Power King T92 3-Speed Transmission Rebuild Overhaul, Part 3 — Assembling the T92 Transmission

Previously in this series of articles, we have covered the teardown of a T92 transmission for rebuild in Part 1, and removed & installed front and rear ball bearings in Part 2.

This is Part 3, covering assembly of the T92 transmission gearbox. Let’s get to it. First, here’s an exploded view and illustrated parts list (IPL).

I’m assuming you have a nice clean transmission case, and all your parts are ready to go. There should already be a snap ring inside the rear of the case, for the front of the rear bearing to butt up against.

Start with the reverse idler gear and it shaft. The front of the gear will probably be tapered slightly from wear; that’s okay.

Place the gear where it belongs, and insert the shaft from the back side of the case — making sure the retainer slot is positioned correctly.

When you start the shaft, make sure the slot is facing towards the other shaft so the retainer will fit into it.

When you drive it in, make sure your punch is not above the slot. That will break the shaft, as you will see below.

Next, place the cluster gear where it belongs. This one has more wear than I’d like to see; this is caused by grinding gears when shifting. The good news is, there’s still a lot of life left in it.

Run the shaft through the cluster gear, again making sure the slot is facing the correct direction.

When you hit the shaft in the wrong place due to carelessness, you break it. If this was the reverse idler shaft, I’d have to trash it — or more likely, cut another slot 180 degrees from the old one. But the front bearing retainer will prevent this shaft from “walking” out the front, and the retainer will keep it from moving backwards. So I’ll just live with it.

My usual practice is to use a cutoff wheel to cut new retainer slots into these shafts opposite the original slots, to allow the bushings inside the gears to ride on unworn portions of the shaft. I chose not to do that this time, because I was trying to retain the original tractor’s patina. And then I got stupid & broke the shaft! Derp.

With shafts in place, slide the retainer (“lock shaft plate” in IPL) in place and start the 5/16″ cap screw with lock washer.

Tighten the retainer screw and you’re done with those lower shafts.

Now for the main shaft. Don’t get hasty; you will need the main shaft with good bearing installed, both the sliding gears, and a snap ring.

Again — Make sure the inside snap ring is installed in the rear of the case. This will secure the front side of the rear bearing.

When you slide the main shaft into the transmission case, you’ll need to slide it through the sliding gears as you go.

Hold the larger sliding gear in place with the shift fork slot towards the rear of the case, and slip the shaft into the case and through the gear.

Then slide the main shaft through the smaller sliding gear, keeping its shift fork slot towards the front of the case.

This photo shows how the gears should be arranged:

Make sure the rear bearing gets started straight in the case.

Use a tool, such as this old hunk of a Power King tie rod, to tap around the perimeter of the bearing to move it into place in the gear case.

Tap gently and keep moving the tool around the perimeter. The bearing will stop against the aforementioned front snap ring.

Keep an eye on the sliding gears while you do this, making sure they don’t slide too far forward on the shaft or get bound up somehow.

Once the bearing is in place, check the sliding gears to make sure they are not binding anywhere and they can slide back & forth freely on the shaft.

You want to be certain everything is good before you install the snap ring to secure the rear bearing.

You know the bearing is properly positioned when the snap ring groove in the case is fully visible, as shown below.

Now put the snap ring into the bore. It should be pretty easy to get it most of the way in there, keeping it pretty much parallel with the face of the bearing.

Push one end of the snap ring down so it goes into the groove in the case. Then work a tool around the snap ring, moving the ring down a little at a time, “feeding” it into the groove.

Work it on down until the entire snap ring is lying against the bearing and is properly fitted into the groove.

Time for the input shaft. Remember those 13 loose needle bearings from Part 1? It’s time to deal with those. The easiest way to do that is to stick them into the rear of the input shaft with some grease.

Once you have the needle bearings safely secured, slip the rear end of the input shaft through the front of the gear case and over the front end of the main shaft.

Your job here is to make sure all the needle bearings stay in place. The front bearing should slide into the gear case easily.

The snap ring on the outside of the front bearing should lie against the front of the transmission case like so:

To secure the front bearing, the bearing retainer must be installed. If this is the rear transmission on a dual-trans setup for a Power King / Jim Dandy / Economy tractor, it won’t have a bearing retainer; the center torque tube will do this job.

If the bearing retainer has a “divot” inside to help circulate oil, it must be installed over the oil hole in the gear case.

Originally these transmissions used paper gaskets, but I assemble using Permatex silicone gasket maker. Just follow the directions: Tighten the bolts just barely snug, wait at least an hour, then tighten them fully.

Once installed, the bearing retainer should look like the photo below. Note the position of the oil passage — and that the bearing retainer will also prevent the main countershaft from coming out the front of the gear case.

You are just about done, my friend. All that’s left is to install the top shifter assembly. When you do, make sure the shift forks slip into the slots in the sliding gears.

Use a paper gasket or gasket maker to ensure a good seal — but if you’re going to use gasket maker, wait until after you’ve added 8 ounces (no more!) of gear lube. I prefer 85w-140w gear oil.

It’s true that you can always add the lube through the fill hole on the side of the gear case, but it’s much easier to fill from the top while the shifter assembly is off.

Install your four 5/16″ cap screws (bolts) with lock washers, and you’re done. The longer of the 4 bolts goes into the hole at right rear.

It’s easy to see why a longer bolt is needed in that location.

Well, that’s how to rebuild a T-92 transmission gearbox. I hope you found this useful and informative.

— Russ