hole in steering column on yanmar 1500

[ziggywiggy]

I've got a new to me yanmar 1500 that I've had for about a month and have just noticed while driving it around that oil was leaking from somewhere onto the steering gearbox. I thought initially that it was diesel fuel leaking somehow until I looked under the dash and noticed a hole in the steering column. I'm guessing there is supposed to be some kind of cover over that? This is clearly where the oil is coming from so I'm wanting to know what part I would put there or what I could put there to prevent oil leaking from the steering box. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Spiros]

Ziggywiggy, the oil leaking out of the hole in the steering shaft is in fact your steering box lube that has been displaced by water leaking past an oring in the steering shaft column. This happened on my Yanmar and resulted in a bearing in the bottom of the steering box having to be replaced. Replaced oring, bearing and lube. Works fine lasts long time.

 

[Spiros]

...and welcome to the forum. Lots of expertise on these boards.

 

[ziggywiggy]

Thank you for the reply. I thought it was the steering lube, is it a huge undertaking to remove the lube and replace it? Is the fact it's leaking a guarantee the o ring needs to be replaced or do I just need to get the water out of there?

All of this is new to me, but I want to learn as much as I can to keep my little tractor running.

 

[CoyPatton]

Thank you for the reply. I thought it was the steering lube, is it a huge undertaking to remove the lube and replace it? Is the fact it's leaking a guarantee the o ring needs to be replaced or do I just need to get the water out of there?

All of this is new to me, but I want to learn as much as I can to keep my little tractor running.

Go to Hoye tractor. They are in TX. There should be a video on rebuilding the steering gearbox. There is a YouTube channel also, but Hoye is a good source for parts and information. Several other members on here are also on a forum there. Ymowners.
Good luck!

 

[rScotty]

Ziggywiggy, the oil leaking out of the hole in the steering shaft is in fact your steering box lube that has been displaced by water leaking past an oring in the steering shaft column. This happened on my Yanmar and resulted in a bearing in the bottom of the steering box having to be replaced. Replaced oring, bearing and lube. Works fine lasts long time.

Very accurately described. Just because our old Yanmars were so well built in MOST areas doesn't mean they were well built in ALL areas. The designs of the steering column, the transmission shifter, the fuel gauge, and the brake covers were pretty much the same across all those old Yanmar models. Your YM1500 is typical.

Anyway, those parts all were made wrong and they all have the same problem: They tend to collect and funnel leak rain/snow water into their working parts. (was it the same designer??) If you have water seeping into any one, you probably have it in all those areas. The good news is that the steering box work is commonly done and is fairly easy and inexpensive to deal with, the tranny is almost bulletproof, you can clean out the fuel tank and even rebuild that clever fuel gauge, and the brakes are just typical drum brake parts There are tricks to each system ranging from "Do this and hope for the best" to complete replacement....as well as everything in between.

If it were me, I'd want to study up on why it happens and what it involves, so at the end of my reply are some diagrams for you to look at.

Just as Spiros says, the "why" is that water seeping into the steering column past the steering wheel mount has no place to go - so instead the water just builds up on top of the steering box seal and gradually infiltrates and displaces the (lighter) steering box oil which then rises into the column. You end up with water in the steering & and oil in the steering column. In the column, as more water enters, it eventually forces the oil to rise up and seep out the improperly placed weep hole. Yes, you guessed it....if the weep hole was where it should be they wouldn't have the problem in the first place. A typical steering box repair involves a top and bottom bearings and a seal. However, you should first start by removing the square head plug in the center top of the steering box, sucking out the oil/water mixture, and filling the box with either light weight grease or 90wt. It will be messy. Don't despair, these are easy near-maintenance kinds of jobs and the tractor itself is a masterpiece.

Check your hydraulic/transmission oil too. If it is milky there has water in the oil.

BTW, simply throwing a tarp over the center of the tractor when not using it will keep 99% of this from ever being a problem....and the seat will last longer too. I do that now; but didn't use to......
Enjoy!
rScotty

 

[ziggywiggy]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

RScotty, I have learned the hard way about putting a tarp over my tractor, luckily it's only been a short while and now I keep it covered. Thanks for the info on all the problem areas I need to watch, like you were saying, it seems a tarp solves most of this problems. Looks like I'll have to remove the fuel tank so this is turning into an all around learning experience. I'd rather learn this now though instead of being out in the middle of a field and things falling apart.

 

[rScotty]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

RScotty, I have learned the hard way about putting a tarp over my tractor, luckily it's only been a short while and now I keep it covered. Thanks for the info on all the problem areas I need to watch, like you were saying, it seems a tarp solves most of this problems. Looks like I'll have to remove the fuel tank so this is turning into an all around learning experience. I'd rather learn this now though instead of being out in the middle of a field and things falling apart.

At first I thought that I had gotten water into my YM165D fuel tank either through condensation or some low quality fuel....but I finally figured out that it was my fuel cap/gauge combo that was leaking snow melt water into the fuel tank. I was kinda saddened to realize that....to think that such a clever gauge had succumbed to the same design shortcoming as the steering and transmission controls.
But luckily for my mental state, Yanmar makes - or used to make - an honest to goodnes real factory rebuild kit for that fuel cap. It was kinda expensive as I remember....but worth ordering it for the pure novelty of the thing if nothing else. At that time Yanmar still had a parts outlet in the USA. And it was they who had sent me a factory bulletin warning that they had found that their fuel caps, steering, and tranny controls were all prone to let rain water into the innards.

Which still left me with the problem of getting the water out of the fuel tank. The problem being that the bottom of the plastic tank is irregular instead of being flat and I suspected that the water had taken up residence in those depressed areas. Sure enough, I found out that on a dark night I could shine a flashlight through a clear part of the vertical seam of the plastic tank and that would illuminate the fuel inside the tank enough that by peering down through the filler hole it was easy to see the places where there were little pools of water. The water was obvious because I could see a sort of greenish glow at the interface of fuel and water in three or four place in the bottom of the tank. Some sort of weak fluorescence - maybe bacterial. Probably totaled about a cup of water altogether spread across several different areas- and it hadn't caused a problem. But now that I knew it was there of course I had to get it out!!

Being naturally lazy, I duct-taped a foot or so of 3/16" copper tubing to the snout of my shop wet/dry shop vac and sucked out the water along with a little bit of the fuel. The fuel filter had already caught enough water to need attention as well, so I pulled the filter part out and let the vacuum suck it dry while I wiped out the filter housing.

A true zero dollar tune up & repair - except for that $40 dollar fuel cap rebuild kit -, but a repair that wouldn't have been necessary if I'd just thrown a horse blanket on the tractor. I do that now.
rScotty

 

[clemsonfor]

If my tractor does not sit under the she'd and rain is suspected. I at least tarp the tank filler the dash, and controls and the top of the hydros and transmission area. That covers all of the sensitive to water areas where water can leak into where it should not be. I just use one of those tarps you can get free from Harbor fright with the coupon. I have probably half a dozen of those things around for stuff like this. Not good to sit out in the sun every day all day. But for a day or two or a few weeks here and there, they work perfect. And best of all it was free. Just get another one next time you go to HF.

 

[careyo63]

I had water puddles show up on my tank. Already seen air bubbles coming out around the return so knew when the pressure was gone that water could seep in around it. Been Yrs ago and never had any problems. You can see the white sealant around the line. What is the sealant I used? I can't tell you the name of it only the people who installed the press could. It was in Russian. That's were the press came from. They said it was for used air lines I do know that. Had it for years so I gave it a try.