# Honda right side tranny/gearbox service and repair questions.



## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

Finally tore into this gearbox for first time. early model hs928

gears look good , bearings bad, grease all cake and dirty. bushings toast as expected. the pin on axle broken on both ends but rest of it is still inside axle.

have checked the sticky thread on JnC excellent report on his right side tranny service and have watched donyboy73 video on broken pin at least 5 times each.

what is not discussed in the Jnc thread is the broken pin that is pressed into the axle and turns that gear. I understand that you are supposed to buy the whole axle with the pin which is $100 on boats. donyboy says he has drilled out the broken remnants of the old pin and put in another with success.

my question: has anyone here done this successfully?

what kind of hardened steel dowell pin do you use? would it be quarter each? where would I get one? 

I am fortunate enough to practice this repair on a old junk blower before i do the real deal on others. I am going to try doing this with the blower up on it's nose.the shop manual says to remove the engine which is fairly easy but what is the reason for that? which way is easiest? the time to me does not matter but ease does.

any other advice that I may be need would be greatly appreciated.


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## YSHSfan (Jun 25, 2014)

orangputeh said:


> Finally tore into this gearbox for first time. early model hs928
> 
> gears look good , bearings bad, grease all cake and dirty. bushings toast as expected. the pin on axle broken on both ends but rest of it is still inside axle.
> 
> ...


I've read a few posts were people installed a section of a drill bit of the appropriate size.
I think you can just push the pin through with a punch. I believe JnC had a post on replacing the pin.

If you can, remove the engine, reason for it is to take the weight off and place the unit on 'service position' (remember you'll have one side of the tractor off). Also try to keep the Hydro reservoir in a straight up position so that you don't loose any fluid.

If time allows, I may eventually do a video on the removal of the right side transmission assembly......

:blowerhug:


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

ok. that makes sense now on removing the engine. that weight I guess could tweek things with that cover off. ya i can do that pretty easily.

yes, i read about the drill bit piece. i was just wondering if there was such a thing as a hardened steel dowel that would fit the bill if anyone here has done that. sounds like JnC has done a number of these. I will be following his tutorial.

YSHSfan...... a video would be fantastic.! I searched the web and you would be the first. I think it would be of great service to everyone here since this right side transmission service is so important. Most people can take instruction with written steps and pictures like JnC did 

but nummies like me do much better with video help.


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

orangputeh said:


> yes, i read about the drill bit piece. i was just wondering if there was such a thing as a hardened steel dowel that would fit the bill if anyone here has done that.


I would think that an appropriately sized roll pin would do the trick. They are quite hard... Can probably get one at your local hardware store.


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## ZOMGVTEK (Sep 25, 2014)

Its fairly easy if things arent rusted too bad, its a few hour job with some experience. Probably a weekend gig if you're a bit shy. A roll pin is a bad idea in this application.

http://www.snowblowerforum.com/foru...ansmission-shaft-gear-splines-stripped-7.html


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## tabora (Mar 1, 2017)

ZOMGVTEK said:


> A roll pin is a bad idea in this application.


Why is that?

"Also called roll pins, spring pins are designed to withstand side loads and rotational friction, making them ideal for securing shaft and axle connections. Easy to insert and remove, they exert uniform outward pressure when fitted into a nut or shaft hole. The open slots allow the pins to compress and fit into smaller holes."


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## ZOMGVTEK (Sep 25, 2014)

The size of the roll pin required to transmit the torque would be very large. I tried a good quality roll pin on the gear off the HST, which handles significantly less torque due to its increased speed, and it failed after a few uses.

The pin thats in there now failed, and its solid steel. Presumably its a run of the mill dowel pin, which is a lot stronger than a even a high grade roll pin of the same size. Sure, you could make a roll pin work, but its very problematic in this application as the shaft and gear are existing with little room to adjust the geometry. It just makes no sense when a solid pin is stronger and to some extent easier to come by. You can get away with using the shank of a drill, its probably about as strong as the pin that was in there.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

ZOMGVTEK said:


> The size of the roll pin required to transmit the torque would be very large. I tried a good quality roll pin on the gear off the HST, which handles significantly less torque due to its increased speed, and it failed after a few uses.
> 
> The pin thats in there now failed, and its solid steel. Presumably its a run of the mill dowel pin, which is a lot stronger than a even a high grade roll pin of the same size. Sure, you could make a roll pin work, but its very problematic in this application as the shaft and gear are existing with little room to adjust the geometry. It just makes no sense when a solid pin is stronger and to some extent easier to come by. You can get away with using the shank of a drill, its probably about as strong as the pin that was in there.


i found a 1.25 inch metal dowel pin taht fits perfectly at the hardware store but have no idea how strong it is. not sure what strength the original pin is. would like to put a stronger pin than original as this pin seems to fail quite often. usually due to operator abuse. like donyboy said 'trying to get machine to do something that it can't do"


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## ZOMGVTEK (Sep 25, 2014)

It's a reasonable assumption the pin that was in there is a common tool steel pin. I'd assume what you get at a hardware store is going to be similar to the stock pin. The stock pin is failing from fatigue, it would appear. If thats the case, the double shear strength isnt the best number to go by. If the stock pin lasted 10-20 years, you should expect around that same time from a replacement. I suspect that should push the machine towards the end of its useful life anyways. The real solution is to make the pin slightly larger, but thats not super easy in this case.

Personally, i'd say slam a new alloy steel pin in there, slather it in grease, and call it a day. Its likely to last another 10+ years, but might last much longer. But I've taken these things apart enough that I dont think much about it anymore.


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## orangputeh (Nov 24, 2016)

ZOMGVTEK said:


> It's a reasonable assumption the pin that was in there is a common tool steel pin. I'd assume what you get at a hardware store is going to be similar to the stock pin. The stock pin is failing from fatigue, it would appear. If thats the case, the double shear strength isnt the best number to go by. If the stock pin lasted 10-20 years, you should expect around that same time from a replacement. I suspect that should push the machine towards the end of its useful life anyways. The real solution is to make the pin slightly larger, but thats not super easy in this case.
> 
> Personally, i'd say slam a new alloy steel pin in there, slather it in grease, and call it a day. Its likely to last another 10+ years, but might last much longer. But I've taken these things apart enough that I dont think much about it anymore.


Thanks. I was thinking that also. I tried punching out the rest of the old pin but it will not budge. I guess I'll have to drill it out. I don't understand why the hole is so elongated. it must have slamming slamming around for some time to do that. that may be a problem for the new pin since it has to be basically the same size so that it fits properly in the gear.


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## ZOMGVTEK (Sep 25, 2014)

Sounds like it looks just like the one I tore down. I flipped the axle around and drilled the other side since the existing hole was devastated and I couldn't get the pin out. It's probably OK to just drill the thing out, but if it is a pin in a hole, you'd need to get the drill running perfectly aligned with the existing hole. Otherwise the existing pin fragments will likely fall out as you're drilling and then the new pin will be loose. Sloppy fit will put more shock on the driveline and should be avoided.

Worst case, its really not even that hard to just make a new axle. Its just 5 loose tolerance holes in a rod. If you have access to a drill press and a grinder you're all set.


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