That's good to know, Chris. My 1995 Toro Wheel Horse has a Peerless 915-020 5-speed. Seems to work fine, but it's good to know you had success with opening up and repairing your model. Who knows when or if I might face a similar problem?

John

Repairing these transaxles is really do-able. I'm glad you had success.

The things to remember are to keep it clean and use the manual. You have to make sure you don't get the bentonite into the axle/axle bearing portions. Oh, and watch where all those shims go and the directions of the bevels on the shift fork washers.

Bolts probably worked loose (a common problem is assembly plants when the hire non-mechanic experience types, day dreamers, or relatives) when this happen put a shear on the shank leading to failure. Either they wasn't torqued properly or the tensile stress of the bolt used wasn't high enough ( suspect it was left loose).

IMO something is only non-repairable when you don't have the ability, funds, or equipment to machine parts. I sure they meant by non-repairable was not cost effective to pay for labor and materials to have someone to do it (if you could find someone that knew how). You are a type of person that don't like to waste money. I salute you!!

I have probably 1500+ hours on the same type of transmission, you can research all you want, but it still boils down to the person assembling it, the engineer designing it, preventive maintenance, and of course some luck. I passed on up at a flea market a month ago for 75 Bucks. A decision I will probably regret.

The Peerless 205 series variable speed trans (hydro)
was never designed to be worked on. There are NO internal
parts provided for this unit. What "KILLS THEM", as with
MOST hydro transaxles, is dirt/debris which collects ON
TOP OF the transaxle and prevents the cooling fan from
keeping the hydro oil cool. These units would use a motor
oil (probably a synthetic) but NEVER would Bentonite grease
be in the scenario for interal lubrication. There "IS" an
oil and bellows replacement kit (part# 799030) which allows
you to "RENEW" the trans by replacing the old, burned oil.
It costs $30, or thereabouts. If internal parts are broken
or in need of replacing, unless it's a bolt or something
easily found to replace it with....you really don't have any option except to spend $500 for a new one, or junk it.
Consider yourself QUITE LUCKY that you got her goin' again
having gone inside this unit. You...MUST BE...a genius !!!

T-Man

Still working.. WEll knock on wood my repair is still working. I hope that others can learn from what I have found. Good Luck..

EasyGoin...THANKS for the update! The original hydro trans
Peerless introduced (yours) was "rushed to market", but....
was quite innovative and worked WELL if the oil was good and excess debris was kept from on top of the unit to reduce the amount of cooling the fan could do to the oil.
As I mentioned in my earlier post...These were NEVER MEANT
TO BE WORKED ON....INTERNALLY. Peerless never developed any
internal parts/pieces for it. It's conceivable, you could
replace (in your case) a broken or loose bolt, but the other key internal components were never produced to be....
replaced in the field. Later on, in the life of the bellows
type, VST unit....a bellows/oil kit was introduced that would give one a couple more years of life with new oil. I
also think they changed the oil from a regular motor oil to a synthetic oil, which also prolonged its life expectancy. Again I say....if it's STILL GOING since your repair efforts....you're either a "GENIUS", or exceptionally...."LUCKY" !!!

Thanks again for the update on your tractor/transmission,

T-Man

If it goes out again, and you end up not being able to fix it, be sure to first check www.surpluscenter.com they usually have several models of peerless and tuff torque transmissions for sale, and are always getting different ones in. 500 bucks is a ridiculus amount of money to spend on fixing a lawn tractor, if you can get it done for 150 bucks yourself by installing one of their transmissions shipped to your door.

Thanks for the info...

Chris, How's it still working for you? I've just finished removing my Peerless 205-034b - It was on a Scotts (Murray) 18.5 Briggs / 46" with 206 hours. At any rate, I've got this thing pinned down on my floor now and decided to give it a rest until tomorrow when I can take it outside and give it a thourough cleaning with a pressure washer to remove 10 years of built up gunk on it. Hopefully this will allow me to identify all of the bolts that require removal and keep a clean working area in the process.

This brings me to my questions. I experienced a complete loss of power from this thing. When I stepped on the pedal there was nothing. I figured it was the belt that gave out but after removing the deck I noticed that it was attached with good tension. I started it back up again and tried forward, nothing and not a sound. Tried backward and got that whining sound that I got from day one when I first step into it on a hill or something similar but no movement. Odd. So I shut it off. Normally I can roll it forward or backward with only a small amount of resistance from the transaxle but this time, the wheels are stuck. This is what got me thinking about your post because it's almost like something is jammed in the gears (like a bolt)- Although when you lift it up the differential portion works perfectly, one tire will turn one way and the other the opposite. When I disengage the drive, both spin freely.

Question - Is this similar to what you experienced?

Because I'm going to go forward no matter what the response, if for nothing else to see what the guts of this thing look like and give me a few more opportunities to kick myself in the arse for buying this dung heap; although, I can't be to hard on myself since in my research I've found that this transaxle has also gone into Cub Cadet's and John Deere's.

Assuming I can remedy the problem (save your wise cracks T-Man), the following is a laundry list of questions that I would greatly appreciate being answered:

where did you use the bentonite grease? I see T-Man above advises never using it. In all of my research, I've found lots of criticism and the fact that Peerless has now gone to synthetic for their newer models seems to suggest oil along with some other blog writers.

Did you install a bellows kit? Does anyone know the benefit? If it's a good maintenance thing to do, I'll order. If it only fixes a broken bellows and that's not my problem, fo-get about it.

How much synthetic and what weight to put in? I picked up a quart of Mobil1 10W-30 (seems odd since it's a hydraulic pump, right?). Is this ok? How do you know it's full and where to fill it (maybe this question will be answered once I get the gunk off of it).

Apologizing in advance because I don't have a manual but the grass is still growing strong around here so I'm kind of tight for time - How much of this thing did you disassemble? Did you remove the top pulley/fan? Did you remove the motion activation lever and spring on the left side of the housing (close to the left rear tire). Did you remove the brake assembly? Anything else peculiar in the disassembly?

Another item I noticed after I power washed it before bringing it into my garage for removal was that the break disk was extremely wet (like it had been leaking a significant amount of oil through the shaft for the brake - Boy it would be nice if it's just low on oil (cross fingers and pray). Did you have to replace any seals?

Speaking of sealant, what did you use to put the case back together again? I purchased some permatex Moto1, specifically for motorcycle crankcases that I would imagine share many of the same poor attributes, mainly that they are made of light porous materials that soak up oil and don't like to seal very good the second time around. Note to Peerless, they still make internal parts for these engines, not an excuse to withold the parts, but certainly a good reason to avoid any tractor that has a Peerless transaxle.

I know this was long winded but I would appreciate any help you or the community can provide. Your post was the ONLY post I found where someone actually took it to the man and saved the $500. For me it's not just a savings issue but also a bad investment - Sticking another $500 into this thing when I only bought it for $1,700 10 years ago is foolish. I'm just going to end up with the same tractor I disliked from the second day I owned it. On the other hand, that new John Deere would be quite expensive - The snow blower attachment alone will likely cost more than I paid for this whole tractor and paying the neighbor kid is just admitting defeat. Rather just fix this one for cheap and save up for the Deere.

T-Bone, before you start in on me, please note that while I'm no genius (and won't appreciate the sarcasm), I do have plenty of mechanical experience rebuilding and fixing cars, car engines, boat engines and motorcycle engines. I'm fixin' to add hydrostatic transaxles to that repertoire - That's one that will add instant credibility to any mechanical conversation around the water cooler.

Regards, Len Lopez

Len-
Who is this T-bone and why would he "start in" on you?

If you are referring to T-Man, than obviously you have no clue! T-Man wasn't being sarcastic. He was being honest and complimentary.

I see you just registered. Nice way to start off on your first post!

Bill, looking for assistance, not further admiration of the problem, dissection of the post or sarcasm - I think it's just nicer for future folks looking for information if we stay on topic, don't you? I registered to add value to the thread. Hopefully future individuals experiencing the same symptoms will be able to make a more informed decision before they decide to lay down $500, junk it or dig in and rebuild. Hopefully someone today can answer some of the questions and speed up the discovery process, either way, I'm opening it up tonight and will have more info for all this weekend.

I just found this in another post by a Chris (same Chris?)

Well I replaced the bolts that were broken, the ones that mount the mains in the hydro sect. Cleaned the housing surfaces and applied liquid gasket. Make sure the two sections are sealed good, don't want the hydro fluid mixing with the gear oil. bolted the two housing sides together and waited 24 hrs to cure, then torqed the bolts. note: if the spiders gears are not aglined right, then the axles will not turn after assembly. filled gear sect with 8 oz of 85-140 gear oil. Filled hydro section with synth hydro oil. I use Moble 5w-50, which is suppose to be filled 3 1/2 to 3 3/4" from openning where rubber boot goes. Since rubber boot is about 3 1/2" long, I figured the cavity should be filled just about full. So I left boot in placed and filled it thru hole on top and re installed rubber cork. Everything seems to work well now, knock on wood :)

This answers a good number of questions but still leaves a number open, namely how much needs to be disassembled.

Well folks, my journey comes to an end. Not a simple loose bolt, although I found two seperate postings where people found that to be the case (including this one) and another 'Chris'. On the Genius vs. Luck argument - Luck is what struck me, bad luck.

The details for anyone who wants to open this bad boy up:

Remove it from the tractor (6 bolts and two cotter pins)
From the top, remove all of the bolts and two from bottom.
Remove the brake assembly (two bolts, not the center one)
Remove the motion actuator arm, one bolt
Seperate the two halves - Start on the back side away from the differntial hump in the case. Insert a medium sized screwdriver (or something more appropriate if you have it) and wedge it into the sealer slightly and strike with a hammer until the blade just enters between the two halves. Move down an inch and do the same thing again. Keep doing this all around the case - The intent here is not to actually seperate the two halves just yet, just loosen up the gasket. Repeat the process, allowing just a bit more of the screwdriver to go betwen the two halves. Once you get a little seperation, fluid will start coming out of the differential and pump reservoirs (unless you already drained it by removing the plugs at the top and flipping the thing over into a drain pan. I just split the halves and once the fluid started coming out, put the whole thing in a drain pain and continued methodically seperating the two halves inch by inch.
Once you get a quarter to half inch seperation, use your hands to do the rest - Remember, it's alloy so don't tug on corners or ears as it is very fragile.
Once you split the halves, flip the top (the part with the motion belt pulley) on its back away from your work area. The axle shafts may come with it, simply tap the shaft away from the housing (top or bottom) being careful not to pop out the ring gear. If the ring gear comes out, be sure to note its orientation, using a grease pen or something and keep it complete with the spider gears so you are not later trying to figure out which way they go.

From this point, IMHO, if one of the main bearing cap bolts is not missing, you are done. Perhaps someone with a greater knowledge on the subject can add to this.

I've got pictures of the internals if anyone wants to see them. It's not nearly rocket science.

Good luck.

It completely blows me away that they don't sell parts for it.

Hi Lenlo, I see you have some photos of the internals. I am interested as I have a problem with my H205-014C Peerless Hydro unit. Can you send them to me? Thanks (I'm in France)

easygoin,
Geez, I don't know, these transaxles were never meant to be serviced and unless you're a GENIUS or EXCEPTIONALLY LUCKY the transaxle may not work.... Oh, wait, it WASN'T WORKING IN THE FIRST PLACE. Well I guess you have nothing to lose.
Good job.

Hi lenlo I would like to see your photos since I have a 205-024 I am going to tear into and try to fix It makes a loud whining noise when you try to go foward or reverse.
Thanks allen

Hi to everyone with PEERLESS TECUMSEH Hydrotrans problems/questions.

I've just recently changed/refilled the oil in mine and although it has improved performance it still has some "issues" that means an internal inspection this winter.

My question is this:

Does anyone have photos of the internals of the unit?

I also have the instructions for the oil + bellows kit if anyone needs it - .pdf version.

Thanks in advance - Matt

Hey T-Bone!!!!

How many posts on this whole thread are bogus, my bogus
meter is red-lining on about 1/3 of them.

I like t-bone though, I'll bet the chicks will dig it.............

Fish

Let me know what your email address is and I'll forward pictures to you, I can't figure out how to include pictures in the post. When you put your email address in, use the word 'at' with spaces around it rather than @ that way internet bots won't pick it up and start spamming you.

My journey has a new ending - I couldn't see putting the old girl out to pasture over a simple transmission.

I bought a brand new hydro trans off ebay for $176 - Wrong model though 205-015A vs 205-034B. So I tore it apart and replaced the axles from my old one along with the motion control arm. Runs like a champ now.

An interesting thing that I found - There's a TT stamped on the inside of the casing, one solid T and one outlined on top of one another. Tuff Torque ? Maybe that's why they didn't want anyone going through it?? Let the conspiracy theories begin.

Re-Assembly instructions. Just the reverse of taking it apart with the following exceptions.

Each part you remove, place in a clean location and cover to keep foreign materials off of them.

Remove every part from the casings with the exception of the main input shaft. There is a snap ring under the bearing seal. To get to it you'll destroy the bearing seal.

Remove the neutral lever (for lack of a better word for it - It allows you to disengage the drive by moving the lever, that thing) from the top casing by sliding it straight out, this will allow you to remove the drive shaft that contains the brake on it - set them aside.

Scrape off all of the gasket material as best you can with a putty knife or something similar. Use a wire brush wheel afterward to bring it down to metal (it just seems to seal better this way). Clean it up well with brake cleaner on the inside to remove all foreign pieces. Set them upside down on a clean rag until you are ready for assembly.

Start with the bottom casing, first replace the axles and spider gears with the same orientation they came out.

Put in the big gear. Then put in the hydro pump unit (making sure it's completely in), the magnet in its retainer, the chunk of steel on one side and the spring loaded retainer on the other - 10 turns for star screw ones, nine turns for 10mm bolt ones. Install the motion actuator arm (use some sealer for the rubber gasket) and then the bearing caps with some oil and locktight on the threads. Torque them down each one a little at a time alternating to German torque specs (Goot En Tight). Be sure you put the bearing caps on the same way and on the same races that they came from.

Install the neutral shaft and put in the shaft with the brake disk on it, again using sealer where the ruber seal is.

At this point, the entire bottom case should contain every part. Check that nothing is binding on the axle shafts, move the neutral lever to neutral and turn the axles the same direction at the same time - Verify that the axles stay in contact with the casing the entire time and don't bind up, if they do, pull them out and re-orient them - It took me a couple of times. Verify that all gears are contacting the way they should and spinning freely. Put some 90 weight oil on the axle shaft too.

I used Permatex Moto Sealer grey which looks identical to what they used originally - I've seen people selling Ultra Grey too as a sealer.

Follow the instructions, use a small bead of sealer ~1/8" and put some in the seal locations for the brake, motion arm and axle shaft seals. Before you mate the two halves, pound that pin in that's sticking out of the top half. Gently lower the top half on the lower guiding the neutral lever shaft into it being sure to keep the lever aligned in it's location on the shaft. The two halves should come together nicely, if they don't, remove it and see what's not correct.

Put the screws in and tighten each a little at a time going around the whole unit 3 or 4 times. Again, check that the axle shafts spin freely when in neutral. Crack open your favorite beverage, you are done.

Some humor, I thought I was in trouble when I got the whole thing back in the tractor yesterday. I was adjusting the brake and moved the tractor but the brake disk was not turning... I just spent half a day working on this and !@#%% now I have to go back into it again and see what I screwed up... After an hour messing with it, I decided to call it a day. I went out there this morning and looked at it again - I noticed an axle key lying on the floor next to the rear tire... As it turned out, in my excitement to get the thing together I left one of the axle keys out so the shaft was just happily spinning inside there.

At any rate, it works like a charm now, drove her around a bit but I just want to take it easy while I break it in.

I would suggest to anyone to get the bellows kit, that's where you refill the oil for the pump. I luckily had the security bit and re-used the new one. Filled it completely full with Mobil 1 20W50 (~1.3 qts). Used Valvoline 80-90W for the differential part, filling it to 1/4 inch from the bottom of the casing as measured from the filler hole.

Maintenance that I would suggest: Approximately every 3-4 seasons, remove the unit and change at least the hydro oil with a new bellows kit.

Here are the photos as promised:

bottom half:
{{gwi:346598}}
Top Half, with brake disc shaft - This is the way it comes apart.
{{gwi:346600}}

to get more: www.phloatinactivities.org/lenimg/img_****.jpg

replace the stars with any of the following - warning, they are big (like 1.5MB each so please be thoughtful to our bandwidth here - I'll remove the pics if it gets to be too burdensome on my side):
IMG_0615.JPG
IMG_0623.JPG - This is the part that broke on mine
IMG_0631.JPG
IMG_0632.JPG
IMG_0633.JPG
IMG_0634.JPG
IMG_0635.JPG
IMG_0636.JPG
IMG_0637.JPG
IMG_0638.JPG
IMG_0639.JPG
IMG_0640.JPG
IMG_0641.JPG
IMG_0642.JPG

I probably should add - This is thing is going to the dump, if anyone wants it please let me know within a week. The only bad news is, I don't want to go into it again, I'll ship the whole thing with all of the pieces parts for the cost of shipping.

The transaxle on my little tractor was cracked in several different places and was packed with grease from the factory....the reason it was cracked is the rims welded themselves to the 3/4 axles...and I think soneone before me used a sledge hammer on it...anyhow I managed to get a good used transaxle to which I changed out the rims with a 4 bolt pattern...now the process of changing tires a piece of cake

Hey guys, Its me again.
Just saw all the new posts. Lenlo great job- wish I would of seen this sooner I would of taken the old one to have around. I just can't leave stuff alone, and if it broke again I would attempt it again. I have more time then Money.
Just wanted to say as of end last year- Running Great still.
I have aquired another rider an old JD 1994-95 stx38 someone was throwing out and got her going - well honestly I like it better then the Husq. steering tighter- but deck alot smaller. Along with the JD I found a Craftsman 1995 and put another deck from another tractor on it. Now I have 3 riders, 2 kids at 13 yrs old so the mowing get done alot sooner.
If I ever have to buy another one (years from now I hope) I think I will get a used Zero Turn they cost too much new.
Another note- I am finding more and more parts from my Husq. are the same as the more recent Craftsman "red" tractors, exact same part numbers- so I will go to sears for parts not Husq. they cost too much.
Thanks again for all the great words.
Questions- email me anytime- easygoin4@yahoo.com
Chris

Often, if you Google the part# and AYP, you can find the part much cheaper yet.

I just took apart the VST205-024,And found out it is a very simple thing,I found out to be bad in it was 1 broken head of a bolt on the inside and what caused it to break was 1 clutch plate has broken that sits in the clutch wheel,It seems to be a easy fix if you can get the part witch you cant,Unless you can get another tore up one and take the parts out of it.

Update - After rebuilding my unit last year, it started to leak oil. Some changes I would suggest to my previous post.

Instead of Moto 1 Ultimate Grey Sealer, check into Anaerobic sealer. It is much better suited to sealing machined parts with tight tolerances and can withstand synthetic oil. Silicone is not compatible with synthetic oil, it gets eaten away.

I was unable to find anaerobic sealer at several stores I visited so I went with Permatex Ultra Grey sealer. This includes as part of the directions to let the part cure for 24 hours - If I had done this with the Moto 1 sealer, I probably would have had better results. I ran a 1/8-1/4" consistent bead around the whole casing. Wherever I could, I ran the bead In the middle of the flange and to the inside of any bolt holes. Wherever I had to, I circled bolt holes with the bead. Also, don't over tighten the bolts, this will squish out all of the sealer. Only tighten the bolts enough to squish a small bead of the sealer out. With the bead in the middle, you can have a good idea that if there is a small bead on the outside, there should be a small bead on the inside.

Another nuance I discovered with this transaxle. There is a rolled steel pin that holds a lever on the motion actuator arm. I'm glad I opened mine up because this pin had sheared on one side and was likely going to go.

I don't know what the symptoms would be if this pin sheared, but it would likely result in no motion.

Finally, on the question of what oil to use - Synthetic or conventional. If you used silicone (grey), you must use conventional oil. If you used anaerobic sealer you can use synthetic. Synthetic eats silicone (such as Ultra Grey). This time I used 10-30 conventional oil.

i have a murray 36508 and i cant find out what model my peerless transaxle is

I wasn't able to find parts look up, but I did find a reference chart showing an Peerless 834. Best check the axle for the # to be sure,.

ok i have seen pics showing the tag underneath the brake rotor ill check it

If any one is going to get rid of theirs please let me know. I am looking for the smaller of the two bearings it is the one closer to the brake side. It has part# 5956-p1 stamped on it. Please e-mail me at brad.bauer@hotmail.com and let me know. Thank You

I have a Lawnboy YT16 Model Number 52140. I need a transmission made by peerless (transaxle), according to Lawnboy it could also be a 801-020B. I have the rear wheels and transmission removed from the tractor. Can anyone assist in my locating a used or parts for this one.

Does anyone know of a current replacement available for the Peerless model 2000? Mine is a 2000-002A serial number 10050150 in a Murray (Stanley) 425605X692A yard tractor. It has given me trouble for years (4) that it would just jerk when first engaging transaxle but after a minute would move and work after that. This weekend I got it going and used it for about 30 minutes before it just simply quit moving. I had not been able to use the disengage lever for the last 9 years of the 10 that I have had it. This year I got it to move but it is so hard. I wondered if that was what made it stop but since it has not been quite right for the last 4 years I guess it is time to either tear into it or replace it. When it stopped I could still hear a low groan when trying to engage it with the pedal but it did not even try to move. When I pushed the tractor back to the shed it sounded like the chain was running but it allowed me to push it where it has not let me do that for 9 years now.

If anyone knows of an economical replacement please let me know.

Thank you.

I have a stanley 22hp 52" cut tractor with hydrostatic trans that groans and slows a little when hot and slips in reverse anybody help with fix ?anyway to put fluid in or check level... model 525607x692A bought at walmart...Helped brother mow 5 acres when it was new probably wore it out... still can use it though!!!

To swh22: I hope you got it fixed. I have the same tractor with a peerless 6840-P91 Transaxle and it has been sluggish for a while. I moved last year and while in the process I mowed about 2 acres in the misting rain. After that it would not move at all. It has been hard to push when disengaged for a long time. Upon inspection I found the vent tube was laying on the frame and was letting moisture in. I took it off and drained it and tried to flush it with gasoline. I let it set for a couple days to dry out and added the oil suggested by others, 20-50 synthetic. But alas no help at all. After reading about broken parts inside the unit I decided to take it apart. I found nothing wrong upon visual inspection. It was very difficult to move both axles with transmission off and was still stiff when the case was opened. I give up and will be ordering a new one next week. I hope that will fix the problem as it is a good tractor with the exception of the cheap metal the deck wheels attach to and the non adjustable steering which make the front wheels splay out and wear out. I guess I'll bend the wheels back and may make my own brackets or get some like are on the john deer my mother in law has.

well i have been telling customers to watch out for theses transmissions for awhile. i have one open on my bench now, nothing broken jumped out at me. after looking things over i found(look at the good pic that was sent in) on the half opposite the ring gear and spiders underneath those sheet metal covers are rollers with a little plate screwed to them. this one has a broken holding tab (the one next to the final drive) and wamo trouble. this tractor did everything you guys talked about. take out the main bearing bolts lift it up a bit, get your flash light and turn it back and forth, there is that very small screw that holds the rollers one or more will be broke. this one has one broke, and would only let me move the drive trane back and forth. i willing to bet those of you who didnt see anything broke have this going on.

hi i was wondering if someone could help me out, i have a murray rider and it has a peerless trans in it, i can go forward and turn to the left just fine, when i go to turn to the right it comes to a very slow crawl to almost stopping, and after a few mins it will pick back up speed again, until i turn to the right and it doesn't matter how long the tractor been running it still does it oh also it very slow when backing up any ideas please any help would be appreciated
Ed