DIYbanter - View Single Post - Anyone know anything about power steering on a backhoe?

Pete C.

wrote:

On Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:14:48 -0500, justme wrote:

I have a IH-3400A backhoe in decent condition but the power steering
has gone out. It started failing by working intermittently and now,
it is completely gone. Yes, it has fluid. Sometimes the steering
wheel will turn if you put a great about of force on it and the front
tires will turn. At other times, the steering wheel will easily turn
but not front wheel action.

It sounds just like what happened to my 1963 Fordson Super Major
( Ford 5000 ?? in USA ), steering would fail intermittently and the
tractor would veer to the left. Full power steering, not power
assisted. No motor running, no steering, steering wheel will just
rotate.

#1 son was driving on the road one time when it happened and he
ran over a 90 kmh speed limit sign. Turned around and lifted it up
again with the FEL.

We replaced the steering actuator to no avail, it was not the
problem. The hydraulic cylinder had intermittent weepage from one
side to the other, which is why it always turned to the left. A
seal kit fixed the problem or take the cylinder to a specialist if not
sure you can do it yourself.

That is your first check and should fix the problem.

If you do need a new actuator, email me and I will look up where I
got mine from, somewhere in Indiana I think, they were the least
expensive worldwide, and excellent service, about Oz $450 delivered,
$580 from local ripoff distributor with minimum 3 week delivery, 8
days from USA.

HTH

Alan

An intermittent leak in the cylinder would fit with the "steering wheel
sometimes freewheels" symptom, but not the "steering wheel sometimes
very hard to turn" symptom.