Isn't the 140 hydrostatic drive?

 

Yes, it's hydrostatic. Depressing the engine disconnect pedal disengages the engine from the transmission and returns the hydro control to neutral. When the transmission is engaging (pedal release) it's creating a load on the engine that's apparently too much

 

HHHMMMM I've never had a hydro that had a disconnect pedal, my 69 H1 140 doesn't have one.

 

IIRC they only had them for first 3 years:

for 1971 - end they didn't have it.

 

 

Well, it seems I learned something about 140H3's today.

Manual for 38,001 and up shows brake pedal is also engine disconnect, to aid cold weather starting.

 

Me also. As grandpa said "You are not done learning until you are dead."

 

Thanks for the replies but I'm not sure what to make of them. My 42xxx serial 140 sure has one. The service manual references one for H3's that my machine falls in.

 

 

Something is binding then..... given that it actually has a clutch, albeit, belts and pulleys, I'd be checking that first.....

 

I would lock the brake clutch pedal down, then see how hard it is to spin the rear portion of the shaft going to the charge pump. If there is a lot of resistance there, that isn't good.

 

With the rear end jacked up, the rear tires spin freely - whether the engine disconnect pedal is released or depressed.

 

Might jack it up and get the rear wheels off the ground first.

Which hydro gear would this be?

 

Which hydro gear would this be?

It should be the later one, being it's a '72 (like the closed frame 300 series used)

 

Not sure if that's Eaton or Sunstrand?

 

Sunstrand 15U

 

Did you turn the shaft to spin the wheels?

 

OK, with the rear end jacked up and the engine disconnect pedal depressed I'm unable to turn the drive shaft with a couple fingers (trying this in limited space under the chassis). I'm guessing that's not good, and I probably need to pull the pan and try to get a good grip on the shaft? Or should it rotate extremely easily?

 

Does your hydro look like this?

 

Yessir, that's what it looks like

 

The seat pan is easy to pull. 4 bolts, deck height knob, and the free wheel knob.
It takes me less than 10 minutes to pull it.

Once that's off, we need to find out why the driveshaft is locked up. May have to pull the Sunstrand motor off if it's locked up

 

There is s bearing in the charge pump cover. But if the shaft turns its got to be farther in.

For all other bearings the pump case will need to be split.

 

I have 4 140s. 68,69,70, and 72. I had a similar experience with my 70 H3. It also has the clutch like yours. If you haven't already changed the fluid and filter, i would suggest doing so. That seemed to help my issue. I mow with it every week. My 69 H1 is starting have the same issue. Also, I would suggest pulling the release valves and cleaning them as well. I hope this helps.

 

The seat pan is easy to pull. 4 bolts, deck height knob, and the free wheel knob.
It takes me less than 10 minutes to pull it.

Once that's off, we need to find out why the driveshaft is locked up. May have to pull the Sunstrand motor off if it's locked up

There is s bearing in the charge pump cover. But if the shaft turns its got to be farther in.

For all other bearings the pump case will need to be split.

I have 4 140s. 68,69,70, and 72. I had a similar experience with my 70 H3. It also has the clutch like yours. If you haven't already changed the fluid and filter, i would suggest doing so. That seemed to help my issue. I mow with it every week. My 69 H1 is starting have the same issue. Also, I would suggest pulling the release valves and cleaning them as well. I hope this helps.

Thanks guys for jumping in on this one. Not having owned one I was just reasoning out what should/could be the problem. Much better to have experienced owners to jump in!

 

Had another thought...always dangerous! When it bogs down if you pull the choke out does it run better? Might be fuel flow to the engine.

 

If the driveshaft won't move, choking the engine won't help.
Need to find out why.
I suspect that the pump is stuck from moisture.

 

Thanks everyone, appreciate the help. sounds like I need to investigate the pump, I'll have to dig into that later this weekend or next and will report back.

 

Just a question. Does JD still carry parts for these?

 

Update: Pulled the hydro and debated on whether I wanted to tear into it or possibly send it out for the work. After locating this helpful Sundstrand 15 'Major Repairs' manual pdf in another thread, I was confident enough to start disassembling as even to me, the 'major repairs' on these units appear to be pretty straightforward.

Kind of ironically, the guide didn't cover removal of the charge pump, which I needed to do. After removing the two charge pump housing bolts, I immediately got some movement in the shaft. It was crunchy, but it moved. Pulled the housing off and the charge pump (gerotor) and the inside of the housing had some corrosion, which cleaned up easy enough with acetone and atf. I decided to go ahead and pull the center section of the hydro and with that off the shaft definitely seems to act as it should so the issue defintely seems related to the charge pump assembly.

Put the center section back on, installed the gerotor and charge pump housing again, and got serious binding again. So I'm narrowing it down to either the gerotor or the needle bearings in the charge pump housing:

Gerotor: I think they cleaned up really well but even after cleanup those gears fit together extremely tight, they almost 'snap' together. I presume that's how the tolerances should be but I'm also wondering if maybe this is somehow aggravating the binding. I can rotate them around the shaft by hand so they're probably alright.

Needle roller bearings: They seem to spin freely with my pinky in the hole and I no corrosion is apparent. I'm not educated enough to know what these should look but when I look down the barrel of the charge pump housing, those needles sure do look like they skew sideways just a little, like they were jammed up at one point and got twisted. I assume they should run in exact parallel with the shaft hole in the charge pump housing?

Would like others thoughts if you're willing to share. Also, would like to know who folks would reach out to order the new seal and bearing if that's what I need to do.

Also adding a diagram for clarity/reference if needed, the needle roller bearing is #3:

 

You might find this helpful:

 

Appreciate it, thanks! Yes, this is exactly the resource I located earlier today and linked to in my last post and it gave me the confidence to dig into the transmission. I think it's a bad charge pump housing needle roller bearing, I describe what I'm seeing in my last post.

 

Running as it should now, it was the needle roller bearing in the charge pump housing. Thanks everyone for the help

 

Good thing it was something simple.