QuestionHello, I have a K66 transmission on my recently purchased Simplicity garden tractor (1400hrs). The lady told me the drive belt was bad so it wouldn't climb hills. I found out after paying her $750 for the tractor and changing the belt that the transmission is not working properly. It drives fine forward and reverse on the flat but any incline forward or reverse doesn't happen. I've been told the K66 transmission is pretty much a "disposable" model and there is no use in spending any time performing "open heart surgery" on it. Best to replace with a new one. Problem is it's a lot cheaper to tear it apart and replace the innerds than to pay $1200 for a new one. Am I wasting time anad money opening up the transmission and trying to mess with the pumps etc.? Also, is the tractor worth spending the $750 plus repairs whether it's $500 in parts or $1200 in a tranny when it already has 1400 hrs on it?
AnswerHave you checked to see if your model has drain plugs? They're the only two 9/16" hex bolts on the side of the transmission. All of the others on the bottom are 1/2".
To refill, fill the main chamber (fill plug) to full - nearly to the edge of the lip for the fill plug... then fill the reservoir / expansion chamber until 1/2 full.
Next, run the tranny to get the air out of it.... and then check the levels and top off if necessary.
The reservoir and tranny chamber do talk to each other, but only under very slight pressure / vaccuum. Gravity feed may not cut it. Similar to how on some cars you can not fill your coolant system through the expansion chamber - you must fill it first through a separate cap.
Reason I say this is that the plastic reservoir is the expansion chamber for when the oil gets hot... obviously presuming that we're talking about main-chamber.
The link below is a parts diagram of a K66, similar to yours:
http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Husqvarna_Parts_Manuals/I0401040.pdf
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/164892-tufftorq-k46-repair-guid...
Eric
