worked as I saw bubbles coming up the fill hole. When the bubbles stopped, so did I. The tractor runs just fine. We'll see if this oil change business did any real good next time I mow the 1/2 acre lawn. The degradation has been happening late in the game on the steepest slopes.

 

[IMO]

When I drained my K46, I removed the large plug not the small one, then the fun began, I turned it end over end several times, each time I let it stay in that position for 5-10 minutes, then I would turn it up side down so that where the large opening is could drain, doing this I was able to remove all the oil, seeing that when I refilled it it took the 2.3 quarts of 5W50, nicely right where the directions say it should top off, also when filling it I lifted it up tilted it slightly and moved it side to side, doing this allow the oil to fill the other chamber and release air, then I rotated the shaft, releasing more air, put the plug back in, installed the K46 back on my L118 and drove off into the sunset with no problem:thumbsup:

 

[Daronspicher]

I'm the latest victim of the tt k46. The 3 minimal parts mentioned are in transit to my house.

I have a Deere l120 in its 8th season, 370 hrs on the meter. Our yard is 1 acre of grass after you subtract out the house footprint and driveway. Mostly very flat with one 20x20 ditch with any significant steep/pull to it.

Over the years I have pulled some 10p carts full of dirt, but in the end, any decent transmission product should still be going strong.

For all I've seen on this very informative thread about these transmissions, I don't recall seeing a statement of what exactly is roasted in the parts I have ordered.

In any case, if these parts are the problem, and they are the problem because of cheap oil, I won't mind running another 8 years and 370 more hours before I need to rebuild again. Would be nice to see 10 years and 500 hours with the synthetic oil.

-Daron

 

[denver of the east]

I have a Scott's/JohnDeere 20/48 mower with the k46ac in it and like everyone else it slows way down after about 30 min. Any how after reading all the post on here I have the 3 main parts on order along with new magnets and some other small stuff. I plan on doing the job as soon as the parts get here.
My question is of all the people who have already done this rebuild, are the rebuilds holding up well?

Thanks to everyone with the great pictures and advice thats on this subject.
Scott

 

[IMO]

When I drained my K46, I removed the large plug not the small one, then the fun began, I turned it end over end several times, each time I let it stay in that position for 5-10 minutes, then I would turn it up side down so that where the large opening is could drain, doing this I was able to remove all the oil, seeing that when I refilled it it took the 2.3 quarts of 5W50, nicely right where the directions say it should top off, also when filling it I lifted it up tilted it slightly and moved it side to side, doing this allow the oil to fill the other chamber and release air, then I rotated the shaft, releasing more air, put the plug back in, installed the K46 back on my L118 and drove off into the sunset with no problem:thumbsup:

I did these gymnastics with the K46 after the initial draining of oil:thumbsup:

 

[jay516red]

HI , JOBOB JUST GOT MY L120 BACK TOGETHER WITH ALL NEW PARTS . EVERYTHING WORKS FINE '' EXCEPT '' I DON'T HAVE ANY FREEWHEELING WHEN THE ROD IS ALL THE WAY IN IT WORKS FINE AND WHEN IT IS PULLED OUT IT STILL WORKS FINE IT DOESN'T FREE WHEEL WHEN THE ROD IS PULLED OUT. COULD THAT SMALL PIN HAVE FALLEN OUTOF PLACE ? IF SO WILL IT HURT ANYTHING ? THANKS jay516red i,am also new at this.