Hi Folks-
My 1961 gas Massey 65 (standard model) with power steering had what I thought was the standard steering linkage problem. Got it from a fella who said the power steering would work to the right but not left and that someone told him it needed adjusting. No big deal- I thought! Noticed play in the linkage and did the adjusting anyway, no luck. It won't come left at all Disconnected the linkage and operated the control valve by hand, still won't push the cylinder to move the steering left. Standard high pitched whine as if the thing was against a stop. Pump has fluid and seems OK since it is moving the steering right with power assist. One thing I didn't mention is that I drilled out the control valve linkage holes and put in larger pins so there is no play at all. At least that part is done.
At that point, it seemed that the cylinder needed a rebuild, got the steering to turn left by grabbing the front wheels and turning manually, dropped the pin connecting to the pedestal and got the cylinder out. Did a full rebuild, didn't see any problems really except the control spool was a bit sticky in its cylinder. Changed all O-rings, used brake cylinder hone to clean up the control valve cylinder and used fine emory to smooth the spool itself. Very smooth operation after that. Reinstalled the cylinder on the tractor and guess what, same problem. Won't turn left. Turns right just fine. At that point I thought the steering must be binding somewhere. Used the front end loader like a jack and raised the front wheels off the ground. Steers just fine with no weight on the wheels. Had the the control linkage disconnected for this test No binding anywhere obviously.
I'm thinking now that the cylinder seems to be bad and no rebuild could have helped. If it turns right, the pump must be fine since it applies pressure and doesn't know which way its turning. The pedestal should be ok also since it turns very smoothly in both directions with no weight on the wheels. I mean if the cylinder won't turn the wheels left with the linkage disconnected and operating the valve by hand, then the cylinder must be bad or I rebuilt it wrong resulting in the same problem. I did notice in the manual that you are supposed to align the spool with a punch via one of the allen screw holes on the housing, I did not do this. Could this result in the problem I'm seeing? If that's the case, then someone was in there before me and also put it back together wrong. This doesn't seem likely since the spool valve channels run all the way around the spool so they should make liquid connection no matter which way the valve is oriented right?
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I have read everything on the web and all the forums, no one's problem seems as deep as mine with this Massey steering issue. Fun puzzle right?! Not really. Any help or thoughts are appreciated.
My 1961 gas Massey 65 (standard model) with power steering had what I thought was the standard steering linkage problem. Got it from a fella who said the power steering would work to the right but not left and that someone told him it needed adjusting. No big deal- I thought! Noticed play in the linkage and did the adjusting anyway, no luck. It won't come left at all Disconnected the linkage and operated the control valve by hand, still won't push the cylinder to move the steering left. Standard high pitched whine as if the thing was against a stop. Pump has fluid and seems OK since it is moving the steering right with power assist. One thing I didn't mention is that I drilled out the control valve linkage holes and put in larger pins so there is no play at all. At least that part is done.
At that point, it seemed that the cylinder needed a rebuild, got the steering to turn left by grabbing the front wheels and turning manually, dropped the pin connecting to the pedestal and got the cylinder out. Did a full rebuild, didn't see any problems really except the control spool was a bit sticky in its cylinder. Changed all O-rings, used brake cylinder hone to clean up the control valve cylinder and used fine emory to smooth the spool itself. Very smooth operation after that. Reinstalled the cylinder on the tractor and guess what, same problem. Won't turn left. Turns right just fine. At that point I thought the steering must be binding somewhere. Used the front end loader like a jack and raised the front wheels off the ground. Steers just fine with no weight on the wheels. Had the the control linkage disconnected for this test No binding anywhere obviously.
I'm thinking now that the cylinder seems to be bad and no rebuild could have helped. If it turns right, the pump must be fine since it applies pressure and doesn't know which way its turning. The pedestal should be ok also since it turns very smoothly in both directions with no weight on the wheels. I mean if the cylinder won't turn the wheels left with the linkage disconnected and operating the valve by hand, then the cylinder must be bad or I rebuilt it wrong resulting in the same problem. I did notice in the manual that you are supposed to align the spool with a punch via one of the allen screw holes on the housing, I did not do this. Could this result in the problem I'm seeing? If that's the case, then someone was in there before me and also put it back together wrong. This doesn't seem likely since the spool valve channels run all the way around the spool so they should make liquid connection no matter which way the valve is oriented right?
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I have read everything on the web and all the forums, no one's problem seems as deep as mine with this Massey steering issue. Fun puzzle right?! Not really. Any help or thoughts are appreciated.
