I think we're all aware of these box store John Deere transmissions being the weak point of all these low price point lawn tractors. I've seen many of them go bad. I have an L120 (with 673 hours) in the shop now that is acting a little different though, and I wanted your advice.
Usually, when one of these transaxles fails, it operates OK at startup, and it gradually gets weaker and noisier as it warms up and the fluid gets thinner. I understand that concept OK.
But this one is the exact opposite. At startup, the rear end is extremely loud and weak, and I can feel the roughness in the pedal. But after a few minutes of operation, the noise level goes down and it gets stronger. Is it low on fluid or something? I don't see any leaks. If I needed to add some fluid (which I never to with these), what would I put in there?