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Many types of equipment these days are controlled by joysticks so you are not that far off. With a little practice it becomes second nature.
As for your hydraulic fittings/adapters. You can’t measure the threads (or the hole) and directly get the size. Discount Hydraulic has a pretty good guide posted on their web site. Newline also has one that is downloadable in PDF format. I have both of these in my shop for figuring out fittings on my Jinma. They do use a conglomeration of styles and sizes!
If you can’t find them let me know and I will post them on my web site so you can see them. With a caliper and some thread gauges you can figure it out fairly well. Finding the adapters is more challenging. Sometimes you have to go to something else first to get where you really want to go. I am slowly converting things to JIC so that I can have hoses made locally.
I certainly wouldn’t want to take the steering gear apart until I had a new one installed and was sure the old one was bad. Then when it didn’t matter what happened to it, I would take it apart just to see if I could figure out how it worked.
I think when the cylinder bottoms out the gearbox becomes fully pressurized on the side you are turning to. What makes it seem like it won’t turn any more is that the oil has no place to go so it feels stopped. While you are turning, the oil is moving and you don’t feel that resistance.
Let me know about the measuring guides. It will take me a little while to move the files and build the links on the web page. I have some files about the 284 posted already but have not had time to put everything I have collected on the web page yet.
The priority valve is there to make sure the steering always has enough pressure to operate. If you are moving the loader (or raising the 3 point) and turn the steering wheel while doing so, it is supposed to give priority to the steering and any left over pump output can go elsewhere. The reason is that steering is more important than lifting.
My loader valve (not Jinma) has a pressure relief valve but there must be another one in the system somewhere because when I remove the loader the bypass still kicks in when the 3 point or steering hits the limits. It might well be part of the priority valve. I wouldn’t want to try bypassing that because it may very well dead head the pump if there is no place for the fluid to go.
It sure sounds like your gearbox is leaking internally. That would explain the fluid leaking into the glove and would explain why the steering wheel keeps turning even when the tires are at the stop. An internal cylinder leak could explain the steering wheel but I don’t think it could cause the fluid in the glove.
If the priority valve was malfunctioning it could cause low pressure to the steering which would show up as no power steering. I think you have eliminated the priority valve. To test this disconnect the loader and plug the two tractor lines into each other. You will still be able to test the steering and use the 3 point.
The cylinder likely has metric BOSS fittings. A hydraulic shop should be able to connect to it. If not, you can buy adapters online. Try Discount Hydraulics or Clear Water Hydraulics. They should be able to adapt it to JIC. They also have handy measuring guides to help you figure out what type and size of connectors you need.
Engine off, tires on ground (gravel): I can turn the steering wheel and it will turn the tires. It is more difficult but it will turn them. There is a little “spring back” from the tires but once that is done they stay where I put them.
Engine off, tires in the air: I can more easily turn the tires by turning the steering wheel. I can feel a little something resisting in the steering gear, kind of like a ratchet wrench as it clicks. Can turn from stop to stop and the tires always stay were I put them. No creeping back at all. When the hubs hit the stops the steering wheel gets very hard to turn any more. I can not move the tires by hand like you can with an automobile power steering.
Engine on, wheels on ground: Tires turn normally stop to stop and stay put when I stop turning the steering wheel. When you hit the stop you can hear the pressure relief valve open up and the engine slows slightly. Tires stay locked in position and do not drift even with hand pressure trying to turn them.
Engine on, wheels in the air: Exact same as when on the ground.
I know that hydraulic cylinders can have all kinds of internal problems from leaking seals to bad spots on the cylinder to being bent (tube or rod). These things can lead to all kinds of weird symptoms.
Since yours drifts one way only it would seem that the cylinder is getting fluid supplied to that side but not the other. I don’t know if an internal leak could cause this behavior or not. The most simple step would be to replace the cylinder with a known good one to see if that fixes it. Maybe you could find one to borrow for testing.
Other than that, maybe take the old one apart to see if you can tell what is wrong. From what I can tell there are two different designs, end mount or side mount.
I sure would like to learn how the gearbox controls the flow of fluid to the cylinder. That would provide a lot of answers.
Best of luck and let us know what you find.
It doesn’t seem like a cylinder problem to me but I will defer to those with more experience with the steering system. I suppose it is possible to have a cylinder internal leak in one direction but not the other.
I will try to get a chance to duplicate your experiment on my 284 this afternoon and post the results this evening.
On my 2007 284 there is a priority valve in the mix that is supposed to give priority to the steering system over all other hydraulic demands. Also, my steering works even if the engine is not running.
It sure sounds like you still have something funky going on in your hydraulics. Not discounting the possibility of a cylinder problem. Does this happen on level ground and not moving?
Try jacking up the front end so both tires are off the ground. Try turning the steering wheel with the engine off and with it running. What are the results under each condition? Hopefully that will give some clues.
What weight hydraulic oil and is the level between the marks on the dipstick?
Let us know what happens.
Exactly! Heat transfer takes time. How much time depends on heat differential and substances involved. If you think about fast moving coolant having trouble releasing the heat you have to also consider the reverse about it absorbing the heat from the metal of the engine. How much hotter is the head and block than it was designed to be when the coolant temp shows overheat on the gauge?
Proper oil quantity and type are also important to engine cooling. Most people are shocked at how much oil flows through that little pump in a minute at full RPM.
That does not matter. What happens is they come partially UN-connected and that causes the internal valve to close which in turn can cause the pump to “dead head”. When that happens the oil has no where to go except out past the seal. At high speeds it can ruin the pump too.
Not sure about your 454 but on my 284 the couplers were just standard 1/2″ NPT so I replaced all 4 (two sets) with off the shelf better quality ones from my local farm supply store. No worries about them unlocking now.
Another cause could be a sticking pressure relief valve that is over pressuring the system and blowing the pump seals.
Sounds like you problem is somewhere besides the pump/seals.
Well that is a possibility, but don’t jump to conclusions. The bubbles could just be the pump cavitation. Of course it could be a cracked head, but don’t go there either just yet.
It could be just a thermostat that is stuck open. Or if this tractor is new to you it is possible the previous owner removed the thermostat in trying to solve some other cause of temperature issues. I have seen engines overheat when the thermostat was completely removed. Seems backwards but there is an explanation for it.
Have you been loosing coolant lately? How about oil consumption?
When the engine is up to temp and you rev it up under load do you see black or white or blue smoke from the exhaust?
Drain some oil out of the engine and look for water. If none found it may not be head or block related.
Technically it is possible for a head, block or gasket problem to only leak one way into the coolant, they usually leak both ways. A good radiator pressure tester is called for here. If you don’t have one, given the possible problems you are facing it will be a cheap tool to help you out and it will be useful in the future.
Drain enough coolant to get below the thermostat housing and then check that out first. Easiest to do and cheapest to fix.
That is where I would start next.
Let us know what you find.
Best of luck.
If the exterior of the radiator is not plugged that still leaves the inside as well as your thoughts of water pump or thermostat. There could be plugging issues in the engine or hoses as well.
Try this. With the engine cold take the radiator cap off and observe the coolant level. Start the tractor and continuously watch the coolant.
Cold you should see none or very little disturbance (flow) of the coolant. As the engine warms and the thermostat opens you should see the flow increase. Also the coolant level should rise as the coolant expands from heat.
Once the engine is up to operating temp you should be seeing at least some flow and some rise in the coolant level. If the radiator is blocked the coolant is likely to overflow. If the pump or thermostat have failed you won’t see much (or any) flow.
If you suspect the radiator is plugged you can drain the coolant and remove the bottom hose. Run water from a garden hose in the filler neck and watch the flow out the bottom. This would also be a good time to remove the thermostat and have a look. I know some places say it won’t work but I have always had good luck testing thermostats in a pot of water using a thermometer to see when it opens. Just remember to stir every now and again.
If the radiator is plugged you could try a flush kit from any auto parts store. Just follow the instructions and refill with new antifreeze and distilled water. Tap water is a radiator killer.
It is unlikely that the pump has failed but it could happen. Perhaps the impellers have rusted off or have come loose from the shaft. Stranger things have happened.
I had gone as far as the hinge point of the ROPS but not to the top. It kept spitting fluid. If you look close you can see the last dose on the top of the left fender.
The real problem is the small capacity of the tank, only 2.5 gal. This is fine for steering and 3point but when you add a FEL it stretches it to the max. When pushing snow or manure piles up as high as possible when the tractor starts to climb the pile the vent spits out fluid and you don’t have to loose much to make the system start sucking air. Plus it makes a mess and is expensive to waste.
Time will tell how this works. Heading out now to do some yard work. I’ll let you know what happens.
