Need help with steering column seal replacement!!!!

[DSinOR]

Six year old LK2554 leaking hyd fluid out the top of the steering column. 300 hrs.

I mail-ordered the appropriate oil-seal, dust-seal, and steering shaft replacement bushing (to eliminate the wobble). I had also heard of an o-ring that should be replaced, but none of the dealers i talked to recommended or could even find an o-ring in this steering column.

I started the job this AM. I thought it would take 2 hours. DANG!

I haven't yet succeeded in removing the steering wheel!

I started soaking it yesterday with ATF and then Liquid wrench. I've got a puller rigged up and under tension; I heated the thing several times with a hot-air gun, and even cooled it with ice. I used as much heat as I could stand; until the plastic started to melt and run. I've rapped on the puller stem with a hammer, and I've rapped on a screwdriver against the hub from underneath.

It won't budge. I hate to beat on it too much, because I understand that the steering shaft is 2-piece, and i can break it if not careful.

I need help with the following:
1 - how do you get this dang steering wheel off?

2 - I've pulled the orange sheet metal off all around the dash, and I've removed all screws on the upper and lower dash panels so that they're loose and can be moved this way and that. I haven't unplugged all the stuff to completely remove the dash panels. Is this enough "tear-down", or do I need to fully remove the dash panels, or some other parts? Need to remove diesel tank?

3 - If the steering wheel ever comes off, what next? Do you remove the upper section of the steering column and access the oil seal from the bottom side? If so, how is that acomplished? Remove the steering column at the big pump housing piece, or make the break higher up at a higher separation point?

4 - If I'm wrong on accessing the oil seal by removing the steering column, then I need some pointers on what to do different.

This tractor belongs to a gent down the road from me who was kind enough to loan it for a week (with bucket, auger, and tiller). I moved 60 buckets of good soil to my garden area and lawn, tilled everything, drilled post holes for deer fence around the garden, lifted one side of a small old horse barn and replaced its footings, and drilled 30 post holes for other fence. If I ever get into the $20,000 tractor with implements market, Kioti will have another sale. This thing is impressive!

As a return favor, I told him I'd fix his Hyd leak and change his engine oil.

Obviously I don't have a service manual.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide! The more detail, the better.

DS

 

[zenmek]

Hope I can help, check your P.M.

Will

 

[twigpig]

Are you talking hot air gun like a hair dryer? I would think you're going to need more heat than that if this is pressed/coroded together. Maybe a MAP gas torch. I don't know where you are applying heat. If there is an expanse of metal before you get to plastic you can use a plumbers trick to protect the plastic. put a wet rag around the metal part where it butts up against the plastic. and heat the bejeabers out of the part that you want hot. The wet rag helps keep the metal cool that is against the plastic. Keep the rag wet!!! You may want a helper to keep an eye on the rag and keep it wet. Watch you don't burn yourself with steam. I had to do this when I sweated copper pipe onto valves. There is usually nylon and rubber parts in valves.

 

[DSinOR]

... I don't know where you are applying heat. If there is an expanse of metal before you get to plastic...

Hi Brad, thanks for the ideas!

The splined steering wheel hub is pressed on the splined steering shaft. The steel hub is about 2" diameter, encased in plastic. The steering shaft is about 1/2" diameter. There's very little room to apply heat, and no effective way to insulate the plastic from the heat.

It still hasn't come off. The puller is still on it, under tension, with liquid wrench soaking in. I go out and rap on it and check tension a few times per day.

There's no obvious rust or corrosion. It's just a tight fit in a place where serious heat cannot be applied. If you get the hub hot enough, I imagine the steering wheel would either warp or just pull off the hub.

I talked to 2 different dealers; they both told me that pulling the steering wheel off of these things is a total nightmare. They were right.

Anybody else done this at home?

Thx.

 

[twigpig]

It sounds like you can't use the wet rag thing. Oh well. I don't know what you are using as a puller and what it is grabbing. Do you have a digital camera? The people here love pictures. It might help shake some ideas out of the trees. It's one thing to try and visualize something from an explanation. It's another to see a picture of it. If you are able to get a good hold and it doesn't break anything could you try some kind of hydraulic puller? I don't know if they are actually made but it seems like there has got to be something out there. Do you have a rental yard in any towns nearby that might have something you could rent that could exert more force than you are able to apply with the puller you have? Again a photo might help. I wonder what a wrecking yard that has "classic" cars uses?
This may be a bad idea and you may want to check with someone else before you try it but could you use an impact wrench on the puller bolt to get more force on it. It may break the puller and pieces could go flying since it is probably not designed for this. I have a cheapo Harbor Freight impact wrench that works ok. It's not a Snap-On but it still sounds cool.
One more last resort thing. How much does a new stearing shaft cost and are they still available? If they don't cost much and you can get at it with a small grinder or sawsall...

 

[ERE]

I agree with some photos - they would help. I faced this problem with the wheel on a chinese tractor. I had to set up a special jig with metal bars behind the wheel on each side of the shaft that went were attached to another metal bar on the front of the wheel by two short chains. I put a small hydraulic bottle jack onto the center of the shaft (Had to stack a big bolt there to get the broad base to hit the shaft only)and put the other end onto the bar that was on top of the wheel. In effect I had a hydraulic gear puller. It worked and the metal bars below the wheel kept me from gouging the plastic parts of the wheel too badly.

 

[DSinOR]

I'll post some pics later if i get the chance; it's just a gear puller using steel cable wrapped under each of the three legs of the steering wheel. The center bolt of the puller is on the nose of the shaft. When it's tightened, the cables pull up against the steering wheel arms just next to the hub. Over a period of three days, I soaked, increased tension, and rapped. This AM, the cables broke as i applied pretty heavy tension.

So I'll fab some flat bars to replace the cable so I can pull really really really hard.

Getting the steering wheel off is a major PITA on this tractor, but it's not impossible. It's like anything else you put a puller on - eventually it's gonna come off.

I'm really more interested in the best approach to changing the oil seal, dust seal, and wobble bushing without taking off more stuff than I need to.

I have rec'd copies of manual pages by email (THANKS!) which are very helpful in many different ways. But they are also quite succint. The steering wheels removal instructions are "Remove the steering wheel retaining nut, then remove the steering wheel with a wheel puller". Okay...

Also, there is no section which details replacment of this particular oil seal. In other words, the manual provides very good info about total takedown, but it's fuzzier on the level of partial takedown necessary just to replace this seal.

I'm sure that my questons will evaporate once i get into it.

I'll post the exact steps necessary for the job once I'm done.

I talked to quite a few dealers while searching for someone who had the oil and dust seals in stock, and all were very helpful. The general vibe I got was that this seal failed because condensation cycles occur inside the steering column above this seal; the condensation droplets run down the shaft to accumulate at the oil seal area. The shaft develops rust in that area. The rust kills the seal. It seems that oil-seal/dust-seal/shaft-bushing orders are fairly common among people with 2554 and 3054 tractors that are 4 or 5 years old. Failure stats may vary with climate and tractor storage (in barn vs. under a lean-to vs no cover, etc).

Anyway, thanks again for the ideas and feedback.

If anyone who has done this has some tips for what comes off after the steering wheel pops off, I'm listening!

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted.

 

[MrJimi]

I have removed wheels this way, get another person and a same size of shaft drive pin and grab wheel with both hands and pull real hard with steady tension and have your buddy hit the drive pin real hard with a good size hammer and make sure you have a place to go when it comes off, you might be in for a real surprise and be careful, it is tricky and if you pull at an angle, you will bind it
One big hit is much better than lots of little taps
Jim

 

[DSinOR]

Thx MrJ,

Unfortunatley, this tractor has a 2-piece steering shaft. If you pull on it too hard, or hit it too hard, you can wreck the joint. That gets expensive quick.

The only way to get it off is with a puller that pushes the shaft hard against the pulling force on the hub. You kind of have to isolate the rest of the shaft from the normal beating and pushing and pulling involved with pulling wheels, otherwise you'll break it.

 

[laurencen]

how much is a steering wheel, may be cheaper to drill a series of holes to cut the hub in two, possibly just on one side may spring it some allowing it to be removed, you may be lucky and weld it back after, you could fix the plastic with bondo and paint, just a idea