# Treating a Power Shift transmission right



## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

I picked up a Power Shift 1028 as a project a few weeks ago. I finally had a chance to open up the transmission and found the shift collar had split in half and the shift yoke for forward/reverse had broken tabs that ride in the shift collar groove.

Beyond properly lubricating the transmission and not jamming it into gear are there any best practices to avoid another failure like this?

It looks like there's some black silicone in each of the tubes for the shift yokes? Is that from the factory or evidence of a previous service? I don't see any signs of rust or water ingress so it appears to have helped seal things up a bit.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*Well first off it is not a transmission out of a Kenworth where there you could double clutch the chain drive till the cows come home. I suspect that some of the metal used in there is of the pot metal variety. and storing it outside under a trap is the best idea that ever fell off the turnip truck. I have had mine now for 23years and never had a problem with it. but then there have been many winters of late where I have no need to use them. those winters were cleaned with the leaf blower or the electric blower. as long as you don't beat on it like a red headed stepchild you should see a long life out of it. there was a guy here back in 2013 that was having problems with his trans. I offered to go through it for him, but he would had to ship it from mass to minn. but then that engine chucked a rod and he scrapped it out. I took some parts from it kinda now wished I had him throw that trans in just to have a looksee of what was happening in there. I doubt it was anything major probley the same issue you have with a couple of busted up pieces in there. also you will want to check the endplay for bearing slop. AS ALWAYS LET ME KNOW THE SCORE ON THAT 1.k:k:k:k:k:*


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

I'm imagining me as Tom Cruise and you as Robert Duvall…










I definitely intend to treat it well and keep it garaged. My guess is things got sticky in the transmission and the previous owner tried to jam it into reverse one too many times. I haven't checked the end play yet but plan on breaking out the feeler gauge later today.

Any thoughts on the stuff in the holes for the shifter yokes? Looks like some sort of RTV but I can't find anything in the Toro documentation mentioning it. You can see some of the remnants of it on the picture above where it stuck to the yoke. My thought is to just clean it out and leave the holes open.


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

spit-ballin' here regarding good practice ...would disengaging the traction (releasing the handlebar lever) before shifting benefit the tranny?

My old Allis Chalmers has warnings about shifting with the traction engaged.

Snowblowing sometimes does require alot of Forward/Reverse/Forward, etc. ...so having that discipline could be difficult at times.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

classiccat said:


> spit-ballin' here regarding good practice ...would disengaging the traction (releasing the handlebar lever) before shifting benefit the tranny?


There's an interlock so you have to do that before it will go into reverse.


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## classiccat (Mar 1, 2014)

BeansBaxter said:


> There's an interlock so you have to do that before it will go into reverse.


my apologies for not knowing more about the powershift! (I have yet to come across a free one  ) 

Is there an interlock for changing speeds with traction engaged?


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

No problem. I'm just learning all of this myself.

There isn't an interlock for changing speeds and that is specifically allowed per the owners manual. Due to the design of the transmission, all the speed reducer and output gears are engaged all the time. There's a selector tab that slides inside the collar of each output gear and can move even when under load.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

Quick update. Endplay is under 0.030 inches on the intermediate and output shafts so I don't need to add any thrust washers. The input bearing is a bit wobbly so I'm going to replace that while I'm in there. Output bearing is solid as a rock.


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## cranman (Jan 23, 2016)

Sounds like you will be the go to guy for Powershifts in the near future! Were you able to order the broken parts? The ones I've done just needed cleaning and greasing.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

cranman said:


> Sounds like you will be the go to guy for Powershifts in the near future! Were you able to order the broken parts? The ones I've done just needed cleaning and greasing.



I was hoping for a simple clean and degrease. It was a bummer to find the broken parts. At least I know it will be in like-new condition when I rebuild it.

I ordered the parts and they should be here next week. I called my local shop first but they didn't seem interested in my business so I ordered online from Pat's Small Engine.

I guess I'm acquiring a somewhat rare skill.  
Maybe I'll have to get some referrals from Jackmels since he's just a few towns over and he got me into this mess in the first place.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*Looks like some one put wheel bearing grease in there. I can not see the black stuff in those pics.*


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*The proper way to shift through gears while not engaging the POWERSHIFT feature is to have the lever depressed select your desired number that 1-4 or 1-2 in reverse. than press down on the traction lever and have at it. as for the POWERSHIFT feature to engage it you have to the lever pulled back behind slot 2 while holding down the lever. sounds and looks like someone slammed it through the gears with out stopping and doing it the correct way. IT IS NO HYDRO TRANS where you can jam through gears without double clutching.*


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

The black stuff is on the shaft of the shift yoke. I'll take some pics of the upper case and the internals where you can see it better.

It very well could have been service with bearing grease previously. That would explain the failure, wouldn't it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

BeansBaxter said:


> The black stuff is on the shaft of the shift yoke. I'll take some pics of the upper case and the internals where you can see it better.
> 
> It very well could have been service with bearing grease previously. That would explain the failure, wouldn't it?
> 
> ...


*Well high speed wheel bearing grease did not help with it's Demise. the spec'd stuff is LUBRIPLATE MAG1 grease. do you have the service manual for it. if not PM me for my e-mail.*


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> *Well high speed wheel bearing grease did not help with it's Demise. the spec'd stuff is LUBRIPLATE MAG1 grease. do you have the service manual for it. if not PM me for my e-mail.*


I have some Mag-1 on order along with the parts. I downloaded the service manual from toro.com (tosnowps.pdf) but it was published in 1989. I'll PM you in case you have something more recent since mine is from 1998.


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

I almost bought a powershift last week, cheap. Had a transmission problem so I watched a bunch of YouTube videos with tear downs and inspections. Someone snatched it up before I could pull the trigger, bummer.

It's nice to know there are a few members with experience with those transmissions.

I didn't realize that forward gears can be shifted on the fly, that's a bonus.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

drmerdp said:


> I almost bought a powershift last week, cheap. Had a transmission problem so I watched a bunch of YouTube videos with tear downs and inspections. Someone snatched it up before I could pull the trigger, bummer.
> 
> It's nice to know there are a few members with experience with those transmissions.
> 
> I didn't realize that forward gears can be shifted on the fly, that's a bonus.


 What do you mean on the fly?????????? that is not what I posted.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*Check you E-mail there, BEANS k:k:k:k:k:*


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

drmerdp said:


> I almost bought a powershift last week, cheap. Had a transmission problem so I watched a bunch of YouTube videos with tear downs and inspections. Someone snatched it up before I could pull the trigger, bummer.
> 
> It's nice to know there are a few members with experience with those transmissions.
> 
> I didn't realize that forward gears can be shifted on the fly, that's a bonus.


Bummer that you missed out. I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

I watched the same videos and they were very helpful. Between those videos, the service manual, and the resources on this forum like POWERSHIFT93 and cranman anybody should be able to rebuild one of these.

Regarding shifting on the fly, once you take it apart, it becomes apparent how it works and it's quite elegant. It's a simplified sequential gearbox so all the gears are engaged all the time, no synchros needed. The two shift keys slide inside the collar of each output gear and the tabs at the end engage the dogs on the back side of the selected gear. Switching gears is simply a matter of sliding those shift keys to the next gear position which can be done while the whole output shaft is rotating.

The reason why you have to disengage the drive pulley before shifting into reverse is because the shift collar is switching from the forward bevel gear to the reverse one that is rotating at the same speed in the opposite direction. Doing that while it's moving would be traumatic to the gears.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> What do you mean on the fly?????????? that is not what I posted.


It's what I posted, quoting the Toro manual. That's only for changing forward gears. Switching to reverse should NOT be done on the fly.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

This is the direct quote from the manual [emphasis in original]:



> Before shifting gears into or out of reverse or when using the Power Shift feature, the traction drive control must be released. On-the-go shifting may be accomplished between any of the *FORWARD* speeds without releasing the traction drive control.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> *The proper way to shift through gears while not engaging the POWERSHIFT feature is to have the lever depressed select your desired number that 1-4 or 1-2 in reverse. than press down on the traction lever and have at it. as for the POWERSHIFT feature to engage it you have to the lever pulled back behind slot 2 while holding down the lever. sounds and looks like someone slammed it through the gears with out stopping and doing it the correct way. IT IS NO HYDRO TRANS where you can jam through gears without double clutching.*


If that was the cause, I would expect the shift keys to be broken. The fact that it's the shift collar and associated shift yoke makes me think it was either being slammed from forward to reverse (note to self: check lockout mechanism in the shift control) or an improper grease was used and gummed things up enough that the intermediate shaft got stuck.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

BeansBaxter said:


> It's what I posted, quoting the Toro manual. That's only for changing forward gears. Switching to reverse should NOT be done on the fly.


* My bad you are right. I always do it the old school way that is stuck in my head.*


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

BeansBaxter said:


> If that was the cause, I would expect the shift keys to be broken. The fact that it's the shift collar and associated shift yoke makes me think it was either being slammed from forward to reverse (note to self: check lockout mechanism in the shift control) or an improper grease was used and gummed things up enough that the intermediate shaft got stuck.


* Well that wheel bearing grease does get hard and waxy after a while. so it would bind things up in there.*


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

Here are some photos.

This is the top of the transmission. You can see the RTV in the two holes for the shift yokes in this photo. I'm guessing that's not normally there and was added by a well-meaning service tech.









Here's the transmission cracked open. I just noticed that the shaft for the shift yoke to change direction is cracked (see the top half on the left). This seems to confirm my hypothesis that the previous owner slammed it into reverse sufficient to break the shift collar and yoke and crack this shaft. I'm thinking some JB Weld should patch that up without interfering with the transmission operation.









Here's the bottom case. See the accumulation of grease and the multiple colors. I think POWERSHIFT93 is on to something. Looks like the well-meaning service tech from above didn't want to bother with Mag-1 and the previous owner eventually paid the price for it. That probably got things sticky enough that slamming the transmission into reverse seemed like the only option.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

POWERSHIFT93 said:


> *Check you E-mail there, BEANS k:k:k:k:k:*


Thank you!


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

* Looking back on things I don't remember any black stuff on my trans top. YEAH that is wheel bearing grease 4 sure.:icon-doh::icon-doh:*


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

Anybody know which formula of Loctite is supposed to be used to secure the outer races of the input and output bearings to the lower case? The service manual mentions Toro part #505-103 but that appears to be a ghost number.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

*Either 1 of these will do it 4 you. https://www.permatex.com/products/t...ermatex-high-strength-threadlocker-red-gel-2/ https://www.permatex.com/products/t...atex-medium-strength-threadlocker-blue-gel-2/ *


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## drmerdp (Feb 9, 2014)

That grease looks like the cheap caramel textured wheel bearing grease. 

Id assume the best grease for this application would be a NLGI #1 and moly fortified.


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## BeansBaxter (Feb 17, 2015)

drmerdp said:


> That grease looks like the cheap caramel textured wheel bearing grease.
> 
> 
> 
> Id assume the best grease for this application would be a NLGI #1 and moly fortified.




Toro specifies Lubriplate Mag-1. It's an EP lithium polymer grease that is NGLI #1 as you suggest. I don't see any moly listed but it does have anti-rust additives and a working range down to -60 °F. They claim high film strength which probably makes it desirable with spinning gears.


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