Tuff Torq K46 - rebuild or just drain/refill oil?

[tomplum]

 

[Richard001]

I love it when thing fix themselves.

 

[n1iwv]

You radiate repair!!!

 

[jpilk99]

Hah. Yes I dooooo. Thank you. So happy.

 

[crashz]

I just inherited a John Deere LA150 with bagger. It cut my grandparents lawn for the last 20 some-odd years. I performed some maintenance items (still need to replace the drive and deck belts) and now I'm thinking I should drain and fill the transmission. As far as I know it has no driving issues (drives and mows great!) but I think I'd like to keep it running well, versus try my luck.

 

[jpilk99]

I just inherited a John Deere LA150 with bagger. It cut my grandparents lawn for the last 20 some-odd years. I performed some maintenance items (still need to replace the drive and deck belts) and now I'm thinking I should drain and fill the transmission. As far as I know it has no driving issues (drives and mows great!) but I think I'd like to keep it running well, versus try my luck.

Well, I think from everything I've learned, there's certainly no harm in draining and replacing the fluid. Obviously, you gotta remove the tranny from the machine and that's a little work. But, a fresh bath of new fluid should help it live a long healthy life. If I could impart one thing that I've learned firsthand, which is not talked a lot about: Do NOT tow anything with these machines, at least nothing about 50 lbs. The K46 will fade away on it's own with just normal use. You tow anything and the likelihood of rebuild goes up precipitously, in my humble opinion. Good luck.

 

[Richard001]

Interesting that the machine has gone on for over 20 years without any tranny issues, Now changing tranny oil seems to be on the list.

Here is something that happened to me. Not on a lawn tractor, but my car. It is a 1997 Camaro Z28 with the auto transmission. The car has about 160,000 miles on it. Last year, I went to a Chev dealer to have the tranny oil changed.

After sitting in the lobby for about a half hour, the tech came to me and said that I was better off not changing the oil as he feared that the new oil could cause tranny problems. He said you are better off just leaving it.

Richard

 

[beenthere]

the tech came to me and said that I was better off not changing the oil as he feared that the new oil could cause tranny problems. He said you are better off just leaving it.

I'd guess that was their decision to ward off any subsequent problems with the tranny getting blamed for "changing the oil" and the Chev dealer having to stand back of the problem. Prolly a wise decision on their part.