TuffTorq K46 Repair Guide with Pictures

[LotsofGreenGrass]

Hi lots;
The ports are in a ring around the block & cyl. surfaces. If you look at say the cyl. surface, if I remember correctly, there are 3 bright rings around the mating surface of the cyl. The center ring has 3 or 4 holes in it, which is were the oil passes thru.The scoring in my case was between these ports,letting the oil leak between them.It only took a very slight grind to clean it up.Hope this helps.Too bad I could'nt have helped others before they spent their money. Tractor still running great.

Cheers
PS The info I got from Tuff Torq shows this cyl.

Ok, now I understand. Good, now people have more options! I wish I would have kept my old parts to see if mine had this issue.

 

[joebob]

Hi Lots;
Good. I wonder how many guys still have their parts. might be a money maker to repair them.
Cheers
Joebob

 

[doblerb]

Just wanted to thank LotsofGreenGrass for this thread as I just completed a successful repair of my K46 tranny out of a Craftsman DYS4500 which is about 5 years old (not sure how many hours are on it but it has to be getting up there). I probably wouldn't have attempted the repair myself without all the info found here, thanks again!

Everything started when my wife was using the mower at her mother's house. She had just completed mowing the back yard and stopped to talk with her mother for a minute before moving to the front. From what she told me, there was a load bang followed by white smoke and then the mower wouldn't move anymore. She said there was just a lot of clanking when it was put into gear and the engine ran just fine. I assumed it was just a drive belt (from her report of white smoke, I mean what else produces white smoke?) After further inspection, the belt was fine and I began to think I had a much deeper problem. After dropping the deck and getting the tranny off, I pulled the pan off and discovered ball bearings, lots of metal shavings and plastic pieces all over inside the case. WTF???

I decided to do some research on this before venturing further which is how I got to this website and thread. I was able to get the parts diagram from the Tuff-Torq website which identified the problem parts as the thrust bearing/swash plate, which was completely destroyed and in pieces. What is wierd is that there was no indication of probable failure before this thing decided to "explode" in the case and I wasn't experiencing the drop in power like others have complained of with the K46.

Nevertheless, I ordered the thrust bearing and swash plate kit from Tuff-Torq (I opted out of getting the Pump and Motor as I really didn't notice a loss in power). I also got some RTV sealant for the pan and 5W-50 synthetic oil locally.

I removed the rest of the assemblies and cleaned out the inner case thoroughly to remove the metal shavings, ball bearings, etc. Re-assembly was easy with the parts assembly diagram from Tuff-Torq (you have to create an account on their website to get these and other items from the website) and the other comments from this thread as what to watch out for. I waited 12 hours for the RTV to dry, filled with the oil, mounted back on the tractor and attached linkages/belts. She didn't do anything at first, until I completed the air purging procedure from Tuff-Torq's website, wow that scared me for a bit!! After purging the air, she just took off and the wheels started spinning!!!! YES!!!!

While the deck was off, I decided to clean it a bit and sharpen the blades with my side grinder as they were looking pretty rough. I'm glad I took the time to do this then as it is a pain to get the blades off otherwise. Anyway, I got the deck mounted and linkages attached, then preceded to mow my lawn for the next 2 hours. She ran even better than before in my opinion, perhaps just having the different oil in it made it better, plus the braking seemed better, not sure why though?

Overall I had about 80 bucks into it with parts, shipping, RTV and synthetic oil, plus a lot of personal time (there was some beer drinking mixed in that time as well) put into this. Much better that having somebody else fix it for hundreds of dollars!!

Thanks again LotsofGreenGrass!!

Brandon Dobler
Little Falls, MN

 

[LotsofGreenGrass]

Just wanted to thank LotsofGreenGrass for this thread as I just completed a successful repair of my K46 tranny out of a Craftsman DYS4500 which is about 5 years old (not sure how many hours are on it but it has to be getting up there). I probably wouldn't have attempted the repair myself without all the info found here, thanks again!

Everything started when my wife was using the mower at her mother's house. She had just completed mowing the back yard and stopped to talk with her mother for a minute before moving to the front. From what she told me, there was a load bang followed by white smoke and then the mower wouldn't move anymore. She said there was just a lot of clanking when it was put into gear and the engine ran just fine. I assumed it was just a drive belt (from her report of white smoke, I mean what else produces white smoke?) After further inspection, the belt was fine and I began to think I had a much deeper problem. After dropping the deck and getting the tranny off, I pulled the pan off and discovered ball bearings, lots of metal shavings and plastic pieces all over inside the case. WTF???

I decided to do some research on this before venturing further which is how I got to this website and thread. I was able to get the parts diagram from the Tuff-Torq website which identified the problem parts as the thrust bearing/swash plate, which was completely destroyed and in pieces. What is wierd is that there was no indication of probable failure before this thing decided to "explode" in the case and I wasn't experiencing the drop in power like others have complained of with the K46.

Nevertheless, I ordered the thrust bearing and swash plate kit from Tuff-Torq (I opted out of getting the Pump and Motor as I really didn't notice a loss in power). I also got some RTV sealant for the pan and 5W-50 synthetic oil locally.

I removed the rest of the assemblies and cleaned out the inner case thoroughly to remove the metal shavings, ball bearings, etc. Re-assembly was easy with the parts assembly diagram from Tuff-Torq (you have to create an account on their website to get these and other items from the website) and the other comments from this thread as what to watch out for. I waited 12 hours for the RTV to dry, filled with the oil, mounted back on the tractor and attached linkages/belts. She didn't do anything at first, until I completed the air purging procedure from Tuff-Torq's website, wow that scared me for a bit!! After purging the air, she just took off and the wheels started spinning!!!! YES!!!!

While the deck was off, I decided to clean it a bit and sharpen the blades with my side grinder as they were looking pretty rough. I'm glad I took the time to do this then as it is a pain to get the blades off otherwise. Anyway, I got the deck mounted and linkages attached, then preceded to mow my lawn for the next 2 hours. She ran even better than before in my opinion, perhaps just having the different oil in it made it better, plus the braking seemed better, not sure why though?

Overall I had about 80 bucks into it with parts, shipping, RTV and synthetic oil, plus a lot of personal time (there was some beer drinking mixed in that time as well) put into this. Much better that having somebody else fix it for hundreds of dollars!!

Thanks again LotsofGreenGrass!!

Brandon Dobler
Little Falls, MN

Glad to help!

 

[LotsofGreenGrass]

FYI
For some reason I don't always receive notification when someone comments on this repair guide.

I prefer to have questions asked on this thread, rather than via PM. It's not that I dislike PM's, I just want to share the experiences of others on the thread so we can keep relevant info. flowing on the this subject.

If I don't reply on the thread, then PM me.

 

[hustonrx]

Well the Rebuild is done. I am waiting for the seal to cure. Thanks for all of the help. I am afraid my transmission was a little further gone than your's. Some of the teeth on the pinion gear were showing signs of ware. Well I hope for the best and maybe I can get a couple more years use out of it. I will install tomorrow. Crosss your fingers and hope it works for now.

Rex

 

[LotsofGreenGrass]

Well the Rebuild is done. I am waiting for the seal to cure. Thanks for all of the help. I am afraid my transmission was a little further gone than your's. Some of the teeth on the pinion gear were showing signs of ware. Well I hope for the best and maybe I can get a couple more years use out of it. I will install tomorrow. Crosss your fingers and hope it works for now.

Rex

You're welcome.

Sounds like this will work out fine. This transmission is not that complicated. If it does not work, it is usually something minor.

 

[JSlomke]

Sorry it took me so long to reply I've been mowing a lot!
Seriously, I took only a slightly different path. I followed your tear down, but continued to dismantle the whole transmission and threw the parts into my solvent tank for a good bath. I also went ahead and ordered the IDS (Internal Damper System). It ended up costing a bit more, but, if I can squeeze another 5 to 7 years out of the transmission it will be worth it. In hindsight, the transmission has performed very well over the summer, and I could not be happier! Again, thanks very much for pointing me in the right direction.
:thumbsup:

 

[LotsofGreenGrass]

Sorry it took me so long to reply I've been mowing a lot!
Seriously, I took only a slightly different path. I followed your tear down, but continued to dismantle the whole transmission and threw the parts into my solvent tank for a good bath. I also went ahead and ordered the IDS (Internal Damper System). It ended up costing a bit more, but, if I can squeeze another 5 to 7 years out of the transmission it will be worth it. In hindsight, the transmission has performed very well over the summer, and I could not be happier! Again, thanks very much for pointing me in the right direction.
:thumbsup:

Great ! Nothing like a good bath.

 

[LotsofGreenGrass]

Just wanted to thank LotsofGreenGrass for this thread as I just completed a successful repair of my K46 tranny out of a Craftsman DYS4500 which is about 5 years old (not sure how many hours are on it but it has to be getting up there). I probably wouldn't have attempted the repair myself without all the info found here, thanks again!

Everything started when my wife was using the mower at her mother's house. She had just completed mowing the back yard and stopped to talk with her mother for a minute before moving to the front. From what she told me, there was a load bang followed by white smoke and then the mower wouldn't move anymore. She said there was just a lot of clanking when it was put into gear and the engine ran just fine. I assumed it was just a drive belt (from her report of white smoke, I mean what else produces white smoke?) After further inspection, the belt was fine and I began to think I had a much deeper problem. After dropping the deck and getting the tranny off, I pulled the pan off and discovered ball bearings, lots of metal shavings and plastic pieces all over inside the case. WTF???

I decided to do some research on this before venturing further which is how I got to this website and thread. I was able to get the parts diagram from the Tuff-Torq website which identified the problem parts as the thrust bearing/swash plate, which was completely destroyed and in pieces. What is wierd is that there was no indication of probable failure before this thing decided to "explode" in the case and I wasn't experiencing the drop in power like others have complained of with the K46.

Nevertheless, I ordered the thrust bearing and swash plate kit from Tuff-Torq (I opted out of getting the Pump and Motor as I really didn't notice a loss in power). I also got some RTV sealant for the pan and 5W-50 synthetic oil locally.

I removed the rest of the assemblies and cleaned out the inner case thoroughly to remove the metal shavings, ball bearings, etc. Re-assembly was easy with the parts assembly diagram from Tuff-Torq (you have to create an account on their website to get these and other items from the website) and the other comments from this thread as what to watch out for. I waited 12 hours for the RTV to dry, filled with the oil, mounted back on the tractor and attached linkages/belts. She didn't do anything at first, until I completed the air purging procedure from Tuff-Torq's website, wow that scared me for a bit!! After purging the air, she just took off and the wheels started spinning!!!! YES!!!!

While the deck was off, I decided to clean it a bit and sharpen the blades with my side grinder as they were looking pretty rough. I'm glad I took the time to do this then as it is a pain to get the blades off otherwise. Anyway, I got the deck mounted and linkages attached, then preceded to mow my lawn for the next 2 hours. She ran even better than before in my opinion, perhaps just having the different oil in it made it better, plus the braking seemed better, not sure why though?

Overall I had about 80 bucks into it with parts, shipping, RTV and synthetic oil, plus a lot of personal time (there was some beer drinking mixed in that time as well) put into this. Much better that having somebody else fix it for hundreds of dollars!!

Thanks again LotsofGreenGrass!!

Brandon Dobler
Little Falls, MN

Good pictures! These really help shed light on failures for others.

 

[glenracing]

I want to thank Greengrass for posting this guide. My 2004 L130 was exhibiting all the symptons described herein with the K46 not able to move on nearly level ground once it was hot (about 45 minutes). This began about 2 years ago around 250 hours and this year at about 350 hours became un bearable. I did the overhaul by replacing the pump and motor units and the filter. Parts, etc about $165. I did notice the scoring that doblerb described in his post and it may be that macining without parts would have worked. Since I wanted to fix it when I got it opened up I ordered the parts and bought 3 quarts of 5w50 synthetic and the permatex ultra copper sealant at a local auto parts store. The diagram from tuff torq is absolutely a necessity. Only problem was the tiny rod that fell out of the block when it was lifted out. It goes back in the small hole that is about 1/2" FROM THE CENTER HOLE FOR THE SHAFT. The thin washer covers this hole when installed on the shaft. You must be careful that the little rod doesn't slide out the back of the hole while reinstalling the block until the free-wheel stud blocks it in place from behind. If you enlarge the parts diagram on-screen you will see that the line pointing to the correct location for the little rod is accurately drawn to the side of the center of the shaft. I did have to do the air bleeding procedure which is described on the tuff torq web site. It was pretty scary for a few minutes but gradually the torque picked up. I am pleasantly surprised by the reduction in noise and the increased driving power which I hadn't experienced since the tractor was new. I took this opportunity to install a new drive belt which I bought a couple of years ago (because I thought the old one was slipping, hahaha!) but had not installed. I think if I can get another 5 years out of the tranny the mower will probably be ready to be retired anyway. Again Thanks to all who posted their comments here which gave me the encouragement to do the overhaul.

 

[Dmvue]

Does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade the K46 internals to the K66 internals.

 

[farmermick]

big thank you to lotsofgreengrass, carried out repair job on jd145 transaxle
successfully with the help i recieved on here.my jd145 had only 70 hrs from new so i was quite dissapointed when it packed up...........now it running again ,slighty more noise coming from it and a bit slower going into rev,think i,didn,t vent it fully but it runs :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[firebug019]

Just spent the last 4 hours searching for a new K46 transaxle for a L120. This thread is a LIFE saver!! Just picked up a L120 today for $400 because the previous owner got tired of it slowing down when cutting after an hour. He bought a new mower instead of fixing it. Wish me LUCK on the repair. My last Deere, 180 model lasted over 26 years. Thanks again for making my night.

 

[BATTY54]

farmermick, mine did the same, more noise and still a little off on power. I pulled it out again and checked the oil level, I needed to add 1/2 qt and it has been fine since.

 

[ampsucker]

well, i guess i'm a member of this club, now!

my scott's/deere L17.542 gave up on me today while mulching leaves.

wouldn't go in forward or reverse and just kind of makes a rubbery squeeking sound when the pedal is engaged back or forwards. had to push it back out to the trailer and up the ramps.

oh, well. i have more than 800 hours on this machine so i guess i got my money's worth. i have pulled dethatchers, plug aerators, trailers, a 600 lb roller, etc. over the years and mowed a 10 acre field with it for 2 summers! that in addition to the 6-7 acreas i mow every year since it was new in 2001.

i'll be tearing it down over the thanksgiving day weekend and it's really nice to have this write up to refer to. great job! now that i know it can be done, i'll try to fix it myself rather than buying a new mower.

amp

 

[Johndeere3720]

Wow. Very informative thread! I have an L118 with 347.8 some hours, this is a very useful thread. Yet my tranny is still going strong.

 

[ampsucker]

well, took mine apart over the last couple days as had time.

found the drive sheave (pulley A) was slipping on the input shaft - both shaft and pulley were stripped out. new shaft assembly/bearing kit $25.51. new pulley sheave $10.30

i do show some wear on the pump housings and pistons so am replacing those with the cylinder block kit and center case kit. did i mention i have over 700 hours on this thing?

total cost is looking to be around $240.

ordering on monday.

now if i can just remember how it all goes back together by the time the parts get here!

 

[LotsofGreenGrass]

well, took mine apart over the last couple days as had time.

found the drive sheave (pulley A) was slipping on the input shaft - both shaft and pulley were stripped out. new shaft assembly/bearing kit $25.51. new pulley sheave $10.30

i do show some wear on the pump housings and pistons so am replacing those with the cylinder block kit and center case kit. did i mention i have over 700 hours on this thing?

total cost is looking to be around $240.

ordering on monday.

now if i can just remember how it all goes back together by the time the parts get here!

700 hours? Wow! Good luck with your rebuild. Take picts if you can : )

 

[ampsucker]

forgot i was going to post up the exploded parts diagram and parts list that derrick send me.

these are for the 46V hydro.