Locked Spicier Hard to Turn!

Hey guys I just locked a spicier transaxle and its really hard to turn, i have to put the pulley on just to turn. Is this normal for grease filled transaxles? Should i try and brake it in or pull the cover again. BTW i did it yesterday and it was very cold, does the cold grease have anything to do with it?

Axles are probably binding.

Did you put the bushings in the case right? on the ends of the gear's shafts, there are bushings with little triangle looking pieces molded off of them. those go into slots in the case, so the bushing doesnt turn with the gear's shaft. if they arnt in the cases slots correctly, when the case is clamped shut it will bind.

It certainly is NOT normal. Check the bushings as Red indicated, and cross your fingers that he's right. If not, you may have heat-warped something, rendering it a greasy paperweight.

If the bushing thing doesn't pan out, leave the cover off and turn it by hand while observing things very closely. If somethings warped, you may be able to spot it rising and falling as it turns.

Doc Sprocket wrote:

It certainly is NOT normal. Check the bushings as Red indicated, and cross your fingers that he's right. If not, you may have heat-warped something, rendering it a greasy paperweight.

If the bushing thing doesn't pan out, leave the cover off and turn it by hand while observing things very closely. If somethings warped, you may be able to spot it rising and falling as it turns.

Yeah I agree.  If you take the spiders out to fully weld them after you tack it in the case, you need to make sure they are exactly how they were when they were tacked.  If they are put in different than they were tacked they would rise and fall in the case, thus causing binding.

ok thanks guys ill check tomorrow. It's my first time locking one and i did it the way fearless did. I nicked one of the teeth on the spider gears with my welder so ill make sure its not touching that tooth and and i'll try switching the gears around and i'll check my bushings too.

Super-tacky grease (usually red in color) can make it harder to turn, but you should be able to rotate the wheels (on the axles) by hand and get the pulley to spin while in gear. No belt on the pulley while trying this.

i think i fixed it!  The axles were very tight so i took one of the 2 thrust washer off the short side and now it is smooth with very little play.