Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Dana/Spicer transaxle

I have a Sears Riding lawnmower. I tried to change a rear tire on it when the axle came out of the case. The parts breakdown show a snap ring on the end of the axle. My question is what kind of lubricant is in the transaxle? It is a dana/spicer model 4360-41. I have taken it out of the lawnmower, but can not see any place to drain or service the unit. I do see how the case splits and the bolts that hold it together. I just don't want a mess when I open it up if I can avoid it.
any help is appreciated.

I don't have alot of familiarity with Dana rear ends but they are basically similar to Peerless (which I'm well familiar with). Is the tranny a shifter or a hydro unit? I'm going to guess it's a shifter and being so you would use a Bentonite grease. Just how much I couldn't answer. Before you take my answer for the one, wait for "cheese" to reply to this post. He should do such by tomorrow.

Hello davvalh!

There is no drain plug, and if there was, nothing would come out. The grease in these is thick. Split the case as you noted, and make the repair, then I like to add grease to the existing before reassembly. I have found that using "OO" grease (double ought grease) is much better than the existing grease. The grease that is in it tends to settle out away from all the gears and does nothing because it won't run back in contact with the gears. The "OO" grease will run back down towards the gears after it slings away from them. Most any tractor or lawn mower repair shop should have this grease.

I have a question about the Dana/Spicer transaxle 4360-41. Last night my 12 year old son spotted a Sears lawn tractor in our neighborhood that someone was giving away for free. The owner told us that the only problem with it was the transaxle. The engine started & runs great, my son drove it home. The only problem seems to be that the large belt driven pulley (on top of the transaxle) is very wobbly. The pulley & shaft are solid but the shaft into the transaxle is loose. My question is:
What could be wrong with this transaxle & how should we proceed? Is it something that may be fixed? My son is very interested in fixing it & wants to mow lawns to make some money.

There will be either two bushings or two needle bearings in the upper case half where the input shaft goes through. The bearings and/or the shaft are the trouble you will find. This isn't a terribly difficult repair to do but you will have to split the case halves inorder to do the job, however. I'd suggest finding a spicer servicing dealer in your area and ask them for a illustrated parts list and, if available, a service manual for this model series tranny. This will greatly help you in disecting the tranny.

If you find the model # of the tractor Sears site online will most likely have and Illustrated parts listing.

http://www3.sears.com/

I did go to the Sears site on line & found an exploded parts view. They didn’t list the bearings separately so I called Dana Spicer directly. The people from Dana reinforced what Puey61 had said about “two needle bearings in the upper case half where the input shaft goes through”. The Dana employee looked up the part numbers for me & I found the parts online from Outdoor Distributors (http://www.outdoordistributors.com/parts.html). If I need the whole “kit-Input shaft/pinion/bevel” (which includes the bearings) it’s $56.29. If all I need is the needle bearings, they are $10.46 each. I know I need to split the case in order to replace the parts. My next question is, Can I do it without removing the transaxle from the tractor? Also, would you suggest trying to replace just the bearings or would it be a lot easer to do the kit?

Thanks so much for the advice & help. Mark.

You will want to remove the unit from the mower. Prolly best to wait and see what condition the old parts are in before determining which you want to replace. Unless its been sitting for some time or has seals gone bad the shaft and pinion can usually be cleaned up just fine.

Azis, thanks for the advice. It may take us a few days to get into it, but I will keep you posted on our progress.

Mark

Most of the time when I run into one like this, the input shaft is worn and needs to be replaced. The pinion gear is probably ok but it won't hurt anything to change it.

I finally got the parts, & time to do the repair. I ended up replacing the input shaft along with the needle bearings. The shaft was worn, & all that was left of the bearings was the outer shell (no actual needle bearings were still there). Everything went reasonably well, but it did take at least 6 hours to clean the old case out, make the part changes & put it all back together. The bearings were tough to get out. Now works great. Thanks for the advice.

Good news and good work. Glad you got it.

Thanks for the update! Glad you got it fixed!