TuffTorq K46 Repair Guide with Pictures

[Malco]

Hey.....that's right....it's me again! Here is an update with my transaxle....IT'S ALIVE!! IT WORKS!! Yes. I feel that this was a great fix to at least get me through the Fall season and enable me to contend with all the leaves without a total rebuild. It took me a while to remove it, but the next time it will go much faster. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! To everyone on this site for making this fix affordable and quick. Ya got to love the Internet! Thanks.

That's good to know. I'm about to drop my Transaxle and change the oil to 5 - 50 synthetic even though its only done 6 hours from new. The grass stopped growing as soon as I bought it as we've had no rain since July until last week!
I'll do it along with the first service.

 

[rburke65]

My neighbor, a very healthy and active 83 year old, just had the same issues with his JDeere. He maintains all of his equipment to the 9s. He took his 'no serviceable parts' JD to a dealer and they banged his over $1000! Thanks to this forum, I got mine back on the "road" for about $29! Thanks again guys/gals.

 

[Malco]

My neighbor, a very healthy and active 83 year old, just had the same issues with his JDeere. He maintains all of his equipment to the 9s. He took his 'no serviceable parts' JD to a dealer and they banged his over $1000! Thanks to this forum, I got mine backmon the "road" for about $29! Thanks again guys/gals.

Ouch............

 

[rv6tc]

Thanks to all who posted here. I have a Deere L-130 with a dead transmission, and I was able to get it apart, identify the problem and order the parts.

However, unlike others who have had great service from Tuff Torque, I've had pretty lousy service. I spent all morning calling trying to get questions answered. I didn't get Derrick, I got Pam, who wanted to wait until after lunch to ask the questions to her co-workers. When I called back, she just directed me to the web site, and would NOT take my order over the phone. I ended up using the web site, and to date, my order has not shipped. The irony is that I had to pay $16 for ground shipping, while two orders I've placed at other companies on the internet on Saturday with FREE shipping have already been filled and shipped. Yet, I still wait for TuffTorque.

I really wish there was another alternative to ordering these parts, but I feel stuck. I hope this $300 order fixes it and I never have to deal with these people again.

Just wanted to write up my experiences, so that others here will know if you get the wrong person there, do not expect any help or service.

Cheers,

Howard

Edit: I just got this from Derrick. There was No mention on the web site of back-orders nor did Pam mention it either time I spoke whth her. My fault... I should have asked for Derrick specifically. Lesson learned.

Hello,
I am sorry for the delay. We are currently waiting on the cylinder block
kit. These should be in our hands by mid-week. Please advise.



Thanks,

Derrick Dalton

 

[cedricward]

These are pics of my Craftsman Lawn Tractor tranny version K46BT.
Parked it last in July 2012 and saw oil under the tranny. Dropped the lower pan and parts fell out...DUH!
Dropped the entire tranny and when on the internet to Sears to see the cost of replacement parts. They only sell a complete tranny for $350 back in July. I thought that was pretty expensive until I discovered this website and discovered the maker at TuffTorq. They wanted double that.
I talked with Derrick back then but wasn't all that impressed with the answers I was getting but I wasn't that familiar yet with the tranny and what I eventually learned on this website. I went to order just the 37 tooth gear that had lost two teeth and then gouged two holes in the lower pan causing the oil leak. The lower pan costs $135 but I think I can heal it with some Loctite aluminum weld goo or maybe take it to a local heliarc welder to repair for hopefully about $20 (not verified yet). I was surprised by the $25 minimum purchase requirement, but after all the recommendations to use the 5/50 synthetic oil I can cover that requirement by buying from Tuff Torq with the gear and a few other small parts like some filters, drain plugs and extra pins that seem to get lost.
All the help on this excellent website are appreciated and cheers to LOGG for starting it. All us HAVE TO DO IT OURSELFERS due to being broke in this horrible economy and can't afford better tractors are grateful to you all for your posts.
I'll try to update as I make progress.
I wouldn't buy another product from Sears as you can't repair most of them without getting gouged on replacement parts, especially my front load washer. Their management has ruined the company. Their cordless drill batteries cost as much as the whole drill cost and the keep changing batteries. I had to take mine to Batteries Plus to put new batteries in to be able to use my drill/saw combo kit. DON'T BUY SEARS TOOLS except for maybe their hand tools.

 

[MD83Z]

I used a two part liquid steel for the much smaller hole in the trans pan, and it is holding up without leaks. My pics are back a few pages. The aluminum chips ground out of the pan scored up the pump and motor block....I am using valvoline 50 weight racing oil (high zinc content) because it is cheep and I plan to open up for inspection this winter. Once everything checks out I may switch to synthetic.

 

[cedricward]

I used a two part liquid steel for the much smaller hole in the trans pan, and it is holding up without leaks. My pics are back a few pages. The aluminum chips ground out of the pan scored up the pump and motor block....I am using valvoline 50 weight racing oil (high zinc content) because it is cheep and I plan to open up for inspection this winter. Once everything checks out I may switch to synthetic.

Thanks for the info. I ordered my parts and took the lower pan to the local heliarc welder who charged $30. I should get it back any day now. I talked to Derrick at TT before ordering the parts to see if there was anything else I should order to avoid extra shipping for any small items I might need later. I ordered the#100 gear kit, a new filter, the 5/50 oil and a new sealing cap all for under $80 including the shipping.
I'll call Derrick to see what else I might need to do if my pump, etc was damaged as you indicate.
As repairs progress, I will update, especially if anything damaged needs to have a picture for others to see what happens in these trannies when things break.

 

[stevem5215]

Well, thanks to this thread I have successfully repaired my Craftsman Pro 24hp 42" model with the K46BT tranny. It was slow (and whiny) in going up hills and finally got worse last week. The tractor has been in service for 2 1/2 years and has 220hrs on it and was used pretty heavily on 4 acres during that time. I pulled the tranny out and popped off the rubber cap. Didn't have many metal shavings on the magnet. Dumped the dirty looking oil into a measured bucket to ensure I got all 2.15 quarts out of it. Then I poured in my 5W-50 syn that I bought at Advance Auto parts. ($9 a quart) Cleaned the magnet and put it back together with a new drive belt (1/2" x 92.4" - 130969) and purged it with out having the wheels on the ground moving the drive back and forth till it was smooth. Tested it out on my hills here for an hour cutting the grass and all is good again ! Thanks to all who have posted with the fixes. It's worked again !

Steve (Pittsburgh, Pa)

 

[GeorgeBrennan]

Hi, amazing amount of info and intelligent discussion.

My K46 tale...

Area I mow is around 3 acres including some 40 degree gullys/slopes.

I have a K46E in a C300 Countax and a spare (can't remember which variant) in a C600 I picked up along the way as a bargain (｣75) for parts only (blown engine)

When the first one started failing I replaced it with the spare. I stripped it down with help from the great info here and polished up the (scored) central case surfaces.

I also noticed one of the diff gears (forward side) was in poor shape so that was a quick tidy up with a diamond file and swapped the large bevel gears over as a temporary solution while I thought about what to do about it ;-).

Of course a few weeks in to thinking about it the spare started failing... So I swapped the original back and the temporary fix works fine forthe moment .

Stripping the spare I found the diff gears in really bad condition - pics attached. Although as I've already swapped about ｣200 worth of parts I can't complain too much.

So as I'm in the UK and those nice people at TT don't take my debit card I tried t-g-m in the UK who were very helpful.
Diff gear kit and filter in stock and delivered in a couple of days at roughly 1:1 usd/gbp which is pretty typical.

Parts arrived today so it's a week end job.
Best oil I can find locally is 5/40 synthetic and I'm toying with the idea of adding a temp gauge to the diff.



and

 

[wactbn]

After months of self-debate, I finally decided to try the Change The Oil Only diet and avoid the pump/motor surgery as much as possible on my L130. I ordered just these parts, and bought Castrol Edge 5W50 oil from the local AutoZone:

1. 187Q0399940 DRAIN BOLT KIT 2 0.87 1.74
2. 1A646083050 FAN WHITE 1 7.51 7.51
3. 168T2024250 VENT VALVE 1 6.18 6.18
4. 168T2036300 SEALING CAP 30 1 2.42 2.42
5. 168T2025220 FILTER 105 1 10.21 10.21

I was pretty disappointed at the $16.05 UPS Ground charge for such a small order, since it would have fit inside a $10 USPS Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box, although I would have much preferred "free" Amazon Prime shipping.

I got the vent valve and sealing cap on the advice of a previous post. I broke the vent valve while removing it, so I'm very grateful! The sealing cap stayed intact, but I replaced it anyways since the rubber had already developed an outside surface crack. The magnet had a nice collection of metal bits, but didn't strike me as overly concerning for an old machine with 374 hours.


I didn't use the filter as I decided to drill and tap the bottom case in situ and didn't feel like cracking the case and sealing it up again. And this would be a good exercise to see how little work I can get away with. Thankfully I already had an M8x1.25 tap in my toolbox so that saved me at least $6.


Overall it took me about 3 hours to remove the transaxle, drain the oil, add the two new drain holes, fill with new oil, replace the damaged fan, and reinstall the transaxle. A snap ring tool was needed to remove the fan. Although I had to replace my fan anyways, it really needs to come out to gain access to the sealing cap.

When I first drove it, it was slow moving, but gradually regained its speed after a few minutes of driving back and forth. I won't really know how effective the oil change will be until we get hot weather again next summer, since I took off the mower and installed the snowthrower in preparation for whatever Sandy decides to bring to NH.