[tractorjake]

Hello interweb Gator experts. I've had a XUV550 for about 3 year now, with 600 hours, and it has been the tale of all things that can go wrong, did. New head gaskets, new clutch and belt, new seals, shifting cables, parking cables, shifting levers etc. Basically every other post on this model and it's happened to me. So my recent failure is the rear transaxle. We noticed a new "bad sound" coming from the 4 wheel drive transaxle that transfers power to the front differential. Got it in the shop and took out the transmission and sure enough, 3 broken teeth on 31T frontdrive gear. SO.......good ole JD will only sell me the tranaxle as a unit at $2200, which is insane for the amount I've got poured into this POS already. Luckily (if that can actually happen) it did not damage the 18T front drive gear that come out of the transmission or dump a bunch of metal into the mix. We were able to find the pieces and clean the housing. Long story short, I'm looking for a solution to replace the 31T gear. I haven't been able to find it on the interweb. I've looked at the salvage shops that have parted some 550s out, but this seems to be the most used piece, as I'm sure I'm not the first and it typically is not listed. So I'm asking the greater Gator community for suggestions. So far my options are:

1. Buy the $2200 transaxle.

2. Miraculously find a replacement gear

3. Grind the teeth off the gear, reinstall and forgo the 4 wheel drive forever

4. Repair the gear? (Can this even be done?)

5. Sell it for parts and buy something that actually works more than its broken.

6. Someone here will have the perfect answer that I haven't thought of.

Most appreciative of any ideas and hoping the answer is easier/cheaper, than it appears from my view.

 

[dane]

Yea, I feel your pain. Have you checked online for used parts? I see Power Sports Nation mentioned occasionally on this forum as a source for parts.

 

[tractorjake]

I’ve been up and down the web, eBay, salvage, small engine shops, local mechanics, far further than I care to remember. I’m currently researching gear repair shops. They usually do the huge industrial size stuff, but hoping I can find the right guy that knows how to do that kind of work and will do such a small job. It’s only really an option because we caught it early and it was clean breaks without much grinding per se. Some of the other guys gears are completely wrecked. Have you ever heard of gear repair like that?

 

[200mph]

Is this what you need?

 

[tractorjake]

Yup, that's the kit I'm looking for. All the dealers I contacted said that it was not expected to be in stock till late Jan, 23. Do you happen to have a line on one? Thanks.

 

[200mph]

No, I just looked up the part given your 1st post indicated you couldn't find anything and that individual parts are NOT available. So, parts are available but like everything today the supply is limited/delayed.

Late Jan 2023 is only a week away.

 

[tractorjake]

My local JD dealer told me they were no longer in production, and they would only sell me the whole transaxle. It wasn't until I pursued the parts at another dealer (including contacting dealers overseas), that I was informed they do indeed seem to produce the parts, and that they would be coming back into stock. So......I have them on order from a dealer out of my area, and I'm cautiously optimistic that they will come back into the supply line when they have said it will. But until it's in my hands, it's all speculation. Should they arrive, then my opinions of my local dealer will be solidified and I will have a new supplier for all things JD. Unfortunately, this whole experience has me looking at Honda and all other brands as I'm tired of the poor performance of Green in my past few dealing with them. A few short weeks should tell the tale, unforutnately for my time line, I've been working on this since Nov. '22 and toting farm things in a FEL till a solution presents itself. Thanks.

 

[200mph]

Hope it comes in as scheduled for you.

Agree, JD has lost its customer focus long ago. People continue to buy them hoping their quality (in all respects) improves, but it doesn't and likely won't.

You can look up the parts yourself. WWW.JDPARTS.COM