Frm Pro 2420 Steering Wheel leaks, fuses & other ?

[DavidBradley]

OK I bought a Farm Pro 2420 at a Homier Road Show, never owned or used a tractor period. When you stop laughing, if you have the time, please answer a couple hundred questions. I plan to start a thread on this tractor for others thinking of buying to read and decide.

(1) There is a small oil (?) leak coming from the steering wheel. (Please don't laugh) When I bought the tractor, I supposed this to be from someone filling the whatever it is box under the wheel too full. Apparently not. I cleaned it off, drove the tractor around a bit, and the oil was back. The four bolts holding the cover on where the steering column goes into the box were loose (one is missing a lock washer), I have been able to tighten two of them, the other two will require removing stuff, to get to with a wrench or socket. Will someone tell me what this box is and is there a method of tightening these bolts without removing the fuel tank and support shelf. There are access holes for the bolts in the support shelf, but the tank sits in a place that makes them useless. The manual states that this setup is Type II steering box.

(2)In the fuse block there are two rows of fuse holders, 5 on top, and 5 on the bottom. On the bottom row on the right, looking at it from the front of the tractor, is NOT a fuse, but a piece of #12 wire which if removed will not allow the engine to crank, and kills all the power to the gauges. What size is this fuse supposed to be.

(3)On the top row of the fuse block are 4 fuses starting from the left to the right. (from the front of the tractor) the 5th slot is empty. Is there supposed to be a fuse there, if so what is it for and what size is it. I ask these questions about the fuses, because I have not found the answers in the manual, And could not contact customer service at Homier today. I have talked to them before and they did answer many questions I had before I bought. But not today.

(4)Some of the gauges have a wire that is not connected to anything (just hanging loose). Is this supposed to be. The gauges work, but I wonder what the loose wire is ( a light maybe?) and where to connect it.

(5) Not a question. The tractor seems to run fine, (to me anyway), and I used the Farm Pro 5' finish mower to mow about 1 acre. It too preformed very well. I will change the zerks on tractor and mower out for better ones, and do the recomdened PM I have read on this forum before I put much time on it. The tractor was bought new with 5hrs now has 6.5.


Thanks in Advance for Your Help
Dave

 

[bluechip]

Hi Dave,

We are a Farm Pro dealer in Arkansas, I'm on here quite a bit so I'll address a few of your questions. Since it is midnight I am home and don't have all my books or tractors here to look at.

The box at the base of the steering column is the steering gear box. I don't recall the back bolts being obscure but I'll look at one tomorrw and see if I can offer a suggestion to get to them.

The loose steering column bolts are probably the cause for the leak. Since the column is on the top, it should not leak much unless overfilled.

The wire in the fuse box is not normal, there should be a fuse, 30 amps since this sounds like it is the main line and it must handle the glow plugs. The factory sometimes puts in the wrong fuses. perhaps the main fuse blew and the road show crew "fixed" it wit a piece of wire so they could run the tractor. Hard to believe with all the stuff Homier sells, they didn't have the automotive type fuse...I would fix that right away, #12 wire won't melt to easy if something bad happens!

The extra wires on the gages are just ground wires if you want to illuminate the gages, the factory does not wire the gages for lights, only the tach lights up at night. Sometimes there are bulbs but often not. disregard these wires if the fuel gage is working. if not then the ground wire for he fuel gage should be grounded, I ground it to one of the screws on the fuel sending unit.

I'll try to figure out what fuse number 5 on top row is used for, if all the headlights, worklight, turn signal and such are working, than it may not be used. I always thought they had way to many fuses on these tractors, suspect it is a standard box, but most of them seem to be wired so I guess everything gets its own fuse.

 

[Travis_R]

Dave,

I am going to start off first by asking why isn't this tractor being repaired by your dealer, or did you buy it from a road show? You said that you bought it new and has 6.5 hours on it now. I wouldn't have called Homier about this, unless it was purchased from a road show.

My neighbor down the road has a Farm Pro 2420. He loves his tractor. The steering box on his leaks a little. He told me that his dealer told him it was caused by leaving it out in the weather and rain got down in the steering shaft housing and messed up the seal or caused the oil to overfill the steering box because the water went to the bottom, which made the oil rise up and over fill. Any way, the dealer said that a seal has to be replaced and thats it. The tractor isn't even in warranty and the dealer is going to fix it at no charge. His tractor has about 37 hrs. on it. Do you POSSIBLY THINK that it could be a seal leaking? Or, is it because of the 4 bolts needs to be tightened? Which one do you THINK it is. You already know that you have to put a lock washer on one of the bolts. So maybe the 4 bolts are the problem. What ever it is, i'm sure it is minor. Someone on here will tell you what the problem is. There are alot of good folks on here that are very intelligent about Chinese tractors. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

As for the fuses and guages, i'm sorry that I can't help you with that. Besides some faulty guages, I haven't heard anything on that subject. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Good Luck. Like I said, someone on here that knows more about it WILL help you. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Travis R

 

[DavidBradley]

Thanks for the info Travis, but I really wont know if its the seal or the loose bolts until I get ALL the bolts tight. By the way, I did purchase from a Road Show. The dealers around here close are mostly used car lots, with one being a furniture store.

 

[greg_g]

Hi David

I wouldn't buy into that "rain in the steering box" line if I were you. But you might try a line wrench to get to those bolts, 12mm if I remember correctly.

Even though there are two rows in the fuse box, only one is active. If there are any fuses in the 2nd row, consider them spares. The 12ga wire is in the 30A main system fuse slot. I'd get that fixed REAL fast. The #5 slot should be for the horn, a 5A I think.

You'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out the wiring scheme without a diagram. Didn't you get a set of owner's and parts manuals with the tractor?

//greg//

 

[DavidBradley]

Bluechip, Thanks for the info. Got in touch with Homier Rep yesterday and he confirmed your info. Put a 30a in and it works, put another in the top for a spare. Discussed some other issues with him and he was very freindly and helpful. Forgot to ask about the steering wheel leak. Was working and talking by cell.

Thanks
Dave

 

[DavidBradley]

Thanks Bluechip, Greg, and Travis, yesterday I removed the strap holding the fuel tank, and slid it back about an inch, this allowed access to the bolts I refered to. I tighend all about 1 1/2 turn. Then decided to remove the filler plug to the steering box to check oil level. Holy Cow, about a cup and a half of brown stuff ran out. Looked similar to choclate milk only thicker and oily. Travis may have been right about the water, but I think It got in during assembly, not rain. Since the paint on the filler plug had never been cracked, I think they may have added oil from the top while insterting the steering coloum and overfilled it. Anyway, when I get time, I will change this brown goo for the right oil, ( what do yall suggest and think?).

Thanks In Advance for the Help
Dave

 

[greg_g]

Power steering? If so, it shares hydraulic fluid in a closed loop with the three point hitch. I use 10 weight ISO32 hydraulic fluid. You might also find it labeled as AW32.

Manual steering? Use a gear lube with a viscosity appropriate to your climate. Unless you anticipate using it in very cold winter weather, a multi-viscosity like 85W140 should cover most bets. Some people even use STP.

//greg//

 

[bluechip]

It may be that the rubber boot under the steering wheel is collecting water like a funnel, channelling some of it down the column into the steering gear box, it may also have gottin in aound the loose bolts.

I think Homier stores at least some of their crated units outide, the steering wheel is not in place while the tractor is crated, the end of the steering column is exposed. could have traped a bit of water, melting snow, etc.

Keeping the unit under cover when not in use should prevent this from happening again. This would also be unique problem to the manual steering I think.