Relube Peerless transaxle

[FergusonTO35]

'Nother mowing season has started, and I've decided I need to finally replace the transaxle lube in my Murray 12hp/38" riding mower. It still pulls just fine but is getting really noisy and I figure I better go ahead and relube it before it embarks on its 29th season. It's a 5 speed Peerless, I think a 930 series. OEM fill is a pricey Bentonite grease, however lots of folks say that grade 00 grease used in some farm implements works just fine. I'm a big fan of Lucas Xtra Heavy Duty no. 2 grease, however most say it is too thick for transaxle use. Also, lithium or calcium based greases supposedly don't mix with Bentonite very well.

I would like to clean out the old grease and add zerks at key places so I could just shoot grease in there every so often. TSC sells 00 grease for $5.00 a bottle, I figure I could pour it into a grease gun and squirt it into the zerks. Does this sound feasible? Anybody ever try different kinds of grease in these transaxles?

 

[Fish]

When rebuilding them a long way back, I just got Marine grease, as moisture was the reason I had to rebuild them to begin with.

 

[Larry B]

The bentonite stuff dries out over the years. I am not a big fan of it. I only use it if a customer says use OEM grease. You can replace it with pretty much any high temp quality grease. Biggest issue is you need to disassemble the trans and clean all the old grease out of it. If it is 29 years old the bentonite will be hard clay inside.

 

[Fish]

If it is 29 years old the bentonite will be hard clay inside.

That is what my wife says about me....

 

[FergusonTO35]

The bentonite stuff dries out over the years. I am not a big fan of it. I only use it if a customer says use OEM grease. You can replace it with pretty much any high temp quality grease. Biggest issue is you need to disassemble the trans and clean all the old grease out of it. If it is 29 years old the bentonite will be hard clay inside.

Thanks Larry. That is what I figured but needed to make sure. I got some 00 grease from TSC, it seems to be ideal for this purpose.

 

[Larry B]

If you need a manual for the trans you can get it here
Wfmfiles.com
Go to tecumseh-peerless drive systems

One of the biggest problems is the shift fork breaking from too much force on the shift lever because the grease dried out and binding the shift shaft in the gears. Check the shift fork closely for cracks. Some are aluminum (crappy) new ones are steel.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks. I got it out and split the case, I was surprised how much grease was still in it. Found that the input shaft pulley was loose and the keyway was enlarged, so I ordered a new one. I dug out as much grease as I could and filled the two halves with kerosene. Hopefully I can get it cleaned out and back together tomorrow.

 

[Larry B]

Actually looks pretty good for 29 years. Like the smell? Make sure to clean the old grease out of the sliding shift assembly.

 

[FergusonTO35]

That's another thing that is surprising, it really doesn't have much smell. I will definitely clean that area.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Spent most of yesterday evening wiping and scraping grease out of the transaxle, I would say I have at least 99% of it out. Soaked it in kerosene overnight again, which should dissolve what little remains. Interestingly, the ends of the axle tubes had a bunch of rock hard dried grease in them, at first I thought they were some really crusty bushings. Scraped it all out to bare metal. These areas I'll fill with more viscous Lucas no. 2 grease, along with the needle bearings for the input shaft.

 

[Larry B]

I have seen old trannys with bentonite grease that all the grease is like clay. And stink. Looks like you got a good one.

 

[Fish]

The old trannys around here are on the city council...

 

[FergusonTO35]

Ok, going back together with the transaxle. The axles have rubber seals on each end to keep grease in and dirt out. One of the seals was missing, causing a crusty coating of dirt and grease to build up inside the housing. Cleaned all that junk out and ordered new seals. Also, it appears that there are no bearings or bushings supporting the axles inside the housing. There are recesses where one would expect caged roller bearings to surround the axle but nothing is there. A part that looks like a caged bearing is shown in the diagram, however no Peerless part number is given.

A note on the diagram states that parts with not listed were supplied by the equipment manufacturer. I have the parts book for the mower, and it doesn't show anything other than two washers and a spacer which go on the axle outside the transaxle. So, I have to assume that the axle housing is all that supports the axles. I'm going to grease them up pretty good with Lucas no. 2.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Axle seals should finally be here today so I can start going back together. I'm thinking about adding a drain plug to the bottom of the case. Is 00 grease thin enough to drain like oil?

 

[Larry B]

I wouldn't. As long as it doesn't leak you are good for 10 years or so. How many years do you plan to keep it?

 

[FergusonTO35]

I am going to keep it perpetually. My grandma bought it new in 1990 and I have used it ever since.

 

[Larry B]

I have a mid 70's Sears ST12 I am hoping to restore. I guess some folks are nuts for keeping up old mowers running.

 

[FergusonTO35]

No, we are normal and everyone else is nuts! You ever work on a little riding mower from the 1960's called a Huffy Sheraton? My grandfather had one, in fact the Murray is the second one that replaced it.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Transaxle is all back together with the new input shaft pulley, key, and snap ring. The pulley does have a bit of wobble to it, although nothing like the old one which had the key and keyway worn out. Is this normal? Best as I can tell, the shaft is tight in the housing, all the wobble seems to be from the pulley on the shaft.

 

[Larry B]

No, we are normal and everyone else is nuts! You ever work on a little riding mower from the 1960's called a Huffy Sheraton? My grandfather had one, in fact the Murray is the second one that replaced it.

I think the Sheraton was a pretty common Huffy model. 8hp Briggs with the 3 speed between the legs. Worked on a lot of the old Huffys.
I thought when I retired from the day job I would have more time. Hahaha laughs on me. Swamped with the mower business and people wanting me to do handyman work. I have to just tell people I don't fix computers or do SOHO networking anymore. I have a Frazier Rototiller I want to restore, a sears ST12 mower a 1975 Buick Skylark and a mini mac chainsaw all just waiting for some TLC. Got a JD RX75 waiting on me now.