TuffTorq K46 Repair Guide with Pictures

[nealfry]

Re: TuffTorq K46 / John Deere L110 Transmission Repair Guide with Pictures

Hello, I have been searching now since 2010 for the Cylinder Block(pump) Kits for my John Deere L120, and to my despair I can't seem to find anyone who can help me get these kits. I have been looking at your pages and tried to contact the mentioned name but no luck . I would pay someone who can get the correct pump kits I need to fix my mower.

 

[RBLapham]

Re: TuffTorq K46 / John Deere L110 Transmission Repair Guide with Pictures

Hello, I have been searching now since 2010 for the Cylinder Block(pump) Kits for my John Deere L120, and to my despair I can't seem to find anyone who can help me get these kits. I have been looking at your pages and tried to contact the mentioned name but no luck . I would pay someone who can get the correct pump kits I need to fix my mower.

First post of this thread - 3rd paragraph is Tuff Torq's phone number - call them and ask for parts department.

 

[MassiveOverkill]

Those of you waiting for 200 hours to roll around to swap out your rear axle oil for synthetic..........DO IT NOW!! I had 16 hours on my Super Bronco XP and watching the old oil come out like molasses at 20F (it was clean) and then pouring the Mobile 1 0W 50 Racing going in like light syrup alone is a sign of how much better the synthetic should be able to pump. Took her out for a test drive and doing donuts in the snow on a lawn tractor is very satisfying. I just bought a snow plow and chains and hopefully we'll see in the long run if changing to synthetic will give the K46 decent longevity. The Mobile 1 I chose has the maximum zinc\phosphorous content over other racing oils. I drained and refilled mine via the vent vs the fill plug as it was easy to remove and if for some unforeseen reason I have to bring her back in for warranty work, everything will look stock.

 

[KYPunk]

Thanks for all the great information in this thread. I have a Scotts by manufactured by John Deere L2048 with a Tuff Torq K46AC used only for mowing, some hilling, some relatively flat. I typically put a little over 100 hrs. a year on it. Followed the operators manual instructions as far as service to transmission (if it is not broke do not fix it) until last June when it refused to climb a hill after the oil had warmed up with my 270 lbs. on it. At that point took the transmission off dump the oil out (it looked pretty bad) and replaced it with Castrol 5W-50 synthetic as per the Tuff Torq web site recommendation. I managed to limp through the rest of the mowing season mowing the hills before it warmed up and then one hill climb at a time. By end of the season, with 1035 hours of service on the machine, it would not pull a slight incline and had to be opened up.
Has anybody notice aluminum material sticking in the threads of the lower case bolts? The inner liner of the filter is pulling away, has this been found before? Most of the grit in the lower case was found in the shallow end of the gear side of the unit. The magnet was fairly covered with filings. I did not find anything wrong with the gears. I do not remember anybody in this thread mentioning dimples on the plate/washer on the thrust bearing that the pistons in the motor ride against, Number 37 on the Tuff Torq schematic, the one in the wedge that frequently gets installed backwards. They are so uniform that I cannot believe that this is due to wear, it looks too manufactured. Does anyone know if this is normal or should it be replaced? I assume the problem is on the hydraulic side, but do not have any micrometers to measure the clearance of the pistons in the pump and motor. The pistons feel pretty tight, but without any comparison I am not sure I can tell the difference between .001 inch clearance and five times that amount or .005 inch clearance. There are wear marks on the surfaces of the Center Case that the pump and motor rotate against, but I cannot feel them with my finger. The main question is should I try to polish the Center Case with the sandpaper method described by others in this thread or spend the big bucks on a new one as recommended by Tuff Torq? I wonder if they harden the surface in the manufacturing process, therefore the sandpaper polish may remove all harden material leaving behind only soft aluminum to wear grooves rapidly. The last big question is about lubrication. I am wondering if the broad range of viscosity (5W-50) recommended is to accommodate all uses, in all seasons worldwide, when I want to use the best for me operating in Central Kentucky from April to November (never with an ambient temperature below 50 F). If the loss of torque is due to thin oil leaking by worn mating surfaces, I would like to use as thick of oil as possible that will not allow excessive wear to the mating surfaces during warm up. I will appreciate any knowledgeable input.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I can't say if the wedge part face is supposed to be dimpled like that or not. I was thinking not?

As far as hardening cast aluminum faces, there is no real ability to harden those faces. Keeping them ultra flat, and no scratches with clean oil is the key.

I would have to guess that your metal is from the "spider" gears maybe? They are probably made from sintered cast metal or some cheaper process like that. If somebody was to make some stronger versions, along with a hard faced pump, these trannys would be almost bulletproof. But those options would cost much more....

Thanks for posting pics. I hope someone else can chime in and give you better answers on the dimpled part.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I can't say if the wedge part face is supposed to be dimpled like that or not. I was thinking not?

As far as hardening cast aluminum faces, there is no real ability to harden those faces. Keeping them ultra flat, and no scratches with clean oil is the key.

I would have to guess that your metal is from the "spider" gears maybe? They are probably made from sintered cast metal or some cheaper process like that. If somebody was to make some stronger versions, along with a hard faced pump, these trannys would be almost bulletproof. But those options would cost much more....

Thanks for posting pics. I hope someone else can chime in and give you better answers on the dimpled part.

 

[gtunney]

You have my sympathy.

I have been running my K66-upgraded L130 since the Thanksgiving snowstorm of 2014, and it has never skipped a beat in the 30+ hours I have since put on it. The K46 used to bog down after 10-15 minutes running the snowthrower even in single-digit weather, but the K66 never gave any hints of slowing down at any temperature or load. I was so glad I had it installed in time for last winter's brutal Northeast snowstorms, and used it all summer with mowing and pulling rocks out of my driveway and flower gardens. I replaced the dry-rotted rear turf tires with ag tires in the spring. Now it can climb some of the steeper bumps in my yard with much less wheelspin than before, but it also digs up more of my lawn - good thing I don't mind those occasional dirt spots.

I keep telling myself that the $1700 K66 upgrade is an investment. A garden tractor is still out of my reach, especially since I'll also have to buy a snowthrower attachment for any new machine, which makes it even more unobtainable.

Good luck!

Well, after much soul searching and research, I decided to bag the L118. I'm in the process of buying an X585. It's a huge leap, but I won't regret having all of the extra capability. I'm going to give the L118 to a family member after I change out the transmission oil again. If the tranny dies for him, I can help him put in a replacement. At $700 for a new unit, if needed, he would still come out in good shape.

 

[Tintcutter]

Hello from Birmingham, AL!

It took 2 days to read this thread on a phone but it was worth every bit of the eyestrain. I bought my mower used, and I was told by the dealer it had 23 hours. I put an hour meter on it (yeah how did they know) so I guess I have 235 hours on my JD L130, I should say my wifes L130, and the top speed and pull from the K46 are easing back. It won't be long before rebuild now. We have a flat yard, and I made sure to keep the cart size small so it could not be heavily loaded with the occasional wood, gravel, or sand toting that goes on around here. While the yard is flat for mowing, the house sits on a wooded hill, and the mower, sans deck usually, occasionally goes up that hill.

I want to make sure to thank every single poster for adding to this thread. I have a complete idea of what I am going to do as a result of reading the whole thread, and quite frankly there are "chapters" in this thread that I would have regretted missing. I mean c'mon, when a Porsche Transmission Specialist gets involved, its getting real. The Chapter of the Sintered Gears, The Wedge of Propulsion Direction confusion, the constant problems with a tic tac, and the groans of the posters who at the very point of being elated with success, find agony in the reversed controls and the reality of reworking all they pained over. The forensics skills of posters reads like a detective novel. This was good reading. I came in a K66 fan and leave a K57 wannabe. Homemade tranny dipsticks, tapping magnetic drain plug bosses, all inspire me to greater detail. Again, THANK YOU ALL!



Edit: This mower lives in a pampered environment. We wash it with a hose, because pressure proves that it can overcome the deck bearing seals, which are checked and replaced by myself annually. I put zerks on the spindles when that design flaw showed up, and have completely stripped and repainted the deck, once at this point. Its best use is as a mulching mower, and we do all that organic mumbo jumbo with it. It enjoys a silicone shower fairly often, not just to stop electrical oxidation but also to prevent plastic oxidation. Quite frankly, it looks new. The seat is anyway, and only God knows how many bearings. The rest is green and yellow spray paint covered OEM JD. I had a Craftsman tractor style, briefly toyed with a zero turn TimeCutter which wifey promptly drove off through the Azealeas and bent the deck, and this L130. Once I realized all the bearings I bought for the Craftsman worked in BOTH the TimeCutter and this JD, I decided to not buy another mower. They are all the same, and none of the Makers are really makers, they autocad and assemble parts. Parts I have access to when I do not go through their distribution channel anyway. So if it breaks, I will fix it. I honestly do not think the little woman would notice, right off anyway. Anyway, just still jazzed from reading the thread. Or maybe its just getting finished with it. I gotta say though, for a lawnmower parts thread to have the classic themes of Man against Man (us vs JD beancounters), Man against Himself (can we do it and not screw up?), and the obvious tractor theme Man against Nature, this was a doozie. Man against God? I dunno, i guess if you are busy banging your head and the machinery breaks down you might at least temporarily feel like The Big Mechanic has it in for you. Thanks Again.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Let us know which diff you go with.

 

[Tintcutter]

Gonna replace that all that powdered gear concept with steel, setup the additional charge pump for more flow. Frankly, I am gonna mail it to that fellow at TT ( after calling first of course) and have him mod it, providing shims are something he can do. If not, I can handle it. When it comes back or gets rebuilt, the addition of a dipstick and filler tube is a given. I have had enough fiber gear, nylon gear, and other nonsense fixed at this point to not even bother with new parts of the same design. I actually do not want a locker though, as it affects turning radius by tearing grass in tight turns and since 90% of this machines function is grass care, skidding a wheel is not good for me. I had enough of that on the ZTR I owned.