M9000 Steering Problems

[tift104]

We purchased a M9000 around 5 years ago and have not had to turn a bolt on it yet. Now I'm having steering issues. While moving some wood around with the front end loader I noticed that the steering was a lot tighter than it normaly is. I chalked it up to the excess weight of the wood in the bucket. Finished up and drove it to the shop noticed that the steering was still very stiff. Changed filters (Kubota filter), and Hyrdo oil (super UDT) and still have same problem. Used loader to bring front end off the ground and still have steering issues. Is there screen in the steering pump that may be clogged? Did I bust a ring in the seering cylinder? The cylinder is not leaking. The hydro pump does not get hot after turning the wheel for a while. Would greatly appreciate any tips on what to try next.

 

[art]

You could have a seal or o-ring out internal and sill not have an external leak. I pressure test would help the most. That could eliminate the pump which I think is working fine if the rest of the hydraulics are working although it is a double pump system.

The next spot would be the hand pump or below the steering wheel and they normally will leak externally! So what is left but the cylinder on the front end doing the steering!

 

[tift104]

I forgot to mention that I did not find any leaks anywhere on the tractor other than the mess I made trying to drain 10gal of hydro oil with a 5gal oil changing pan. I went ahead and took the front cylinder out and took it to my dealer. He said he would do a air test on monday and let me know.
Art, who sells pressure testers for a Kubota? I don't have one but it seems like a handy tool for narrowing out other problems on equipment.

 

[art]

The air test is probably good enough to do this test on the cylinder. To buy the factory set-ups and give you all the fittings needed to do all the tests would be very expensive to say the least.

I just ordered a kit for testing the pressure at a brake caliper for a car that I'm still building and it was fifty dollars with five fittings. This is not unusually high of a price and it was generic. Many of the tractor test kits run into the thousands that we have to buy to be qualified to service tractors as well as sending staff to the schools before we even can get the equipment to sell depending on brands.

Many of the pieces of the kits are available out of any good hydraulic shop that makes hoses. The gauges are available at places like Graingers or Baums but most important is the service manuals so you are using the right size gauges! In our shop we actually have two carry around tool boxes full of the different fittings with short hoses to attach the gauges.

For the times you might be in need of the equipment it can be very expensive for the one time during the ownership of the tractor.

You are with the easiest and the least expensive to fix at this point so lets hope this is it!

 

[powerstroke444e]

The m series owners have been know to forget the grease zirk on the front axle don't know about your model. With the front end in the air try cycling the steering and since you have the cylinder off try each side to see if one is stiffer than the other.

 

[Tx Jim]

I also wondered if the frt axle spindles have been faithfully greased.

 

[tift104]

Sounds like an expensive tool to have and I'm sure there are different fittings for John Deere equipment to. All of our yellow equipment is Deere. May just borrow the dealers should the need arise.
I have been keeping the front axle greased every 50 hrs weather it needed it or not. I don't think that's the problem.
Plus when I took the steering bars off to remove the cylinder I turned the steering wheel to see if it loosened up without any pressure pushing aginst the cylinder and it was still hard to turn. I may be wrong but I believe that just leaves either a pump problem or a cylinder malfunction.
I do know that the bolts are darn hard to break free on the brackets holding the cylinder. Should get final verdict on Monday.

 

[art]

The gauges would all be the same and many of the connections would be as well so if they allow you to do that the only thing you might need would be the spec's!

 

[tift104]

Went by the dealer this afternoon and they did the air test. The head mechanic said that he thought the cylinder was in good shape. I brought it back to the shop to put back on the tractor and just my luck I screwed up the threads on one of the tie rods. Gonna get rod rethreaded tomorrow and load it up for the dealer to do a pressure test on the pump. They said that pump was over 1100.00. Is this a fair price for this pump? or do I need to shop around some more? On another note, I noticed that while I was trying to line up the tie rod that the cylinder was pushing to the right without steering the wheel being turned. It even does this for a small distance when the tractor is off. Anybody have an idea why this happened?

 

[art]

If you had tried steering and the oil was to both sides of the cylinder then it is the hand pump below the steering wheel that is the problem. Normally when that is the problem that is the first thing noticed.

 

[tift104]

Just got back from dealer this morning. Pump seems to be fine it is pushing 2400lbs of pressure on either side. He seems to think that the problem is inside the cylinder. Gonna order a rebuild kit for it and see how long that takes to get here. Kinda ticks me off since I took it off myself and had them test it and they said it's fine and now its not. But I had rather this be the problem than having to replace a $1100.00 pump.
art, it may be just me but I don't see a hand pump @ the steering wheel. If I remember right the steering shaft comes out of the cab and goes into what looks like a pump/gear box of some sort that is located on top of the motor.

 

[art]

The hand pump is normally right below the steering wheel and connected by hoses to the cylinder on many farm tractors. I didn't check the exact design or test my mind on it, there are only certain things that can fail here, I would doubt it would be the pump but if it isn't the cylinder then it would be what is telling it to do it's job!
Kubota is probably right to run the steering shaft down to the pump as when they leak below the steering wheel they often can coat the dash and fire wall area with oil. There are times there is not enough room to run the shafts so that is why they use the hoses for flexibility.

 

[sixdogs]

Just a thought here--I had a problem some years back that involed an older hose that was weak and seemed
to "collapse" and cause pressure problems for me at times.
I never figured it out exactly but new hoses fixed the problem.
This probably doesn't apply to you but the thought might help.

 

[tift104]

Got it back last week. Turns out that the rebuild kit on the front cylinder was the answer. The mechanic said that the seals looked to be in good condition but were a little stiff. The stearing is still a little stiff but I think that the new seals need to be broke in. Thanks for all of your input.