Water in YM1500 steering box

Gary Sweat · Jan 16, 2011

KidYanmar said:
I was wanting to drill a hole to drain water on the bottom of the steering box but the bottom sits inside the housing between engine and tractor.The housing is cut out if you look in there the steering box is above the throw out bearing for the clutch and drive shaft.I would not want any oil to get in there,there would be no way to get at plug anyway.If a plug was installed on the upper part of the steering box,water would not drain from the lower part.When I removed the stering box/steering collum and turned it upside down alot of water came out.

It's been a couple of years since I last took mine apart and thinking back now I remember why I didn't put the tube in the last time. It is how you describe it. I would have to drill a hole in the bottom of the bell housing and run a tube down to the hole. It's time to drain it again and this time I am going to just pack it with grease and look at putting a small drain hole above the steering box in the shaft to let water drain out above the grease. Hopefully that will work.

turnerbend · Jan 17, 2011

Had a problem with water getting in my steering box about 6 years ago. Clean it out and found that the water was getting in at the nut where the steering wheel connect. Seal the area and system is still bone dry.

Gary Sweat · Jan 17, 2011

turnerbend said:
Had a problem with water getting in my steering box about 6 years ago. Clean it out and found that the water was getting in at the nut where the steering wheel connect. Seal the area and system is still bone dry.

I put in a new top seal and the steering shaft rubber seals and it still gets water in it. I even sealed the cap on the steering wheel with silicone. I think it is from condensation in the steering tube. I'll see how much water is in it when I take it apart in a few days. Maybe I'll get lucky and won't find any but it's showing signs of water pushing the oil up the steering tube again.

turnerbend · Jan 19, 2011

Gary Sweat said:
I put in a new top seal and the steering shaft rubber seals and it still gets water in it. I even sealed the cap on the steering wheel with silicone. I think it is from condensation in the steering tube. I'll see how much water is in it when I take it apart in a few days. Maybe I'll get lucky and won't find any but it's showing signs of water pushing the oil up the steering tube again.

Mine didn't have a cap over the nut. I took a cap from a spray paint can and it is a prefect fit, been there for 6 years.

Gary Sweat · Jan 20, 2011

turnerbend said:
Had a problem with water getting in my steering box about 6 years ago. Clean it out and found that the water was getting in at the nut where the steering wheel connect. Seal the area and system is still bone dry.

The only way I have found to tell for sure if there is water in the bottom of the gear box is to take it apart. The first time I took mine apart was because the steering felt a little stiff one day. Found the bottom bearing retainer had completely corroded, the ball bearings were laying in the bottom and the box was full of water.

Is there another way to tell if it is filling up with water?

KidYanmar · Jan 29, 2011

If you said that gear oil was coming out hole on the side of steering collum,that is what mine was doing because of the water in it.You could check to see if water is in the steering box by the color of the gear oil in it.When mine had water it was light brown not dark like it should be.

Gary Sweat · Jan 29, 2011

KidYanmar said:
If you said that gear oil was coming out hole on the side of steering collum,that is what mine was doing because of the water in it.You could check to see if water is in the steering box by the color of the gear oil in it.When mine had water it was light brown not dark like it should be.

Mine starts leaking oil out around the bottom of the steering column where the 4 bolts attach it to the box. Probably the seal is not sealing completely. That's usually the first indication that it is filling up with water.

janstreep · Feb 20, 2011

hello
i put a grase nippel in the hous and pumpt it full grase thil the top of the pipe

i heave no troble any more

wen the writing is not correct i am sorry
from Holland

Gary Sweat · Feb 20, 2011

janstreep said:
hello
i put a grase nippel in the hous and pumpt it full grase thil the top of the pipe

i heave no troble any more

wen the writing is not correct i am sorry
from Holland

When I drain mine again I am going to fill it with grease also. That seems to be the latest method that works on the ones that tend to get water in them.

thanks for the update.