How I replaced the oil seal, wobble bushing, and dust seal in the steering column of an LK2554 tractor.
Step 1 - Remove steering wheel: Remove Kioti plastic cover, then the nut and lock washer. Apply a puller. The steering shaft is two-piece, therefore you cannot beat on things too hard in either direction, or you will break the union and spend big $ replacing those parts. I used small gauge steel cable woven alternately through a disassembled 3” puller and holes drilled in the plastic plate at the bottom of the steering wheel hub. The cable wraps were around each steering wheel bar union with the center hub. My cable was too small and broke when the puller was tightened on the 2nd day. I was using liquid wrench penetrant, hammer raps, and a hot air gun that heated the center hub and spline until plastic began to melt. No luck.
On the 3rd day, I set out to make flat bar sections to replace the failed steel cable. But I couldn’t find any bar small enough to fit through the 7”16” holes I drilled in the plastic part of the hub. I did find some bigger gauge steel cable, as shown in pics. I wove it up, and used vice grips to join the ends together. I tightened up the puller really really dang tight and rapped the head of the puller one time with a hammer and the wheel popped off. I heard angels singing.
Step 2 Remove things:
Remove the lower engine cowlings & open the hood
Remove the 3 orange dash cowling pieces and the large phillip’s screws from the 2 dash panels.
Lower the hood.
Unscrew the tach cable from the back of the tach, and then lay the whole upper dash panel off into the left front wheel area.
Remove the two bolts holding the crossbar to the steering stem, and remove the relay box that attaches to that crossbar. Remove the crossbar.
Unplug the two plugs at the lower dash panel, then lift the lower dash panel up over the steering stem, and lay it on the hood. Notice that this step allows you to get the lower dash panel out of the way without having to detach the kill cable or the other cable. They just flex and go with the dash panel to its resting place on the hood.
Loosen the large diameter lock nut that joins the steering column to its base. Use a tool on the small crossbar of the steering column to break it loose from the base and unscrew the column from the base. Lift the column straight up. The steering shaft will stay with the base, the column will lift off of it.
Using needle-nose pliers, carefully un-bend the split end of the retainer pin that locks the steel pin in place between the upper and lower steering shaft sections. Remove the retainer pin. Drive (tap) out the steel pin just until the upper section is free, but the steel pin is still captured in the outer shell of the upper section. Lift the upper section carefully, and catch the spring that will fall out of the box-tube area on the bottom of the upper section.
Remove three bolts from the steering column base, lift the base straight up, and catch the o-ring that is between the base and its seat. The next picture shows how you’ll look at this point. Note the locations of the dash panels, the lower dash panel cables, etc.
I put the steering column base back in place for this sideview, from the left. The lower steering shaft section is sticking up out of the base; the hole is where the upper shaft section is pinned on.
Looking down into the steering column base, you can see the oil seal that failed. Notice the whitish oil-water emulsion that fell out of the steering column when it was lifted off.
From the right, close-up, you can see the seal-point on the lower shaft section. Corrosion above, clean below. The lower shaft is rigid, locked in lace by its bearing. Only the upper shaft “wobbles” on its swivel mount to the lower shaft.
The next pic shows the oil seal, held in place with a snap ring. Remove the snap ring, then drive the seal out with a tap or two from underneath. Be careful with the timpken bearing just under the seal.
The next pic is of the parts removed. The steering column is shown here with the factory dust seal still in place. The upper shaft section is shown with the steel pin hanging from one side, its retainer pin laying next to it, and the spring laying at the base. Also note the o-ring laying next to the steering column base.
I removed the factory dust seal by locking one of the column “wings” in a vise, and gently tapping around with a screwdriver and hammer. It came off fairly easily in one piece.
The closeup of the upper shaft section shows the corrosion from trapped moisture. The clean area in the middle is where the bushing contact point is. You can also see a clean groove where the dust seal contacted the shaft, near the spline end.
The next pic shows the new and old dust seals next to each other. The hole in the new seal is clearly smaller. The wobble has worn the old seal until it has become ineffective.
The next pics show the wobble bushing driven out of the column, and also a comparison of the old and new bushings. There is obvious rust and corrosion in the column where moisture was trapped by this rubber bushing. The hole in the new bushing is clearly smaller than the hole in the worn old bushing.
Reassembly:
Clean the rust and moisture off of everything. Paint and spray lube or grease everything to impede corrosion. The timpken bearing is below the seal, it is lubricated by Hyd fluid, therefore do not lube before assembly.
Drive the new oil seal into the base with a socket or other cylindrical driver. Replace the snap ring (always flat-side out).
Drive the new bushing into the column. Tap and love the new dustseal onto the column.
Reassemble your tractor.
Don’t forget the two plugs and the relay behind the lower dash panel.
Don’t forget to re-attach the tach cable to the tach on the upper dash panel.
Use the large lock nut on the column to lock the column dead square to the tractor. The crossbar that attaches to the steering column wings must be square to the tractor to avoid problems installing the dash panels and cowls.
Comments:
The classic steering wheel wobble described by LK2554 and 3054 owners is unrelated to oil seal failure. The wobble itself is not a “failure”. It is a result of pinning the upper steering shaft to the lower shaft in this manner. It does not translate wobble to the lower shaft, and therefore is not a factor in oil seal failure. I replaxced the worn bushing, and expected a much more stable steering wheel. That did not happen. I perceived no change in the amount of wobble felt at the steering wheel. The comparison photo would make you think that the new bushing would really lock things down, but that did not happen.
This oil seal failure, with hyd oil leaking out the top of the steering column, is attributable to moisture trapped in the steering column (builds up over time with condensation and temperature cycles). The steering shafts corrode, and wear the seals out.
The better your climate control in your tractor storage, the longer your factory seal will last. I imagine that southern Arizona owners with new steel barns will never see this failure.
It’s not a matter of rainfall or washing, because the dust seal is underneath the Kioti emblem cover on the steering wheel. It’s more of a slowly developing condensation problem, coupled with steel shafts. If the shafts were stainless or some other alloy, they would certainly cost more, but this failure would be nearly non-existent. If the steering shaft were one piece and thence sealed better (better than the dust seal used here), failure rates would be much lower.
I estimate that my repair will last for 3 or 4 years at most before the new seal fails. You can see wear marks from the seal on the lower shaft, just as you can see slight wear marks from the dust seal on the upper shaft. Sooner or later, those shafts will have to be replaced, or alternate seals found, to maintain the oil seal.
I used
Oil seal 38430-66450 $25
Dust seal 38240-16390 $25
Bushing T2440-16241 $2
I also recommend you spend a buck for the o-ring under the base. Better safe than sorry.
For those who hate paying $25 for a $5 oil seal, you’ll be interested to know that they used to cost $38. The price has gone down for some reason. Maybe somebody can locate a less expensive alternative. It mic’s at 1.288” OD, 0.755” ID, 0.275” thick. The shaft OD is 0.786”. The seal is marked NOK AE5027E.
The dust seal looks like a one-of-a-kind; prolly gonna have to pony up for that one.
Thanks to all for their help and suggestions on the original thread.
DS out!
Step 1 - Remove steering wheel: Remove Kioti plastic cover, then the nut and lock washer. Apply a puller. The steering shaft is two-piece, therefore you cannot beat on things too hard in either direction, or you will break the union and spend big $ replacing those parts. I used small gauge steel cable woven alternately through a disassembled 3” puller and holes drilled in the plastic plate at the bottom of the steering wheel hub. The cable wraps were around each steering wheel bar union with the center hub. My cable was too small and broke when the puller was tightened on the 2nd day. I was using liquid wrench penetrant, hammer raps, and a hot air gun that heated the center hub and spline until plastic began to melt. No luck.
On the 3rd day, I set out to make flat bar sections to replace the failed steel cable. But I couldn’t find any bar small enough to fit through the 7”16” holes I drilled in the plastic part of the hub. I did find some bigger gauge steel cable, as shown in pics. I wove it up, and used vice grips to join the ends together. I tightened up the puller really really dang tight and rapped the head of the puller one time with a hammer and the wheel popped off. I heard angels singing.
Step 2 Remove things:
Remove the lower engine cowlings & open the hood
Remove the 3 orange dash cowling pieces and the large phillip’s screws from the 2 dash panels.
Lower the hood.
Unscrew the tach cable from the back of the tach, and then lay the whole upper dash panel off into the left front wheel area.
Remove the two bolts holding the crossbar to the steering stem, and remove the relay box that attaches to that crossbar. Remove the crossbar.
Unplug the two plugs at the lower dash panel, then lift the lower dash panel up over the steering stem, and lay it on the hood. Notice that this step allows you to get the lower dash panel out of the way without having to detach the kill cable or the other cable. They just flex and go with the dash panel to its resting place on the hood.
Loosen the large diameter lock nut that joins the steering column to its base. Use a tool on the small crossbar of the steering column to break it loose from the base and unscrew the column from the base. Lift the column straight up. The steering shaft will stay with the base, the column will lift off of it.
Using needle-nose pliers, carefully un-bend the split end of the retainer pin that locks the steel pin in place between the upper and lower steering shaft sections. Remove the retainer pin. Drive (tap) out the steel pin just until the upper section is free, but the steel pin is still captured in the outer shell of the upper section. Lift the upper section carefully, and catch the spring that will fall out of the box-tube area on the bottom of the upper section.
Remove three bolts from the steering column base, lift the base straight up, and catch the o-ring that is between the base and its seat. The next picture shows how you’ll look at this point. Note the locations of the dash panels, the lower dash panel cables, etc.
I put the steering column base back in place for this sideview, from the left. The lower steering shaft section is sticking up out of the base; the hole is where the upper shaft section is pinned on.
Looking down into the steering column base, you can see the oil seal that failed. Notice the whitish oil-water emulsion that fell out of the steering column when it was lifted off.
From the right, close-up, you can see the seal-point on the lower shaft section. Corrosion above, clean below. The lower shaft is rigid, locked in lace by its bearing. Only the upper shaft “wobbles” on its swivel mount to the lower shaft.
The next pic shows the oil seal, held in place with a snap ring. Remove the snap ring, then drive the seal out with a tap or two from underneath. Be careful with the timpken bearing just under the seal.
The next pic is of the parts removed. The steering column is shown here with the factory dust seal still in place. The upper shaft section is shown with the steel pin hanging from one side, its retainer pin laying next to it, and the spring laying at the base. Also note the o-ring laying next to the steering column base.
I removed the factory dust seal by locking one of the column “wings” in a vise, and gently tapping around with a screwdriver and hammer. It came off fairly easily in one piece.
The closeup of the upper shaft section shows the corrosion from trapped moisture. The clean area in the middle is where the bushing contact point is. You can also see a clean groove where the dust seal contacted the shaft, near the spline end.
The next pic shows the new and old dust seals next to each other. The hole in the new seal is clearly smaller. The wobble has worn the old seal until it has become ineffective.
The next pics show the wobble bushing driven out of the column, and also a comparison of the old and new bushings. There is obvious rust and corrosion in the column where moisture was trapped by this rubber bushing. The hole in the new bushing is clearly smaller than the hole in the worn old bushing.
Reassembly:
Clean the rust and moisture off of everything. Paint and spray lube or grease everything to impede corrosion. The timpken bearing is below the seal, it is lubricated by Hyd fluid, therefore do not lube before assembly.
Drive the new oil seal into the base with a socket or other cylindrical driver. Replace the snap ring (always flat-side out).
Drive the new bushing into the column. Tap and love the new dustseal onto the column.
Reassemble your tractor.
Don’t forget the two plugs and the relay behind the lower dash panel.
Don’t forget to re-attach the tach cable to the tach on the upper dash panel.
Use the large lock nut on the column to lock the column dead square to the tractor. The crossbar that attaches to the steering column wings must be square to the tractor to avoid problems installing the dash panels and cowls.
Comments:
The classic steering wheel wobble described by LK2554 and 3054 owners is unrelated to oil seal failure. The wobble itself is not a “failure”. It is a result of pinning the upper steering shaft to the lower shaft in this manner. It does not translate wobble to the lower shaft, and therefore is not a factor in oil seal failure. I replaxced the worn bushing, and expected a much more stable steering wheel. That did not happen. I perceived no change in the amount of wobble felt at the steering wheel. The comparison photo would make you think that the new bushing would really lock things down, but that did not happen.
This oil seal failure, with hyd oil leaking out the top of the steering column, is attributable to moisture trapped in the steering column (builds up over time with condensation and temperature cycles). The steering shafts corrode, and wear the seals out.
The better your climate control in your tractor storage, the longer your factory seal will last. I imagine that southern Arizona owners with new steel barns will never see this failure.
It’s not a matter of rainfall or washing, because the dust seal is underneath the Kioti emblem cover on the steering wheel. It’s more of a slowly developing condensation problem, coupled with steel shafts. If the shafts were stainless or some other alloy, they would certainly cost more, but this failure would be nearly non-existent. If the steering shaft were one piece and thence sealed better (better than the dust seal used here), failure rates would be much lower.
I estimate that my repair will last for 3 or 4 years at most before the new seal fails. You can see wear marks from the seal on the lower shaft, just as you can see slight wear marks from the dust seal on the upper shaft. Sooner or later, those shafts will have to be replaced, or alternate seals found, to maintain the oil seal.
I used
Oil seal 38430-66450 $25
Dust seal 38240-16390 $25
Bushing T2440-16241 $2
I also recommend you spend a buck for the o-ring under the base. Better safe than sorry.
For those who hate paying $25 for a $5 oil seal, you’ll be interested to know that they used to cost $38. The price has gone down for some reason. Maybe somebody can locate a less expensive alternative. It mic’s at 1.288” OD, 0.755” ID, 0.275” thick. The shaft OD is 0.786”. The seal is marked NOK AE5027E.
The dust seal looks like a one-of-a-kind; prolly gonna have to pony up for that one.
Thanks to all for their help and suggestions on the original thread.
DS out!