Great instructional video. My JD L-111 was great for 15 minutes and once it heated up the transmission, it would almost completely stop. Initially I just changed the oil. I put JD Hydoguard in because I had it. Mower now worked 20-25 minutes and then would almost stop. I did notice that if I hosed the tranny with cold water, I could mow at 5 minute clips. After the yard was done I pulled it back in and did a complete tear down. The second magnet was covered in filing sludge. The new oil had 2 hours on it and it was half as dark as the original oil. I didn't have any play in the motor or the pump. The gears where the axles connect were a little tore up, but not real bad. I had a hell of a time getting the motor assembly back in. I tapped the 2 drain plug areas to assist in future oil changes. Put gasket seal on, filled it with mobile1 20w-50 syn, and bolted it back up. Damn thing will not move now. I pushed the rear rod in and out to put gearbox into and out of free wheel. forward-reverse-forward-reverse twenty times. Wheels will not move. Any ideas????
Thank you for being so thorough in your procedures. In my youth I would try this but now I will never will attempt this level of maintenance due to shaky hands, bad eyesight and short fuse, but you have definitely helped me to better understand why an expensive and intricate machine would give up with so few hours of use (shame on JD).
I like it when you discuss curious design features, like that little magnet valve. As much as it's easy to criticize engineers, they often don't get enough credit for things like this. Same thing goes for how valuable parts guys can be. Your analogy to a skinny cow is right on the mark. Sadly, those guys have to compete with internet giants, who have lowered the competitive playing field. If they can't compete on price they lose a critical portion of their volume. So, those of us who are unhappy with service at brick and mortar stores can look to internet sales as a partial cause. Ironically, that service is what keeps us coming back....
Great video series on the L series Johndeere K46 hydrostatic transmission rebuild, very informative the way you presented the steps, I just rebuilt mine and your videos helped get a good understanding how things worked and order, Thanks
I am only on step 3... but I wanted to jump ahead to see the put-it-back-together part, as ones does. Doris Day? Atlas Shrugged? Worthy of a bell ring, for damn sure.
I work at autozone too and you are exactly on point. They want to hire the people they can pay the least amount too. When they do get someone good they don't stay because they are miss treated.
Impressive quality and skills. I buy, repair riding mowers, I usually part out the tractors with bad transmissions. After watching your vids, I might attempt fixing one on the next bad Trans. But the profit usually works out the same but selling the whole mower gets it out of the way faster so I can move on to the next project. Time is money.
When re-installing the bottom plate and so as not to mess up my great gasket material job, I temporarily threaded four (4) studs where four (4) screws would have gone. No issues with misalignment.
Awesome stuff going to open it up now and see what’s going on probably the gears it won’t engage at all maybe the motor. Awesome video Autozone did fall down terrible store. Sorry it happened to you. Good job!! And Thankyou!! Very helpful.
What a fantastic gentleman, I agree with you regarding the almighty dollar and how chasing it by the bean counters can bring down what once was a good company, we have the same mindless bean counters here in AU. What an real easy set of videos to follow.
In June of 2022 I replaced all the fuel lines and fuel filter on a 1972 Chevy pickup with fuel hose purchased at Autozone right before a 1600 mile cross country drive, 400 miles down the road a fuel line failed (it melted, not from heat but from gasoline) 300 miles later the fuel filter split/cracked open spraying gas all over the motor and exhaust manifold. They sell garbage that is going to kill someone! It was a drive and deliver trip, we flew back so I could not return the garbage, I haven't been back to Autozone since and will avoid it as long as I can.
So I watched all of the videos. What exactly are the points of failure on this tranny? The pump, the motor, and the gears??? I pulled mine apart and everything looked fine. What is the tolerance on the pump and motor for the pistons??? Thanks for the help. I wouldn't have tried doing this without your videos.
You know what's to bad. Tuff torque removed part numbers for just pump and motor. Now you have to spend 350$ on the rebuild kit. Thanks for screwing us for and unserviceable transmission
You could have ordered all the seals and orings for all the operational shafts, drive axles and input shaft and replaced them while everything was all apart but can still be done if the transmission has not been installed yet.
Go to a pep boys that has full service and parts sales. Talk to one of the guys at the service counter, we like you DIY guys anyway. We'll look up the part for you and ask all the right questions, then take you to the parts counter for check out. It's stress free for us because we're used to quoting parts and labor, just quoting a part is sooooo easy.
All your video's are very informative, watching you putting the bead of silicone down shows that you are very steady, I am an old fart and shake like jello but through it all, you Sir did a Great Job...
Great video , done well, until you started bashing autozone, I agree that they deserve it and even more but not during a very informative instructional video it made me feel like talking about autozone was more important to you than me learning, remember we have never done this you have done it multiple times. you are a good instructor so instruct don't be a politician or seperate the two, all n all a good video.
Help please!!! Thank you for your thorough videos. I just tore apart the transmission, on my L118. Ordered the, differential gear kit & oil you recommended. Finally arrived, and put it l back together! Happy to say, I had no leftover parts. (: haha Turned on, np. And, let it sit for a few minutes. Released the brake, and tried to push the accelerator, but nothing! I did notice, there is extra play in the pedal, both forward and reverse. Any suggestions/tips? Hoping it's an easy fix, and I won't have to take it all apart again. Drain the new oil, and break the gasket seal. 🤞 Thank you in advance.
You could try using mineral spirits in a spray bottle as a parts cleaner. In a confined space I find it's less noxious than brake cleaner, and it is in fact a low hazard material to inhale or have skin contact with according to its MSDS. If you give it a try the worst you'll be out is 10 dollars for the mineral spirits and spray bottle!
Brian, I just watched these videos. Awesome presentation as always, However, I did see a thrust washer left out that should have been placed on top of the pump piston assy. This was near the end of video # 5
Advance Auto has shrinkage from the Distribution center also. Nothing you can do about it. Advance policy was if it cost less than 150 per item then nothing was done about it.
also the people who do none of the work get all of the pay. they cut hours like crazy and leave you with no help which in turn piss the customers off and they walk out because they cant get waited on. I know what you been through brian and its corporate greed at its best brother
Outstanding detail, lighting and camera work. Would you recommend taking the transaxle apart and looking for obvious failures, and then order specific parts; or order the most likely parts in advance? Therefore not having to suspend the mower and tie up dock space up for a week or two awaiting for shipping? O'reilly Auto is great in my area as well.
Hi. I’ve just bought a John Deere Lx279. It have a problem with forward and reverse. When you press forward pedal the tractor goes very fast backwards and when you press reverse pedal goes very slow forward! Any idea what happen please . Thank you so much
Awesome and informative, I have a L110 with 333 hrs. Tranny behaves poorly after and hour of operation. Forward seems good, but reverse is all but gone. Would you recommend an internal investigation or start with fluid swap and see if symptoms subside? My lawn is 1/5 acre, flat, minimal backing. takes less than an hour to mow, so tranny doesn't usually have to perform too long. thoughts?
Hi There... Thanks for the super informative video. Especially taking the time to watch what was out there (and give them props), do the work yourself, then put it all together for an easy to follow video. I just bought an L118 with 330 hours. PO took good care of it, but used it to plow snow in addition to grass and leaves. Anyways, when I put it in reverse, it has almost no power. In forward, it looses power when I go up the slightest incline. Could that be the motor or the pump in the transmission?
I bought axle U-bolts from autozone just a couple of weeks ago and they stripped out using a simple hand wrench simply pre-tightening! I couldn't believe it. They are advertised as grade 8. I contacted the manufacturer who was very cooperative, but said cost cutting measures forced them to go to grade 5. Regardless, you would never even be able to torque to grade 5. This is a critical component that attaches the spring to the axle. This was absolute pot metal crap. I paid $40 for 4 U-bolts from Autozone that were junk. Returned them without hassle. Went to the implement store 1 hour drive away that had grade 8 U-bolts. $12 for the entire set of 4! No problems and not a single issue torquing them to proper specification. There clearly is a vast markup at Autozone apparently. Greed!!!mmdont get me wrong, there are good parts there. But some things have really taken a nosedive.
I have no issues with any local parts stores, I stay away from Napa strictly because of their pricing, I understand a higher price on a better part but when the same part is sold it shouldn't have a 3 to 4 dollar markup. In most cases even Napa's fluids and stuff is high compared to all other stores in the area.
Your magnet on the filler hole is missing the holder. Mine has a slotted metal washer that holds the magnet perpendicular to the washer so your understanding on the venting is incorrect. Looks like the previous owner did you another favor by loosing that too.
20w-50 even better. Essential ingredient is the 50. Probably best oil is Amsoil's hydrostatic 20w-50 specifically for these. Motor oil has additive restrictions and transmission oil not enough viscosity index. Amsoil got u best of both worlds. I believe all Napa's can get it.
Question.. your K46 has pulley on top of fan, mine has fan on top of pulley. Does this depend on model K46 we have? Purchased a replacement transmission and hope to check out the old one for a spare for the future.
coveylane The Pulley on John Deere LA 100 series lawn tractors goes on first with the fan top. Brian has it installed correctly. There's a bolt / belt guard that will not clear if installed incorrectly and destroy the plastic fan.
Great video! I have question on the oil? Can I expect good results with Mobil1 5w40? If not, should I use the same as you? I’m located in AZ. Thanks again for the great video.
where did you find parts i have a jd 111 m00111h290824 I can not find a trans belt. The belt comes off trans on the left side behind the rear wheel it is an auto trans with shift lever next to seat
Every store is going to crap man....I use to work for Walmart years ago when Sam was still alive it was a family oriented company a pleasure to work for ....then he died and the company went down hill stuff you could get there and no where else was gone ....it got so bad that one time I was standing outside a room in the back I could hear loss prevention yelling at the long timers 25 years plus the same people that Sam us to give gold watches to ....see what the bastards did so the long term employees would loose their jobs and they wouldn't have to pay their retirement loose prevention would place items in the peoples lockers and fire them for stealing a complete disgrace to the people who gave up a large chunk of their lives to Sam ....I quit a week later and told them Sam was turning in his grave over what you buttheads are doing to his company so ur not alone man I feel your pain with today's greedy companies....oh and awesome series btw!!!!
that's cool that you're multilingual. what languages do you speak? I agree with you about autozone btw. not all of the people there are bad but the majority of them can't be bothered to do anything.
Autozone sells a lot of cheap parts that do not last that long today. On my sister's Grand Am the previous owner had used Autozone brake pads and rotors. The rotors looked exactly like the pictures of Chinese counterfeit rotors with thin walls and half the number vents inside. The pads had one of the squealer tabs totally rusted off and I doubt that the brakes were more than two years old at the time. What is a fair price for one of these lawn tractors with a bad transaxle? I found a low hour L118 which is a twin cylinder engine mower on Craigslist for $550 OBO but it did not last even a week. I fellow I know that owns a commercial lawn tractor store who says that $300 or so is a fair price, especially because this is GO season for mowing.
The brake pads from AZ (as of a year ago when enough was enough and I quit using them completely) don't fit. You have to grind the backing plate to get them to fit leaving them vulnerable to rust. The Duralast Gold were the worst! The stamping was furshitzled and the coatings were sloppy and too thick on the ends where precision is needed. Then the rest seemed to follow suit.
Our autozone is pretty good. Our OREILLYS sucks. They may have the part counter help cannot find it. They told me my 2001 BMW did not have a radiator it was air cooled.
