MH 245 steering

   / MH 245 steering #1  

RiverJudd

New member
Joined
Jun 17, 2013
Messages
1
Location
Mayne Island, BC, Canada
Tractor
Massey Ferguson 245
Hi all,

1987 Massey Ferguson 245

Steering works well turning left but to the right it hardly moves at all _sometimes_. If I try turning the steering wheel sharply right when this occurs, it _might_ respond normally. The condition just started in the last few days and is intermittent.

I do have leaky fittings on the left steering cyclinder but I top up the oil level in the pump before use.

Is this steering pump? or other?

I have an industrial FE loader on board but am using the tractor for mowing with a John Woods 6' horizontal brush cutter.

Thanks,
River
 
   / MH 245 steering #2  
Hi all,

1987 Massey Ferguson 245

Steering works well turning left but to the right it hardly moves at all _sometimes_. If I try turning the steering wheel sharply right when this occurs, it _might_ respond normally. The condition just started in the last few days and is intermittent.

I do have leaky fittings on the left steering cyclinder but I top up the oil level in the pump before use.

Is this steering pump? or other?

I have an industrial FE loader on board but am using the tractor for mowing with a John Woods 6' horizontal brush cutter.

Thanks,
River
---------------------------
I am having this exact issue with turning right on my MF 245. What did you ever find out?
 
   / MH 245 steering #3  
So you have two steering cylinders?

It depends how fast the one cylinder is leaking. If it is a steady stream, that could be your issue. If you wanted to rebuild the cylinders it is not that difficult to do with basic hand tools. And to do both sides it is less than $60 in parts.

photo 1.JPGphoto 2.JPGphoto 3.JPGphoto 4.JPGphoto 5.JPG
 
   / MH 245 steering #4  
I have only one steering cylinder. There are no external visible leaks. Yesterday I reversed the hoses on the cylinder, and the problem remained when turning the wheels to the right (which was turning left on the steering wheel).

Here is my theory, please tell me if it makes sense:
With the single steering cylinder, when you turn left, the piston is expanding. When you turn right, it's contracting. An expanding piston has the entire surface area of the Inner Diameter of the cylinder to push against. When a piston contracts, the surface area that the hydraulic fluid can push against equals the Inner Diameter of the cylinder minus the outer diameter of the piston rod. Meaning that when turning right, the fluid has less surface area to push against, and hence needs greater pressure to exert the same amount of force as when turning left.

So I think the problem is a weak power steering pump. But I can definitely see merit in your theory for the cylinder seals. The same principle I described above would apply.
 
   / MH 245 steering #5  
There is also a filter inside the pump that can be cleaned prior to replacing the pump. If it was a clogged filter I would think you would have issues with both left and right.

When you do figure it out, be sure to let us know. Good luck.
 
   / MH 245 steering #6  
Replacing the pump did not fix the problem. I am currently working on replacing the seals in the steering cylinder.
 
 
Top