Farmall 460 steering intermittent lock up

[SJA460]

My 460 has just started locking up when turning down the road. Can not budge it back to center unless I put it in neutral. It immediately frees up then and will work for a while then lock up. I do not know of any connection between the transmission and steering??? Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[rustred]

My 460 has just started locking up when turning down the road. Can not budge it back to center unless I put it in neutral. It immediately frees up then and will work for a while then lock up. I do not know of any connection between the transmission and steering??? Any help would be greatly appreciated

Is this power steering ? Why are u turning driving down a road ? And 460 what??? Farmall , narrow or wide front or mminternational? We need a lot more info. Many call internationals farmalls as internationals have a goofy steering box.

 

[used red MN]

SJA, welcome to YT! As rust inquired, what brand of tractor? When I search 460 tractor about all the comes up is International or Farmall 460s, which one is the row crop and the other the utility version of basic the same tractor made in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Are you sure the problem is with the “steering”? The transmissions are known to lock into two gears at the same time, which will lock the tractor so it will not move. If you let the clutch out during this time the engine will just lug down and the tractor won’t move. I would almost think you would know this but if your tractor doesn’t have power steering it will be somewhat difficult to steer when the tractor is not moving. Here is a link to the Farmall 460 info on Tractordata. Farmall 460 on Tractordata

 

[rustred]

i was asking because it is 2 totally different steering boxes between both models. the 460 ihc has a pitman arm on each side of the tractor, right in front of each of your feet. while the farmall its at the front basically under the rad. so if we dont here from u your not too interested in the problem. as it makes no sense to me, thats why i want to know.

 

[SJA460]

Sorry for the lack of info. It is a 1959 farmall with narrow front power steering. When turning onto roads it will lock up and not let me turn the wheel back to center. First time it happend I almost went into the ditch. In trying to get it back to center it sounds and feels like hitting steel and I thought it was a gear tooth broke off a stuck in the gear. Then I went to shift into reverse and it released when I got to neutral before I made it to reverse.

 

[used red MN]

Let’s get this clear with a little more explanation. I am guessing you were quite nervous about the problems you had with your tractor. I believe first you encountered a problem with the steering. Then you ended up in some unusual positions with it and you were shifting the transmission as you say in your last sentence. “Then I went to shift into reverse and it released when I got to neutral before I made it to reverse.” As I said in my first reply these 5 speed Farmall transmissions like to lock into two gears at once when the bottom of the gear shift gets worn down. My guess is this may have been the first time you experienced this and by coincidence it happened the same time you were having trouble with the steering. Would you say this is correct?

 

[used red MN]

As far as the steering there are 3 universal joints in the steering shaft between the steering wheel and front box, they are labeled as 13 in this parts diagram. Any one of these could be causing your problem. CNHI Farmall 460 steering diagram.
Those need to be checked for all being free and functioning throughout their full range by disassembly of the shaft. However, there could also be a problem inside the steering unit itself shown as number 28 (it is in faint print due to its description has been removed from the list) A breakdown of the unit for PS models is shown in this link. CNHI Farmall 460 PS worm unit diag.

 

[SJA460]

Thank you for taking the time and giving me the diagrams. I have encountered the gear lockup many times with an old 656 and this was not that. After the steering locked up I could release the clutch and move forward and stop repeatedly while I was hammering the steering back and forth trying to get it to release back to center. I am not absolutely certain but it seems to lock up when I am turning the corner to the right. So far of the 4 times it has happened it frees up all 4 times only after shifting into neutral regardless of how long I try to shake it loose by turning the wheel right a little and then wrenching it back left. I also noticed that if I moved the wheel right a ways it whould lock in the new position all the way to the right if I kept doing that. As I said in my original post I do not think there is any connection between the steering and the transmission but it did it 4 out of 4 times. Today I ran it out to the back field to pick up a plow and it did not lock up at all.

 

[rustred]

Sorry for the lack of info. It is a 1959 farmall with narrow front power steering. When turning onto roads it will lock up and not let me turn the wheel back to center. First time it happend I almost went into the ditch. In trying to get it back to center it sounds and feels like hitting steel and I thought it was a gear tooth broke off a stuck in the gear. Then I went to shift into reverse and it released when I got to neutral before I made it to reverse.

i am just thinking the problem might be in the control valve spool. it might be sticking once it moves in bore. and maybe the backing up jiggles the front wheels enough to make it let go.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Sounds like a missing tooth on the rack or pinion , causing mis-mesh until you take the pressure off. Possible issue with recirculating ball system, but that could cause lockup any time, not just hard right turn.

 

[SJA460]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I am planning to use it to field cultivate this week so I will see if it does it again and keep better track of when it happens and how it releases.

 

[rustred]

it should be a pretty quick visual to eliminate the u joints, they just dont lock up unless the joints are worn right out and ready to fall apart. i am talking about item number 46.

 

[SJA460]

Yes I did check all them and did not find any issues. Are there any assemblies in the steering column above the dash? It squeaks when turning the wheel.

 

[rustred]

Yes I did check all them and did not find any issues. Are there any assemblies in the steering column above the dash? It squeaks when turning the wheel.

squirt some oil on the bushing . its just a shaft.

 

[SJA460]

Ok thanks!