Kubota steering problem

lotsoflawntomow · Jul 16, 2009

I have a 9 year old Kubota TG1860 diesel with a 54 inch deck. Immediately on startup the steering wheel pulls hard left against the stop. When I disconnect the electric steering unit I can steer ok manually. The dealer has been no help except to estimate repair at $1100 for labor and a new steering unit. Kubota cust service says there are diagnostics available in a shop manual to diagnose the problem. Any recommendations from this group? Thanks in advance.

Mike Costello · Jul 16, 2009

It sounds like the dealer just wants to be a parts replacer rather than take the time to diagnose your problem. It could be a simple and inexpensive fix or a more complicated one. You need to find a dealer who is willing to step through the problem properly and find the true cause of the problem.

Treemonkey1000 · Jul 16, 2009

So if you reconnect the steering unit it pulls back hard left? Sounds like a shorted connector wire or an internal short inside the steering unit. If you are into tinkering why not start at any wire harness to that unit and make sure there are no wires cut through the insulation. Check for cable clamps pinching the wire to ground. If there are connectors that you can pull apart and look for corrosion on the contacts. Vibration may have caused insulation to wear off. Or depending on what the steering unit that you are disconnecting is a solenoid or motor check inside of them for insulation break down. You might even have metal debris inside the unit. WD-40 to rinse out metal filings or an air hose. Just watch so that you don't get crud in your eye using an air hose..
That's my 2 cents worth of wisdom.

lotsoflawntomow · Jul 28, 2009

It's fixed and for $0. Jim Carroll at Kubota customer service faxed me the diagnostics section of the shop manual. It includes an electronics controller fault code reset procedure and checks on 2 electrical connectors. The reset did not work so I did the connector tests. Then repeated the reset procedure. Power steering is now fine at engine start. My guess is that one of the connections was not making contact. Thanks to those who responded.