Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Good afternoon,

 I have a 98 John Deere JX75 lawn mower that has been giving me trouble when I go to pull her back the rear wheels lock. I took the pinion gears off & there is a plastic shield behind the wheels one side was broken alowing grass & crud to get up in there. One side came out fine the other was rusted there is a shaft key operated buy a small spring that rides on ramps inside the pinion gear. So this one side the key was locked in the up position which meant I was locked in forward. So after getting her off & cleaning everything I'm ready to put her back together.

 I did order a new plastic shield but do not trust these. So what I would like to do & need to ask if anyone thinks this would be a good idea is to put a little tranny fluid or power steering fluid inside the pinion gear so the shaft key will ride the ramps better?

 I would just like to use some kind of light lubircant as when these shaft keys jam in the grove it is a bear to pull the lawn mower backward as it is locked in forward. Also if anyone can think of any other lubircant (light not thick) I can use please let me know or if u think this is not a good idea please let me know?

 Thank you!

 Will,

This is an awesome walk behind mower.  It was worth putting a John Deere name on.  The Kawasaki engine on it was good too.  IMO, some of the best aluminum deck mowers were in production in the 1990's.  Honda (HM series), Snapper (Euro model), and Deere 14XX, just to name a few that I came across.

I remember reading about drive train problems as being expensive to repair for this these JD model.  Repairs can be upwards of $300.  One person actually disconnected the drive train and used it as a manual push mower. 

It's been written about before, if I find it again, I'll forward you the information