Looks like water in the oil.. Do you wash the tractor? does it live outside? any time I have ever seen oil like that, it was contaminated with water. It would be interesting to leave the old oil sit for a week and see if anything separates out of it.
Craftsman GT5000 with 331-3000 transaxle problems
Hello all,
I have a used Craftsman GT5000 mower that I purchased back in early 2008. I used it through 2008 and began to notice the transaxle was running progressively slower in reverse towards the end of the mowing season. The transaxle also began to make more of a whining sound when moving the motion lever forwards or backwards. I rarely used the mower last winter and early this spring, and only recently had time to take a serious look at this problem.
I took a look around on MTF and found a "sticky" here. Many thanks to member Mowerharald for this thread and his willingness to help via e-mail. I did the initial drain and refill using 20W-50 oil. Below is a photo of what the old fluid looked like...
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I purged the system, rode it around the house once, then topped off the fluid. A few days later, I had the opportunity to mow. Initially, the transaxle did great and seemed to be much more responsive with the new fluid. However, after about 20 to 30 minutes of mowing in some warm weather, the transaxle began to hesitate and was making quite a loud whining sound when going forward...reverse eventually stopped working. I put my hand on the bottom of the transaxle cover and it was very warm. I figured there was still some bad fluid leftover, so I drained, refilled and purged the system a few days later. I did not take a picture of the fluid this time, but it did not look much better than the first drain. I am still experiencing the same results. I can only mow about 20 to 30 minutes, then the transaxle whining and hesitation sets in. The bottom cover on the transaxle is again very warm to almost hot. To add a little background, the cooling fan on top of the transaxle is clean and turning. The cooling fins on the transaxle are clean. I did put all new belts (drive and mow) on the mower earlier this year.
I'm thinking the fluid is getting too hot, but I'm not sure exactly why. I will gladly do another drain and refill, but I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem with this transaxle.
Thanks.
emptx
I have a used Craftsman GT5000 mower that I purchased back in early 2008. I used it through 2008 and began to notice the transaxle was running progressively slower in reverse towards the end of the mowing season. The transaxle also began to make more of a whining sound when moving the motion lever forwards or backwards. I rarely used the mower last winter and early this spring, and only recently had time to take a serious look at this problem.
I took a look around on MTF and found a "sticky" here. Many thanks to member Mowerharald for this thread and his willingness to help via e-mail. I did the initial drain and refill using 20W-50 oil. Below is a photo of what the old fluid looked like...
I purged the system, rode it around the house once, then topped off the fluid. A few days later, I had the opportunity to mow. Initially, the transaxle did great and seemed to be much more responsive with the new fluid. However, after about 20 to 30 minutes of mowing in some warm weather, the transaxle began to hesitate and was making quite a loud whining sound when going forward...reverse eventually stopped working. I put my hand on the bottom of the transaxle cover and it was very warm. I figured there was still some bad fluid leftover, so I drained, refilled and purged the system a few days later. I did not take a picture of the fluid this time, but it did not look much better than the first drain. I am still experiencing the same results. I can only mow about 20 to 30 minutes, then the transaxle whining and hesitation sets in. The bottom cover on the transaxle is again very warm to almost hot. To add a little background, the cooling fan on top of the transaxle is clean and turning. The cooling fins on the transaxle are clean. I did put all new belts (drive and mow) on the mower earlier this year.
I'm thinking the fluid is getting too hot, but I'm not sure exactly why. I will gladly do another drain and refill, but I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem with this transaxle.
Thanks.
emptx
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