MF230 Power steering help

Tractors4u · Jun 4, 2002

A friend of mine just bought a 1977 MF230. The power steering doesn't work. He hasn't taken it to the shop yet but has talked to a mechanic about it and they said that that model had a notoriously bad PS system and that it wasn't worth fixing and that it was a difficult fix if attempted. They said it was most likely the gear box and not the pump. I haven't had a chance to look at it myself and I haven't had that much experience with power steering systems either. He said that when traveling over rough ground the front wheels were all over the place. Can any of you guys offer any advice? Thanks.

buppy69 · Jun 5, 2002

I recently had a similer experience with a Hinomoto. It turns out there was water in the system. I flushed it out 4 times with new fluid and the wandering went away. The Hinomoto doesn't have a gearbox, though. It just has a cylinder to the wheels and a sensor on the bottom of the steering column. Absolutely NO steering when engine is not running. The steering wheel just spins around indefinitely like it's hooked to nothing.

Eugene

TBone · Jun 5, 2002

Brent,

There is a guy on ytmag.com that is a retired Massey Ferguson mechanic and has a wealth of knowledge about a lot of the Masseys but I can't recall his name.

I will look tonight and see if I have his e-mail address or website address.

TBone

Tractors4u · Jun 5, 2002

Thanks T-Bone

TBone · Jun 6, 2002

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://hometown.aol.com/daustin62/Bigdeantipindex.html>http://hometown.aol.com/daustin62/Bigdeantipindex.html</A>

Brent, his name is Dean Austin. The link above is to his web site and his email is daustin62@aol.com

Good Luck!

TBone

Clemson · Jun 6, 2002

The 230, 235, and 245 all use the same pump. but there is a difference between the pump on a gas tractor and that on a diesel. The I&T shop manual gives instructions for rebuilding the PS pump and the steering gear and control valve. It looks as though you have to take apart the instrument panel to get at things, but it doesn't look to be any more complicated that any other maintenance.