ZD1211 trans fluid way high and some on floor?

Solar07 · Aug 2, 2017

Question to you ZD12xx guys. I have about 40 hours on my zd1211. After mowing yesterday, I noticed a small puddle of fluid on the garage floor. After some looking the bar right under the transmission and hydraulic hear box was covered in oil, it looked to have run down from the top of the transmission. Upon review, I have checked the dip stick several times and the fluid is way past the full line. It's past that flat portion of the dip stick and about an inch up on the round part. I'm suspecting it may have blown some out of that rubber boot/cup out of the top since so full but I can't be certain.

Question is, is it bad that the fluid is that high? Has damage been done if so as I have like 2 months warranty left so if this is bad I won't let just some fluid removal fly. I've. Checked it cold, warm, hot , running and not running and it's always high. After a idling for 2 mins from cold I checked it and it was a tad bubbly. Normal?

2. When at low diesel rpms, like a tad above idle or half throttle, the trans is very chattery and clangy, is that normal? I know these don't like to be logged but my L3800 HST doesn't do that so I'm curious.

Thanks all. I want to be prepared when I take it to the dealer.

davesl708 · Aug 2, 2017

I would get the machine to the dealer under warranty. With only 40hrs it seems it may have been overfilled at the dealer when prepped.
Not good to run that much over the fill line. Clanging is never good in a transmission.

kuboman · Aug 2, 2017

Solar07 said:
Question to you ZD12xx guys. I have about 40 hours on my zd1211. After mowing yesterday, I noticed a small puddle of fluid on the garage floor. After some looking the bar right under the transmission and hydraulic hear box was covered in oil, it looked to have run down from the top of the transmission. Upon review, I have checked the dip stick several times and the fluid is way past the full line. It's past that flat portion of the dip stick and about an inch up on the round part. I'm suspecting it may have blown some out of that rubber boot/cup out of the top since so full but I can't be certain.

Question is, is it bad that the fluid is that high? Has damage been done if so as I have like 2 months warranty left so if this is bad I won't let just some fluid removal fly. I've. Checked it cold, warm, hot , running and not running and it's always high. After a idling for 2 mins from cold I checked it and it was a tad bubbly. Normal?

2. When at low diesel rpms, like a tad above idle or half throttle, the trans is very chattery and clangy, is that normal? I know these don't like to be logged but my L3800 HST doesn't do that so I'm curious.

Thanks all. I want to be prepared when I take it to the dealer.

Not sure what you mean by clunky or rattley but the tranny should not make that noise. The only noise mine makes is from the engine. It should be mentioned to the dealer so they can notate it before end of warranty so if it does fail after warranty it will be covered.

Solar07 · Aug 2, 2017

kuboman said:
Not sure what you mean by clunky or rattley but the tranny should not make that noise. The only noise mine makes is from the engine. It should be mentioned to the dealer so they can notate it before end of warranty so if it does fail after warranty it will be covered.

Thanks guys. Dropped it off at the dealer. Told them what was up. See what Happens. Noise seems to be after running for a bit, if you throttle down to mid to low rpms and try to move, it sounds pretty metal rattling like.

Brown Dog · Aug 2, 2017

I just unloaded my new ZD1211RL-72R tonight & mowed 30 mins.

It's POURING Hyd Fld from under filter.
I tightened Hyd filter with 3 fingers it was so loose.

STILL LEAKING.

Solar07 · Aug 8, 2017

Ok, so the dealer took it in and said it was way high on fluid. They drained it, ran it and it was high again. Drained again and got it where it should be. I got it back today and it actually seems smoother. Nonetheless after two hours of mowing I was hearing the chatter again from the trans. This is Only happening at low rpms. I took a couple videos. See the links. It's hard to capture with the engine running. It's louder in person but you can hear the chatter. Could guys get yours nice and warm and on low rpms, move the levers forward and maneuver around and see if you have a similar sound? Is it possible it just doesn't like low rpm putting around ? And this is normal hydrostat sounds under low rpm load?

Links

Trans chatter on ZD1211 part 1 - YouTube

Zd1211 trans chatter part 2 - YouTube