TuffTorq K46 Repair Guide with Pictures

[tom3]

I see you're post 953 on this thread and you're the first to get any real backing from that company. One out of a thousand on this site alone, how many others out there had to spend hundreds of dollars on this piece of crap transmission to keep their lawn tractor going. The transmission should outlast the mower I think. And sure not a positive result from Husqvarna and I have been looking at those to replace my JD L130 later this summer. I'll keep looking.

 

[Flyboy712]

There have been many others that seemed to have good support from them.

Most of the posts above had issues with the transmission after a few hundred hours and years of use. Mine died within 60 days and 5 or 6hrs of use.

TuffTorq honored a warranty that in my opinion should have been taken care of by Husqvarna. TuffTorq sells these to many manufactures. When the engine quits in your new truck you take it back to Ram not Cummins right? It's very likely that no matter what brand mower you buy if it has a hydrostatic transmission in it it's probably gonna be a TuffTorq.

I do agree that the K46 series seem to be weak and more prone to problems than some of their other models. They been making them for a lot of years and are still having issues with them without much in the way of dependability improvements.

One of the lessons I learned from this is to buy from a dedicated dealer and not the box stores. At least that way you have a dealer to bring it back to.

The other thing is that yes there may be a 1000 posts on here over the last 10yrs but there are hundreds of thousands of these transmissions out there running around that have likely outlived the mower without a hiccup or any maintenance ever performed on them.

As far as the mower goes it's a great mower, runs fairly quiet and is really smooth. It mows great. Husqvarna customer support not so much. My first request went into them in August, I've called emailed and filled out their online form at least 6 or 7 times and I've yet to hear anything back from them.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Hey,

First post here on the site, but what brought me here was this thread. Great info and a big help! Thank you.

My story is a bit different but the same and I wanted to share it and give TuffTorq a kuddos.

I bought a brand new Husqvarna YTH24V48 at the end of June last summer to mow my 2.5 acre yard. At about 6hrs on the machine reverse went out and would only move very slow and only on a hard level surface. At 9hrs forward did the same thing. It was past my 30day return to Lowe's so I couldn't bring it back and so I began the process of trying to get in touch with Husqvarna for warranty work. No such luck. I got nowhere with them not even a single reply or call back. I then started searching out service centers to see if I could make any progress there. All of the service centers on husqvarna's website within 150mi of me all stated they don't work on riding mowers.

I thought well I'll drain the factory oil and put in a 50w synthetic and see if that helps. It did a little, I was able to roll on level grass but not much more than that. By now we were into fall and getting ready for winter so it became something that was on the back burner for a bit.

After the first of the year I attempted the Husqvarna support thing again with the same results of nothing. I figured I was out of luck for getting any warranty work done and decided to get ahold of TuffTorq and see if I could order some parts or a new transmission.

I got a very nice lady named Kristen on the phone and explained my situation and I said I wanted to order some parts for it. She said before we do that let me find one of our service centers and we'll pay for the repairs. I thought cool! Unfortunately no service centers within 150mi and the closest one said they wouldn't work on it.

I got back in touch withTuffTorq (nice guy named Gill this time) and told him what the shop said and I asked if I could send it to them for repair. He said no but if you take a picture of your hour meter and email it and your address we'll send you a new transmission.

Less than a week later I had in my hands a brand new transmission free of charge!

Great customer service and thanks for not letting me buy parts or a new transmission.

They didn't want the old one back so I think I'm gonna open it up and see what's happening on the inside that caused it fail so quickly. If it's salvageable I think I'll machine the pump block and pump and motor ends and clean them up and have a spare if the new one quits working.

There have been many others that seemed to have good support from them.

Most of the posts above had issues with the transmission after a few hundred hours and years of use. Mine died within 60 days and 5 or 6hrs of use.

TuffTorq honored a warranty that in my opinion should have been taken care of by Husqvarna. TuffTorq sells these to many manufactures. When the engine quits in your new truck you take it back to Ram not Cummins right? It's very likely that no matter what brand mower you buy if it has a hydrostatic transmission in it it's probably gonna be a TuffTorq.

I do agree that the K46 series seem to be weak and more prone to problems than some of their other models. They been making them for a lot of years and are still having issues with them without much in the way of dependability improvements.

One of the lessons I learned from this is to buy from a dedicated dealer and not the box stores. At least that way you have a dealer to bring it back to.

The other thing is that yes there may be a 1000 posts on here over the last 10yrs but there are hundreds of thousands of these transmissions out there running around that have likely outlived the mower without a hiccup or any maintenance ever performed on them.

As far as the mower goes it's a great mower, runs fairly quiet and is really smooth. It mows great. Husqvarna customer support not so much. My first request went into them in August, I've called emailed and filled out their online form at least 6 or 7 times and I've yet to hear anything back from them.

I'm happy you're happy. Sorry you had so much trouble. You just talked me out of any Husqvarna products.

Let this be a lesson for those who want to buy a rider from lowes, homedepot, walmart box store with no service department.....

I know if you buy a Deere at homedepot, that our dealer will honor warranty and work on it. But the cheaper models do have cheaper parts....Research the warranty.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

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

I had good service from tuff torq. And I bought my husqvarna from a dealer with a service department, not a box store. But once it’s out of warranty, you are going to pay someone to fix it, or you do it yourself.

 

[Tbunn]

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

Kudos to LotsofGreenGrass and P901. Your info proved invaluable in fixing an ailing JD L130, 23HP Kohler, K46 transaxle. My neighbors JD had all the symptoms: slowing over time as you mowed, groaning, and in the end it struggled to move at all. At 406 hours I removed the rear end and dumped the oil. It showed all the signs of sever temp breakdown. I first tried just a fluid change, but was not satisfied with the results and decided to open up the trans. Bottom line: I used a plate of thick glass as a backer and sanded the mating surfaces of the Cylinder block (pump) and the Cylinder block (Motor) as shown to remove the wear rings. Started with 320 and finished with 600, both grits bathed in oil. Cleaned up everything put it back together as shown and we were off to the races. No groans and much more power to the wheels. Thanks very much for your time to document what you found. PS: I also shimmed the same areas as P901 did. It tightened up the drive train nicely. Thanks for the tip.

 

[mattock]

If the rear wheels roll w/ freewheel lever pushed in, then either the hydraulic circuit is open/leaking somewhere (or insufficient oil) or gears are stripped or not engaging as they should. I'd start by looking at the gear train (since that's easiest to inspect), starting w/ the reduction gears #42 & 66 (kit 100) in tufftorq website diagrams and follow the gear train thru the differential to the axles, looking for broken teeth or other issues that prevent engagement of mating gear pairs. If that looks good, take another look at the hydraulic side assembly: is some part in backwards?, or check for proper assembly of the bypass pin in the centercase and everything that contacts that pin: the washer between motor & centercase, and the bypass shaft & lever & rod. Good Luck

hi Experts,
i have this problem after the repair K46 - I push the tractor with my hands / bypass off /
In the locksmith's workshop, they grinded me the pump block and cylinders.
After folding the transmission, hydro gear works but does not respond quickly to the pedal. and tractor is possible push with hands
Is necessary adjust too washer part 39 ? can this cause my problem?
is suitable oil UTTO 10w-30 ?
thank you for advice

 

[mattock]

or it is normal ? / i push the tractor with my hands / bypass off / it is not a function IDS valve ?
washer part 39 is losse ....
I don't know where to look for a problem

 

[buckeyefarmer]

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

Kudos to LotsofGreenGrass and P901. Your info proved invaluable in fixing an ailing JD L130, 23HP Kohler, K46 transaxle. My neighbors JD had all the symptoms: slowing over time as you mowed, groaning, and in the end it struggled to move at all. At 406 hours I removed the rear end and dumped the oil. It showed all the signs of sever temp breakdown. I first tried just a fluid change, but was not satisfied with the results and decided to open up the trans. Bottom line: I used a plate of thick glass as a backer and sanded the mating surfaces of the Cylinder block (pump) and the Cylinder block (Motor) as shown to remove the wear rings. Started with 320 and finished with 600, both grits bathed in oil. Cleaned up everything put it back together as shown and we were off to the races. No groans and much more power to the wheels. Thanks very much for your time to document what you found. PS: I also shimmed the same areas as P901 did. It tightened up the drive train nicely. Thanks for the tip.

Picture?

 

[stackhsc]

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

Old and long thread.

Are many using the thicker viscosity oil that was mentioned... the 75-90?


i was going to do a rebuild however i contacted tuff torq and now they say you cant buy individual parts, have to get the whole kit according to the person i was talking with.


I did find a spring rebuild kit online for the pump and motor. Would this be worth doing?

 

[RBLapham]

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

Old and long thread.

Are many using the thicker viscosity oil that was mentioned... the 75-90?

I did find a spring rebuild kit online for the pump and motor. Would this be worth doing?

Crazy to try that thick of oil. 5-50 synthetic motor oil should be best. Some that have loss of power have used a transmission leak additive with some help.

Rebuilding the pump and motor only fixes half of the problem. The part of the case that wears and gets scratched is the other half that needs repair.