D17 power steering - governor driven pump

[Termite]

Evening all, having power steering woes with my D17 with single front wheel. I'll preface this with I've not experienced the issue and working on vague secondhand information and a service manual.

Symptoms: Started with assist on left turns and loss of assist on right turns (including return to center). Progressed to no assist in either direction before returning to the barn. Full of oil that does show water contamination.

Diagnosis and remedial options:

1- Flush the contaminated oil and replace with new trans/hydro oil. Go from there if symptoms persist?

2- Drain oil and open pump for inspection/rebuild? New oil on fill.

3- Possible ram issue?

4- Control valve issue?

Options 3 and 4 both appear to require pulling front support off which is a challenge at the in-laws place.

Appreciate any advice and experience you all can share. Maybe tomorrow I'll have the time to check it out firsthand and see what its doing.

 

[DrAllis]

I think you better drive it for at least 30 minutes and down the road always to get some good information.

 

[Termite]

I think you better drive it for at least 30 minutes and down the road always to get some good information.

I went over and moved it to the barn yesterday afternoon. Turns right with some resistance and no power assist returning to center or left.

From looking at service manual and parts diagram, I'm expecting to disassemble the gearbox to at least inspect and clean everything.

 

[DrAllis]

Remove the steering box fill vent tube. Oil level should be just above the gear inside. Start the engine and throttle it up to half or more. Look inside with a flashlite and see if the oil is moving around. If the oil isn't moving, I'd say the pump has issues. Start with some diagnosis instead of just tearing things apart.

 

[Termite]

Remove the steering box fill vent tube. Oil level should be just above the gear inside. Start the engine and throttle it up to half or more. Look inside with a flashlite and see if the oil is moving around. If the oil isn't moving, I'd say the pump has issues. Start with some diagnosis instead of just tearing things apart.

I'll check fluid flow before disassembly as advised and report back. We head out of town today and won't have time to do anything with this project for a few weeks.

It has some leaks that need to be addressed and this will serve as motivation to deal with those as well. Haven't gotten to cleaning everything up to truly identify source of the leaks, whether they are control valve area or main housing/wheel support intersection.