Tilt Steering

webbmeister · Jul 18, 2002

All now seems to be well with Thor. No more drips, did the entire property without losing a belt or throwing a blade, lights work, he seems quieter somehow, he didn't stall and/or refuse to start, shifting ranges is effortless, the MMM is suspended properly, and strangely - where I used to have to shift to I to get up the hill, I can now stay in II. I'm thinking differently about Thor now /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif and I am especially grateful to the local dealer for his expertise, thorough work, and kindness.

One more thing happened last night. I had to pull the Tilt lever up quite hard to get it to disengage, and after it released and I put the steering wheel where I wanted it, it would not reengage - I could not push it down far enough for it to hold the steering wheel in any position at all. Now the steering wheel just tilts up to the forward-most position and stays there. Is this a repair/Adjustment I can do? Or is it another ride to the shop?

It is good to be back in the saddle!

Jim

cstocks · Jul 18, 2002

Mine did the same thing a couple of months ago, Jim. My tractor had some other warranty work to be done so I did not mess with it. When I got my tractor back from the dealer I looked at the receipt and it said they had greased it.

webbmeister · Jul 18, 2002

Thanks Chris - I don't think that's it, the release lever just flops up and down, as if whatever it was connected to before is no longer connected. Hmmm ...

SteveBenson · Jul 26, 2002

Uuuuugggghhhhh, the same thing just happened to me and I'm just about seeing RED. I was going to go out and do some brush hogging down in the ravine and now I'm dead in the water. It's bad enough going down in the ravine to begin with, but I'm sure not going to do it without good control of my machine. I tried calling the dealer, but of course it is Friday @ 5:30. Probably better anyways because I'm really not happy at the moment. Why do they put these bells and whistles on these machines if they can make it inoperable?

SteveBenson · Jul 26, 2002

TBN to the rescue.

I tried some WD40 as suggested on one of the other threads concerning this problem. After applying the WD40 and tapping on the lever for about half a hour, I was just about ready to give up then success. It seems there is a small control valve actuator at the top of the cylinder ram that connects to the tilt lever. The actuater gets corroded or dirty and gets stuck when depressed.

I never really use the tilt adjustment. I guess it's one of those use it or lose it things, kinda like parking brakes. It's the last time I touch it. Nothing gets you madder than having your machine disabled by the tilt steering.

John_Mc · Jul 26, 2002

A note of warning: WD40 is probably not a permanent fix. It does not leaave much of a residual coating on the part after it dries up. There are other lubes on the market which will provide longer-term lubrication and corrosion protection (some of the LPS stuff comes to mind... it's also used a lot in aviation applications).

John Mc

SteveBenson · Jul 27, 2002

I sprayed some lithium grease in there after it loosened up. I figured the WD40 would work better at freeing it up initially. I got the wheel where I wat it, I don't plan on moving it from now on.

webbmeister · Jul 27, 2002

Thanks, Steve - I'll try it! Chris - it looks as if you were right in the first place! Mmmm ... crow .... tasty ....!

Jim

webbmeister · Jul 28, 2002

Well, I sprayed, shook, sprayed and let it set and then shook some more, then sprayed and shook even more. No go. Time for dealer intervention?

Jim

MikePA · Jul 28, 2002

Hi Jim,

You might want to check this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=nhown&Number=133280&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=tilt%20steering&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=50&Old=allposts&Main=124576>thread</A>. If I recall correctly, most people with this problem ended up having the dealer replace the cylinder.