I'd like to give a description first to see if any of you JD gurus or owners have encountered same situation as me, and perhaps shed some light. It started with some seemingly mild shifting problems, 8th, 7th, 5th, & 3rd gears would almost engage with some gear chatter, but no further. To cut to the chase I did everything by the book plus some tips from 2 experienced local JD techs for shifter adjustments. I next removed the trans top inspection cover. As I tried shifting to see what was happening inside I soon discovered the trans drive shaft had about 1/4" of end play, way too much. I was further advised to first remove the differential/rock shaft housing and check around the trans pump before splitting tractor. The rear drive shaft's bearing cup is backed up against the pump housing which was thought could simply be the problem for the excessive end play. I first noticed the pump was loose away from the trans case about 1/4" and 2 bolts missing. When the pump was removed 2 of the 4 bolt holes in the case around the bearing cup hole were chewed out, plus two pieces of trans cast around the cup hole are broken out, right where the other 2 pump bolt holes are. Bottom line is something really went wrong, and so far I have no idea what caused this. Also the cup is broken straight across in one place, I removed it with my fingers. For those of you who may have an interest in this mess, I plan to post a few pics I hope today or as soon as I can. Gotta run. Thanks :evil: