repairing power steering on a Ford 3500 Industrial

[looknlearn]

I went to look at a job today on a Ford 3500 1960's supposedly, in which I need to repair or replace the power steering pump. It reportedly goes though a pint of power steering fluid and hour. I am hoping all I will need to do is replace some seals.
But first things first, does someone have the page (or pages) of the service manual or operators manual which gives the diagram of what exactly needs to be removed to get to the pump? That would make it easier I hope. I looked around some but it was to expensive for just a few pages out of it. This tractor has got a FEL so the hood doesn't even open all the way. I am hoping the FEL doesn't need to be removed to get to the PS pump.
I will try to post pictures of the project if I can remember the camera. The tractor is in a parking lot a mile or so away.


But advice would be helpful.

 

[looknlearn]

I just found the parts or repairs forum in which I think this thread belongs. Is there a way to move it. Thanks

 

[looknlearn]

The latest on the tractor is that now the steering doesn't work at all and it quit leaking. This means I had to dig into it as soon as I had the time.

So here is the tractor.


This afternoon we went over to work on the tractor and after getting into it a little found out that the pump is fine(I think). The leaking oil was coming from the power steering valve and cylinder area.
After getting the hood and grill off, we were able to get to the radiator.


We were able to remove the radiator which got us down to the steering linkage.



I think that the power steering valve is what is bad.
How do I remove the valve or the cylinder with the valve??
So far I have been able to disassemble it without an exploded view but I would like to know what next to get the valve out??


If there are problems with this post( pix to big/to small) tell me. I'm not sure how to do this.

 

[ArtMech]

How far did You move with an issue?

 

[looknlearn]

Well, the guy I was doing it for was very impatient and when I needed to leave for a the weekend he decided to get a buddy of his and do it himself. I don't know how far they have gotten but last I heard they hadn't gotten very far. It would have been nice to finish the project, money wise, just because I enjoy doing things like that and because it is an unfinished project, but it is what it is.

 

[ArtMech]

Well, the guy I was doing it for was very impatient and when I needed to leave for a the weekend he decided to get a buddy of his and do it himself. I don't know how far they have gotten but last I heard they hadn't gotten very far. It would have been nice to finish the project, money wise, just because I enjoy doing things like that and because it is an unfinished project, but it is what it is.

OK. I just was worrying about that this could be Your own tractor which You can't exist on a farm without.
My machines are different than this one and I also prefer to fix them myself. And You know ... there are many common components on the machines if even they look pretty dissimilar. What I wanted to ask You first, was to find out the symptoms of a failure following some 'fault finding' procedure, example: does the PAS system (if filled up) operate or it does hard, or if not operating at all would tractor be steered in 'manual' mode, what about FEL and 3ph operation if the pump is common, ... et cetera.
Because, the oil leakage may be a subsequence of the main failure reason (example loop pressure too high...).

 

[looknlearn]

OK. I just was worrying about that this could be Your own tractor which You can't exist on a farm without.
My machines are different than this one and I also prefer to fix them myself. And You know ... there are many common components on the machines if even they look pretty dissimilar. What I wanted to ask You first, was to find out the symptoms of a failure following some 'fault finding' procedure, example: does the PAS system (if filled up) operate or it does hard, or if not operating at all would tractor be steered in 'manual' mode, what about FEL and 3ph operation if the pump is common, ... et cetera.
Because, the oil leakage may be a subsequence of the main failure reason (example loop pressure too high...).

The machine has a separate pump for the power steering. The report from the guy was that it steered fine but just leaked oil like a sieve. He would refill it very often to keep oil in the power steering system. He was going to use it for another week before he wanted it torn apart, but then it quit leaking (with it full of oil) and the power steering quit working. It was possible to steer but with it sitting with the FEL on the ground, it felt like the steering wheel would break because of the difficulty. He needed to use the FEL so using it in that condition was out of the question. To me it seemed like the valve for the power steering was what went bad. That's in the area that the oil was leaking and that seems likes what would quit.

That's the story. I don't know much about hydraulics except basic simple systems. Just haven't gotten to reading the links on that subject in this site. The reason he hired me was because he wanted to save money and I had a tractor that I work on but it is old and doesn't have PS or hydraulics.

Would it be possible it was a hose leak and the pump lost prime??

 

[ArtMech]

The machine has a separate pump for the power steering. The report from the guy was that it steered fine but just leaked oil like a sieve. He would refill it very often to keep oil in the power steering system. He was going to use it for another week before he wanted it torn apart, but then it quit leaking (with it full of oil) and the power steering quit working. It was possible to steer but with it sitting with the FEL on the ground, it felt like the steering wheel would break because of the difficulty. He needed to use the FEL so using it in that condition was out of the question. To me it seemed like the valve for the power steering was what went bad. That's in the area that the oil was leaking and that seems likes what would quit.

That's the story. I don't know much about hydraulics except basic simple systems. Just haven't gotten to reading the links on that subject in this site. The reason he hired me was because he wanted to save money and I had a tractor that I work on but it is old and doesn't have PS or hydraulics.

Would it be possible it was a hose leak and the pump lost prime??

It had to be made visual inspection on a machine to find out were exactly oil had been dropping from. The guy had to stop working and had to put machine on a repair.
But now, as the system is already jammed, it's a bit more work to do. Yes, I guess needs to start from a pump. Is it belt or gear driven?
The pump could be overheated while being poorly supplied by oil at some moments. Usually pump is pricey. Next is a leakage fixing (either it is a hose, connection, mechanism or any other component). I think the flushing of system with the fresh oil will be required after it'll be fixed.
If the leakage comes from mechanism (cylinder), it's not repairable, needs to replace the mechanism. It's also expensive. Hope with steering column everything is OK.

 

[looknlearn]

Sorry for the late response. The power steering pump is belt driven. The leaking seems like it would not be coming from the cylinder because oil leaked all the time the tractor was running, when using the steering or not. So my guess is it either is a hose or the valve thing (not sure of the real name).

 

[jinman]

Tucker, I went to messicks.com and looked up the 3500 steering. The four photos below show the system components, but no details of how it works. The first illustration is the complete system and piping. The second is the PS cylinder detail and the third and fourth are the two types of pumps/reservoirs used on that model.