T-20 catastrophic failure

[Evan]

Hey everybody, I had bought a new to me 2003 Max IV in October. The machine was in good condition but ran rough, I cleaned and rebuilt the carb and it was running great. I didn't get to run it much, just enough to be sure it was running good before I took it too far away. I drained and changed the transmission fluid, engine oil and filter, tensioned and lubed the chains, adjusted the bands, aligned the steering levers and repacked all the bearings. The machines been ran for what I estimate to be 3 miles total since I had it, well then it just stopped moving with the belt slipping on the driven clutch, the input shaft wouldn't turn so I put it in neutral and pushed the darn thing back to my truck/trailer. I brought it back and it sat on the trailer until today when I decided to take the transmission out. Being mechanically inclined, stubborn, and cheap I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to fix myself because theses transmissions are supposed to be pretty simple and durable. This is what I found.

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The bands are trashed too, full of imbedded metal shavings and delaminating. Does anybody know different sources where I can get these parts from? A new unit is $3,000 and from what I estimate the price of the 4 drums, sun gears, planet gears, new bands and gasket/seal kit is looking close to $2,000. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Evan]

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[Mike]

You will probably be better off purchasing a used transmission and replacing yours with it since you have so many damaged parts. Start a wanted ad here in the classified section of the forum. You can probably get out for $600 or less. If you purchase a used one that hasn't been rebuilt, go ahead and send the bands off to get relined while it's out and replace the seals to give you peace of mind. Then, you shouldn't have to worry about it.

[wedge]

WOW ! What did the oil look like when you drained it ?

[Evan]

The oil that came out was nasty, I'm pretty certain it wasn't ATF either, possibly 90wt gear oil. There wasn't any metal debris on the magnetic drain plug and it steered fine so I figured it would be ok.

[wedge]

Sounds like the owner had problems before and thought the thicker oil would help ?
Sorry to see your luck with it and feel your pain as the T20 is the most expensive part to replace on these machines !!
Drew and others on here have parts and rebuilt units thy sell so I am sure you will make out ok.

[hydromike]

Yikes... It sure looks like a planetary bearing spit out its rollers, which are just about the hardest, smallest part in the T-20. I might have some drums and gears in inventory, but I won't have a chance to look until this Saturday at the earliest. I'll watch this thread and will get back to you if you don't find anything by then that suits your needs.