Re: JD-455 Transaxle update

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:07:41 -0000, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
<lloydspinsidemindspring.com> wrote:

I had a messy but fun time pulling the Tuff Torq tranny off that old
JD455.

I've been working on the assumption that the shade-tree guy who welded
the tow valves shut actually caused the "no reverse" problem it has.
Now, I'm pretty convinced.

There were a couple of case leaks, so that offered an opportunity to peek
inside with good reason. But when I got the case open, I was completely
amazed.

This thing has 3K hours of actual mowing on it. There wasn't enough
swarf inside the case to dirty one fingertip! If I didn't mind the taste
of ATF, I could've eaten out of it.

Great news.

Now I'm completely convinced that nothing is hanging up or broken in
there. The only wear I could see at all was a high mirror polish on the
tips of the PTO gears. The differential didn't show any wear beyond
break-in that I could detect.

The schematic shows that the hydrostatic circuit gets its fluid charge
from the two check valves he welded shut... duh! Why didn't he just
replace the o-rings that were leaking??????

I never cease to be amazed at some of the stupidity people do.

The two valves are spendy, running over $350 for the two, but I think
it's a worthwhile expense. Since one of them is also a pressure releif
valve, I thought better of fabricating them... the charging pressure
really should be correct.

Well worth the money for a mower of this quality.

So, I've buttoned it back up, sans leaks. More when the valves arrive
via slow post.

Sounds good.
.