JD 620 Steering catch issue

[offroad23]

Some wear, but considering age.

 

[rmcky]

Pull the vane pins, I have seen them broken and still in place

 

[rmcky]

I replace all rings, and back up rings, when I have one apart, the vane seals go on easier if heated to 140 degrees in oil , hold the vane in a vise, and install seal, be careful with the vane seal corners, they tear easily.

 

[offroad23]

Pull the vane pins, I have seen them broken and still in place

Pins are good, just verified that.

 

[offroad23]

I replace all rings, and back up rings, when I have one apart, the vane seals go on easier if heated to 140 degrees in oil , hold the vane in a vise, and install seal, be careful with the vane seal corners, they tear easily.

Thank you for the tips on vane seals

 

[620 John]

In addition to warming up the vane seals in oil, file down the corners of the vane so there's no sharp edges. You'll find out it's not easy installing those seals without tearing or breaking them.

Another thing is try to get your steering gear 180 deg from the original place it was splined. This will give a new wear surface for the worm gear to ride on

 

[offroad23]

Anyone know where I can get a replacement worm?

 

[rmcky]

Richard Duane, in Md. may have those, a good person to deal with, and really knows these power steering systems.

 

[WeirdDeere]

When you say damaged helix, is this what your talking about? Can I build it up and smooth it out?View attachment 67862

I had similar damage on my 80 and a friend fixed it with TIG welding and careful grinding

 

[offroad23]

I am still working through all of this. Called Richard and he is a really knowledgeable guy and it was great talking to him. Would love to see him make a video walking thru all the intricacies of the JD power steering system and best way to adjust and what to look for. The knowledge that him and many others has is getting harder and harder to find.

I believe I now have all the parts and I am in the process of putting the steering cylinder back together and hoping to test everything together again this weekend. Started looking at the vane seals last night and removed both of the old ones, ended up tearing the first one while removing it and got the second one off in one piece. I am highly skeptical in my ability of getting the new ones back on without tearing guess we will see.

 

[offroad23]

The vane seals were actually easier to put on then I had thought they were going to be. First used emery cloth to make sure there were no sharp edges on the vane, clamped the vane in the vise with the main flat face, pointing up, then heated one seal at a time in oil, started at corner 1 and worked my way around to 4. Used a small set of oring pick tools (more like a spoon on the end). Just be slow and gentle and didn't break either one.

Steering cylinder is back on the tractor as well as the steering worm/valve assembly. Seems to turn alright, but with front end off the ground and no load jury is still out. I have yet to put the front wheels back on yet since I am waiting on seals for the front hubs so I have not tried steering it with the front end on the ground.

 

[620 John]

Hopefully you're near the finish line.

Just out of curiosity did you end up replacing the worm gear or still using your original??

 

[offroad23]

Hopefully you're near the finish line.

Just out of curiosity did you end up replacing the worm gear or still using your original??

Replaced the worm gear.

 

[offroad23]

Update on this. I got everything back together and eventually got the steering to work fairly well, not one finger turning, but was able to use it to haul manure for several hours and also tedd hay twice and part of my raking before I had smoke come out behind dash, apparently have a short and lost spark. Need to look into where the short is and get that fixed.

When messing with the steering keep in mind that one little shim or the slightest adjustment goes along way, spent the better part of day tweaking things before I got it all happy.

Would like to thank Richard for his knowledge and support on this.

 

[620 John]

Glad you got it working. Thanks for the update