Lost Steering on my 1850

SpringHollow · Jun 7, 2009

I have been having problems with my steering - sometimes you can turn the wheel a few times before anything happens. But i was in the middle of abig job and i hoped to finish it first. However, now turning the wheel does nothing. Right before it died, I could turn right but not left then all of sudden left but not right.

My guess is the steering valve is shot or one or more of the cylinders is leaking internally. I will have to get some caps and plugs and see if isolating one cylinder lets it function. Can't remember if they are 3/8" or 1/4" JIC so i guess i will get both.

If I am missing something I should be looking into, please let me know.

Ken

Sedgewood · Jun 8, 2009

ksimolo said:
My guess is the steering valve is shot or one or more of the cylinders is leaking internally.

Unlike you I made my guess without attempting to diagnose the situation and guessed wrong

It was a broken seal in a steering cylinder.

PT-1845 Repairing Loss of Steering Input

Anyone have a source of cylinder seals that bypasses Power-Trac's silly $50.00 minimum order policy?

Sedgewood

woodlandfarms · Jun 8, 2009

I assume lift and tilt are working fine? If so, then I would do your cylinders first, then the steering control.

You might as well rebuild them if they have not been rebuilt. Considering what our tractors might have seen...

Terry had said that the steering control's issues are leaking, not loss of control.

Carl

MossRoad · Jun 8, 2009

I once had a tractor or truck (can't remember what vehicle, it was so long ago) but I could sometimes steer and sometimes could not. Turned out the steering wheel had a pin that was missing.

Check that first, then move on to the hydraulics.

SpringHollow · Jun 8, 2009

Hi Moss,

The first thing i did was check the pin - I believe Carl had that problem once.

Hi Carl,

I called Terry to order rebuild kits for the cylinders and to ask him about the steering valve. He thought it was not likely that it was the valve kit. And yes, lift and tilt work. I ordered some rebuild kits for the lift and tilt cylinders too.

Ken

J_J · Jun 8, 2009

Ken,

If you turn the steering wheel to the limits, do you hear the relief valves? If the steering is to the limits, do you still have lift and tilt. Are you leaking any fluid. It is doubtful that two steering cylinder would go out. Can you turn the steering in a continuous circle.

SpringHollow · Jun 8, 2009

Hi JJ,

I can turn the steering wheel repeatedly in a continuous circle with no effect on the cylinders. I have always had to turn it more than once. I still have lift and tilt enough to raise and tilt the 3 pt adapter and rear blade and i think the pt was turned all of the way at the time - i do not think the pressure reliefs are kicking in. Not sure if i would hear them or not. The tractor is turned all of the way to the left now which is going to make it harder to remove the left cylinder.

I have no major leaks and none that i can see in the steering circuit. I think if just one cylinder is leaking, you can lose steering? I looked at Sedgewood's page after he posted and it looks like that is what happened to his.

I hope it is just that i need to rebuild one of the cylinders. I am going to do both while i have it torn apart.

Ken

woodlandfarms · Jun 8, 2009

Yes, at least in my experience when my cylinder failed i had to do Loop D loops across the front of the house trying to get back close to the garage... Once in a while the pressure built up enough to help straighten up a bit, but in the end I was crabbed over on one side and it was a PITA to get the cylinders off.

Speaking of which. Mine were screwed together by someone big and strong. I nearly had to order new ones as the machine shop I ultimately took them too could not get them off.

They ended torching it to get it to come apart (heating it up).

J_J · Jun 8, 2009

Ken,

I think that before I took them apart, that I would test them, either at a hyd shop, or by using the aux circuit to test the cylinders. Perhaps you blew the piston off the rod, if that is the case, the fluid would just move back and forth in the cylinder and do nothing. . Did you happen to put a hyd gage in the cylinder circuit to see if you had any pressure. If you do not have pressure, back up to the input to the steering valve and put a gage there. Do you perhaps have another cylinder you could hook up to the circuit and test fluid integrity, otherwise, does it stop and go when and where it is supposed to.

SpringHollow · Jun 8, 2009

So, if i disconnect one cylinder, plug the lines and cap the cylinder connections and try operating it, does that tell me anything? These cylinders are double acting, aren't they. So if the bad cylinder is capped and the lines plugged, the system should pressurize and the tractor turn. If the good cylinder is capped, the system should not work. If both are bad, nothing would happen. If both are good and the steering valve is bad, nothing would happen. Sound right?

I have Tees, caps, plugs, etc on order so that i can test my circuits in the future. I ordered running tees so i can test a live circuit and i will also build some quick disconnect gauge connections for pressure testing also. I was thinking I would attach a gauge to a 1/4" JIC hose and then use that with the various testing setups, always adapting down to a 1/4" JIC male connection. The test setup has always been on my list of things to do but reality has pushed it to the top of the list.

Ken