Ford 4630 power steering problems

hillbily

New member
ok guys I am a newbie to the site but not to working on tractors.

I have a 1992 ford 4630 and the power steering pump was leaking bad. I bought a kit from ford along with some additional O-rings that were not in the kit. I removed the pump and cleaned every thing as I disassembled it plus I laid each piece out in order during disassembly. I have a breakdown of the pump from ford to assist me during the job. I inspected the shafts, gears and bearings while I had it apart and all looked good. The bearings were a little worn but not bad. I replaced all the seals and O-rings as I reassembled the pump according to the breakdown. reinstalled the pump and when the tractor is sitting and idling it is really hard to turn the wheel. if I bring the rpm's up a little it seems a little better but not much. If you drive the tractor around with the rpm's up some it seems fine. I even cracked a few of the lines to make sure I did not have an air lock in it. It is still hard to turn.

Any ideas? Thanks.
 

bczoom

Senior Member
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Welcome to the forum.

Hmmm, I was thinking air lock as well but you already tried that.

Did you replace with a quality fluid or go generic?

How much have you driven it after the re-build? Sometimes, these things do still have air pockets but work themselves out. If you can, lift the front wheels off the ground then cycle the steering from side-to-side to the limits.
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Hi Hillibily, welcome to Net Tractor Talk. I'm glad you found us.
I wish I had an answer for you.
BC's thought is worth investigating. Other than that if it does not get better and you have the time (an warm enough weather) I'd tear it down again and reassemble and keep fingers crossed. Good luck.
 

hillbily

New member
Thanks for the response. I have lifted the front end off the ground with the front bucket and worked the wheels stop to stop numerous times. I also drove it around some plus cracked each out side line to see if that would work out the air lock. Nothing changed. I even let it set over night for two nights and lifted the front end up and worked wheels then to see if that helped. But still nothing.

I talked to a buddy of mine and he said the aluminum blocks that the bearings set in are suppose to float a little bit. Going to tear it down and see if they are loose or tight. I will post if that helps. Thanks again guys.
 

hillbily

New member
ok guys still having the same problem as before. I have checked the bearing blocks and that did not help any. I put it back together and have ran it some but still no power steering. I am going to tear it down one more time and really look things over and see if I missed something according to the diagram I have for it.

If anyone has any other suggestions please give them to me. I am starting to get very up set with this thing. Thanks.
 
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