1500/1700 steering box fluid capacity?

[old1500]

Yes.....I know....get a service manual. But, you guys have let me off the hook on that so far, so I will ask another question. We all know we have to talk about something anyway.

I was fortunate enough to have a serious slack problem in the steering gear on my early 1500. Soundguy, JC, Tex...and others have been generous in helping me with the diagnosis. I got to the bottom of the problem and discovered a broken sector shaft (both ears broken off on the cover side). I am ready to stick the new parts back together, but need to know if anyone can tell me the quantity of fluid to add to the load deck (sometimes called a sump). It seems to me that I do not need to fill it completely up to the top as the gears rotate down into the bottom of the sump during steering action and will "wash" themselves with oil when that occurs.

Anybody have any guesses, or factual information from some publication?

I know Soundguy suggested some "soft" grease, but since I have it all to pieces with a good oil seal in-hand...I may as well put hydro-fluid back in there.

 

[BG4985]

I have a guess, def not a book answer, and not even worth a half cent. When I redid all my fluids on the 1700 i remember filling it up to the point i could see the fluid at the top, (but not overflowing). I had a mixture of the grease (dried up oil) in mine and added the fluid only to it (hoping) it would somehow miracle the older stuff back to a liquidish form.

Do you have any pictures of your broken ears on the shaft? My 1700 sometimes feels it suddenly skipped about 3 teeth if im trying to do a sharp turn at a decent speed. It wont do it on wider turns or at a slower pace. Did you have any of the same symptoms? thanks Brad

 

[old1500]

BG....it sounds reasonable to assume what you said concerning the fluid level to be correct.. I think 1/2-3/4 full would be plenty.

I am going to attach three pictures. One of the old shaft with the broken ears and you can see how the adjustment screw was installed. It simply "slid" down between the ears and I think one can see there is little bearing surface there on those ears.

I am attaching one that shows the method of installing the adjustment screw in the "new" shaft. The screw is held in place with an internal washer and a snap-ring.

I am also attaching one that compares the two. The "new" shaft should have much less susceptibility to breaking as it has no ears and the entire end of the shaft is a good solid bearing surface.

I could write pages about all this, bit it would bore everybody to tears. I can assure you that there were changes in shaft sizes (diameters) and gear-boxes around early 82 in the 1500 and I am sure the 1700 followed suit.

You must have the correct shaft for the correct gear-box for the correct end cover...they DO NOT interchange.

I am sure that I know what happened in my case. The bushing in the cover end was completely wallowed out. I feel certain that somewhere back down the line a previous owner replaced the shaft and the box...but not the cover. Possibly they only replaced the gear-box as it was never painted (it was in the raw) and the cover was NH blue.

The shaft is not that hard to pull out from the cover side and stuff is not going to fly all over the place if you do pull the shaft. The components stay intact on the steering stem shaft. You can just remove the 4-bolts on the cover and pull the shaft out after you remove the arm from the output side.

If you do and find an issue with your shaft or cover...PM me and I will give you the list of correct part numbers to match the cover and gear box you have.

The picture on the left is the old broken shaft, the one in the middle is the new shaft and the far right one is a comparison between the two.

 

[JC-jetro]

Hey Old,

when I looked at mine the consistency of fluid was more of a soft grease than oil, soft grease can also harden up in colder climate and there not much heat generated by moving the steering wheel. The recommended fluid is Ford 134 as the manual says it. Sound guy would have no issue with the soft grease hardening down south but here in Kansas thing can get stiff quick. I just cleaned up the goo as best as I could and filled it with Ford-134. it's been more than a year ago and have not had any issues.

JC,

 

[old1500]

Hey....JC....if things get harder in Kansas quicker.....maybe I need to move to Kansas!

BTW, I have been all over Kansas on motorcycle trips and some people say it's boring, but I just love to ride along looking at the corn and sunflower fields. Pretty country.

 

[JC-jetro]

Hey....JC....if things get harder in Kansas quicker.....maybe I need to move to Kansas!

B.

Hmmm, I'm bit slow to get things.... Well My mind is not in the gutter, thank you very much:laughing:

major issue is tornado in kansas but you can always crawl underground and let the wind to pick up what it wants. Most of the time you can crawl back up with your life.. and that's a good thing.

JC,

 

[old1500]

BG....I noticed that I never answered your question concerning "symptoms". I never felt what you have felt. I simply had 2 full rounds of slack in the wheel and when I would look at the sector shaft...it would move more fore-n-aft that it would turn. With the adjustment end of it being broken off....that end was just flopping-in-the-breeze.

There are only 5-teeth on the sector shaft, so you don't have that many that could slip. Could be something in the ball-to-steering shaft mechanism on yours. If yours turns well at all, I would think the shaft is okay, but it could have some slack in one of the bushings on either end?

 

[jimmysisson]

Did Mother catch you with her white towels? Stay safe out there!
Jim

 

[BG4985]

Thanks Old.... if i ever get the tractor broke down to that point again..ill check out the bushings. As of now i just try to take it easy on the turns since it only does it on the sharp fast turns.