Holcombwa,I saw your post below and wanted to add some info for you. The TEA-20 does not have "Live" Hydraulics. Thus the lift arms only work when the PTO is engaged and the clutch is out. Before you start to drain the trans-hydo fluid. Do these checks to determine if you it is prudent to preform other fixes while the fluid is drained. 1) Look at the PTO shaft... is there a leak there? The PTO seal is a piece-o-cake to change when the fluid is drained. (let us know if you need to change this seal and we'll tell ya how to do it if needed.) 2) Hook up your sickle bar mower to the 3-point and lift it (your just looking for weight on the lift-PTO does not need to be attached). How fast does the lift fall when you press in the clutch? If it leeks down slowly, longer than a minute then you do not have a problem. If it falls immediately or leeks down very quickly then you may want to fix the leek while the fluid is out. IF leeking down Pull the right side inspection plate and with the lift up look with a flash light for the oozing fluid. (Obviously you do not want to stick your hands into the transmission gear housing with a running engine) Note the area and determine what needs to be fixed. Now that you know what you want to do when the fluid is drained here is how you get all that fluid out.... (I learned the hard way and immediatly contaminated $50 worth of clean fluid when I changed the fluid the first time.) This is the procedure I used to clean my water contaminated transmission oil housing. You will need to wash out the old fluid. Any remaining fluid will contaminate the new fluid. If you have time in the evenings start to drain the tractor now. She will drip for hours/days. You should also be prepared to deal with the gallons of fluids you the will gush out of the tractor. Have containers ready to pour the old oil in to take to your auto parts store for recycling. (milk jugs are not heavy enough) Do your lift arms drop/leak down quickly? If so prior to draining the fluid pull the right and left side inspection plates. Lift an implement and look to see where the fluid is leaking out of the system as the lift lowers. Then you can repair/replace the required parts without the fluid in the way. I would also recommend the you replace the PTO seal and O-ring seal if needed at this time and replace the inspection plate gaskets. The inspection plate gaskets are fairly easy to cut yourself if you need to. Open the drains one at a time to handle the gush of fluid. Once you have gone through all of them open them ALL up again with a pan under each and let it drip at least over night. Make sure your lift control is in the down position to drain the piston. You should plan on "washing/Flushing" out the inside. Particularly if you have water in the oil... i.e. if brown/milky. To wash the inside use either kerosene or diesel. I put mine in a garden sprayer and sprayed the insides down. I put the garden sprayer nozzle everywhere I can, up the PTO shaft opening, if you pulled it. Through the Filler hole, through the inspection ports, through each drain plug. I catch the diesel in clean oil pans let it settle then decant the "clean" fluid off the sludge and spray again, and again. Go have a beer and let it drain. I then wipe out the bottom with clean paper towels to get the crud out. (do not use cheap towels here you do not want them falling apart on you). If your fluid had water in it, the "Milky" oil will continue to appear for a while, I just came back and wiped it out again, and again util gone. This is a good time to do other maintenance. Grease the fittings, Pull the air filter and clean it. Be sure to do the diesel flush with good ventilation. The fumes are powerful. Button her back up with your new seals and fill. Toward the end (Last 2 gallons) fill slowly... i.e. quart or 1/2 liter per 5 to 10 minutes. To let it all even out in the sumps. The fill is in the first sump and the dip stick is in the third sump. The thick oil takes some time to flow to the third sump. The first time I changed the oil I did not do this and I over filled by a gallon and a half. And because I did not wash out the back that gallon and a half was now contaminated and useless. You will be glad you did this when it is done. Jeff
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