John Deere L120 transmission

[Mr Mower Man]

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?

[bgsengine]

Roughness in the pedal, I don't think you'll have any easy fix - check the parking brake first (engage the tow lever so it freewheels, then engage brake pedal as if to start , release it and try to move the tractor.. check belts and pulleys while you're at it) but beyond that, likely going to find mechanical wear beyond reasonable repair which typically means new transmission time (rebuilding them can be done, but cleanliness is absolutely critical, so unless you are a little OCD about keeping parts perfectly clean , which usually means a lot of hours into it, I wouldn't really recommend it) - Either case,if it isn't the brake hanging up (commonly splines on disc worn or rusty, or the pads or pins are corroded into the brake assembly,or both) I would suspect you won't find any long term solution.

[hanz63]

I wonder if the spline at the driven pulley on the transaxle is at that point of barely hanging on? My thoughts are to cover the external bases as far as input/ brake etc first. They came with low vis so one could add that or 10w30 to top. But it may just be better to DnR with the 15/20W50.