LTX1042 Hydro-Gear Tranny Questions

[tpelle]

I have an LTX1042 with a Hydro-Gear Transaxle. It has a little over 600 hours on it, but after giving it a little TLC it still runs great. I noticed over the winter, however, that the right side axle seal had developed a leak.

I just installed a new axle seal and now I need to refill the transmission. Never worked on one of these, by the way.

I have three questions:

1. What do I fill this with? One guy told me that his buddy who repairs mowers on the side uses 10W-50 motor oil. Another guy told me to use Motorcraft ATF. I asked the local Cub Cadet dealer, and he said to use nothing but Cub Cadet brand hydraulic fluid that he would be happy to sell to me for $52.00 per quart.

2. I'm not sure where the fill plug is. I have taken a couple of pictures (attached) of the transmission down through the (removed) battery box, and I expect it may be that plug on the top of the banjo housing. There is also that black cap, but I think that may be a vent.

Picture 2 - Top view:

Picture 1 - Left Side View



3. How much fluid should I put in. In other words, how far from the top do I fill it.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[ironman]

Maybe this will help, but before you start opening anything to add oil, I suggest that you get everything surgically clean or you are wasting your time.
https://www.hydro-gear.com/42f8d0994...N-51260_P8.pdf

[tpelle]

ironman, thank you very much. This is EXACTLY the information I needed. I'm going to print that manual out and put it in my file.

You should charge for this service!

[ironman]

You're quite welcome. The bill is in the mail.

[tpelle]

Ironman, since you seem to be the expert here, I thought I'd address this to you. I've been back to working on my LTX1042 for a couple of hours now. The axle seal is replaced, and I've got the area all around the fill plug cleaned up using Gunk engine cleaner, and I soaked the fill plug itself in PB Blaster. But now I find myself stuck in trying to get the fill plug loose. It appears that a 6mm Allen Wrench was the correct fit for the little shallow hex socket on top of the plug, but no dice. That puppy will not break loose, and I seem to have stripped the little hex socket out. I even tried an EZ-Out, but no dice.

I've been avoiding doing this, but is my only recourse pulling the tranny so that I get some room and am no longer practicing Lawn Tractor Proctology working down through that hole where the battery box was?

Any other ideas?

[ironman]

Thanks, but I'm no expert. Just like you, learn as you go.
I think there is enough of a lip on the fill plug that vice grips might grab but you might not have enough room without pulling the tranny.
Honestly, removal is not all that much of a pain when you compare it to trying to work in confined space.
Besides, you will get the chance to clean the whole thing up, and invert the unit to drain all the old oil.
Here's a video on changing the oil without removal. Note the part where he talks about the hex size of the fill plug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxkR2Hade9M
And after you refill, be sure to follow the purge procedure outlined in the manual.
Edit: Here's another video,
I would not recommend nor do it this way, but if worse comes to worse it gives you a choice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7_O87x-i0

[guyina4x4]

The trans is not that hard to remove.
It's like 8 bolts, a belt and a spring.
With 600 hours on it I'd remove it, drain and refill, if i was keeping it.
If you're topping off the oil it has 30wt in it from the factory. If you're changing oil they say to use the 50wt synthetic.
I've changed a few of those seals, if it wasn't leaking very long it most likely didn't leak much. If there was no puddle and the inside of the wheel wasn't covered in oily grass i doubt it needs topped off.
The full level on them is very vague, about an inch from the top if i recall is the spec.

[tpelle]

Originally Posted by guyina4x4

The trans is not that hard to remove.
It's like 8 bolts, a belt and a spring.
With 600 hours on it I'd remove it, drain and refill, if i was keeping it.
If you're topping off the oil it has 30wt in it from the factory. If you're changing oil they say to use the 50wt synthetic.
I've changed a few of those seals, if it wasn't leaking very long it most likely didn't leak much. If there was no puddle and the inside of the wheel wasn't covered in oily grass i doubt it needs topped off.
The full level on them is very vague, about an inch from the top if i recall is the spec.

Thanks for the reply, but this one leaked quite a bit. My brother, from whom I inherited this machine, parked it in a "garage" with a dirt floor, so there was really no evidence of how much it leaked prior to me getting it. Then, as I parked it in a concrete-floored garage, that was when I noticed it "marking its territory".

I was pretty disgusted with it yesterday - I thought it might only be about an hour or so to suck all of the old oil out of it (using a hand pump designed to change the oil in inboard motor boat engines where you can't drain the oil through a drain plug), then just refill it. Didn't work out that way. And as I had a prior commitment I didn't have time to investigate further.

I see where it's mounted to the frame, and that looks easy. The part that I haven't yet investigated is how to disconnect the speed/direction and the brake linkage, as well as the neutral rod. (The speed/direction apparatus looks kind of complicated.)

[tpelle]

Originally Posted by ironman

Thanks, but I'm no expert. Just like you, learn as you go.
I think there is enough of a lip on the fill plug that vice grips might grab but you might not have enough room without pulling the tranny.
Honestly, removal is not all that much of a pain when you compare it to trying to work in confined space.
Besides, you will get the chance to clean the whole thing up, and invert the unit to drain all the old oil.
Here's a video on changing the oil without removal. Note the part where he talks about the hex size of the fill plug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxkR2Hade9M
And after you refill, be sure to follow the purge procedure outlined in the manual.
Edit: Here's another video,
I would not recommend nor do it this way, but if worse comes to worse it gives you a choice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7_O87x-i0

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll try to screw up the ambition to drop the transmission then. It's these almost-70-year-old joints that are holding me back. It's not the getting down on the floor that's the problem - It's the getting back up that takes the time.

[ol'George]

Hey, I'm older than ewe take an extra tylenol and "git er done"
on the stripped allen plug, whack it a good one squarely on top.
That does a couple of things, first it vents yer frustrations
also it compresses the metal under the head of the plug an unmeasurable amount but usually loosens it.
if it is in the bat-tree hole, you might need to use a large bar, maybe 1" diameter, and whack the bar/punch with a B.F. hammer.
also remember metric and SAE Allen's are different sizes so you might be able to drive a slightly larger allen socket bit into the wallered out hex, also the driving on the allen helps loosen it as I just mentioned.
Think positive, and whack it, now you don't want to hit it with a #10 sledge as yall might break the case. but "shock" it.
sometimes an air hammer does well also.
if all else fails vice grips and oxy/act heat gets it done.
another trick is to weld a nut on top of the plug if all signs of a hex are gone.
Again the heat of welding does wonders.