4630 leaky steering sector/ remote problem

[dieselfume]

Oil appears to be leaking from on top of my steering sector and dripping down the sides eventually getting the floor wet. Noting major, but getting to be more of a pain all the time. The seals between the blocks of the sector are fine as far as I can tell.

I don't know the history on these things, is this a common occurrence? should I be looking at replacement? reman? or just rebuild? Are they easy enough a seasoned mechanic can do it or does it require special tooling?

Just don't know the best course of action so I don't have to do this project twice. How big of a project is this?

On the same tractor, the 3rd remote on top started spitting the same hose out every other day. all the remotes have been updated to pioneer receptacles. All the balls are in the receptacle, and the pioneer end on the hose is good. the locking lever on bottom stays in the locked position but the hose blows out anyway making a nasty mess. Any ideas on what it needs?

Thanks-

 

[Bob]

By steering sector" do you mean the steering valve (old design prior to #10646), the steering pump, or the steering "motor" at the front of the tractor?

As to the coupler body, have you tried replacing the male tip (even though it may LOOK OK?

 

[tim s]

Yes like Bob stated there were 2 different valves used, early and latter, I can help you with ether one of them.. and the hose end would be the first thing to look at for the SCV issue..

 

[Lee B]

The steering valve body return hose on ours kept blowing apart as it was low pressure with high pressure fittings just the same. Against all advice offered to us every time I got a replacement return hose from Mother Deere to get the expensive rebuild done to that valve, I opted instead to get a high pressure hose installed there and that has been the end of wet floors and running out of Hy-Gard. Only symptom I've noticed is the sound of a box full of kittens coming from that area when the engine is NOT screaming and this odd, almost background sound, can be detected in the first place after being warmed up and gently rolling down the road in road gear barely off idle at the throttle. You can count on Mother Deere for pricey advice is the take away lesson here it appears as nothing out of the ordinary happens with this one at close to the twenty year mark on the switch to high pressure return hose. Finer details called for, I have no idea, but in unison the crew at Mother Deere came at me with the advice to have it rebuilt and it was going to be expensive so to them it was common enough that they all knew about it.

 

[dieselfume]

What I'm referring to is the steering "box" that the steering wheel drives inside the cab. It's flat rectangular in shape, about maybe 2.5 inches tall, 3-4 inches wide and 6inches long laying down in it's current position beneath dash. There's 3 or 4 hoses coming out of it, 3 of them are new ( I suspected leaking hose) one is not, but none of them are causing the leak. the oil is coming from above the steering box leaking around it and dripping off the hoses. The gaskets between the sandwiched blocks of the valve appear to be wet as well, but not sure if they're the problem. Do I have to take the entire dash apart to get this out? or can I sneak it out the bottom? I'm thinking about running as is for now, I have 300 acres of ground I need to get farmed up soon and planted hopefully, this is the best tractor for the job.

It's a late model 4630 if that helps narrow down which box it is.

Thanks all for the help!

 

[Tx Jim]

(quoted from post at 14:46:31 03/14/16)

It's a late model 4630 if that helps narrow down which box it is.

Thanks all for the help!

Late model 4630 should have metering valve type steering control valve

 

[tim s]

Yes you have the latter one and it will have 2 push on hoses with clamps,,I open it up and replace the push on fittings with JIC fittings and get the fittings to match on the other ends of the hose, this will take care of one issue, and when you change the fittings one of them will have a new check valve in it,, that will take care of another problem,,when this check valve leaks past it puts charge oil into the valve that can make hard steering and more chance of pushing oil up the column,, then change out the seal in top of the valve,, then check the thrust bearing in top of the column, when it goes bad it will let the shaft lift up out of the seal..deal with all this will take care of your problem,,you are welcome to call me on it if you want..

 

[dieselfume]

Enjoyed our conversation this morning Tim. I got the sector out today and rebuilt it. Was a quite interesting job working upside down on your head, but got it done!

The check valve we spoke of I looked over very well, but found not even a little pitting on the ball, so I re-used. The pump had been updated to all JIC fittings and hoses, so that part had been done for me. Once removed, the o rings for the removable JIC fittings were pretty flat and brittle, they all broke when I took them off. Also the shaft seal was getting hard and not flexable to keep a good seal on the shaft I believe. Once I got it back in I ran it awhile and everything seems good now.! Thanks again for the help, Now I just need to do the other 4630 powershift that's been leaking for 5 years.... (but not as bad)

Sorry to hear about nnalert losing in OH today.