power steering problems with at MF 165 diesel perkins

There ia ram at the front by the radiator that has a oil line and a return line from the power steering pump. I had that whole ram redone including O rings and piston and sleeve done to spec's. The trouble I am having is that when the setting nut is in the center as should be the steering is very hard to turn, but if you set it to all one side then you can turn the wheel with your little finger but it is very hard to bring it back, the same applies if you turn the setting all the other way. Could it be that the power steering pump is not putting out enough pressure? This is all factory equipment.I understand there is a fellow by the name of David.P. from So Wales that might have the answer. I need help.

I'm sure David P will be along shortly. In the mean time look in the archives on here under 165 steering. It's been discussed in detail several times. Dave

Hello John,
Calling Doctor P!!!
This looks like an adjustment problem. With this type of steering the greatest efficiency is obtained when the amount of wear in all components is negligible. The principal areas of wear to check are;
Steering box; end float on the cross shaft when on the 'high spot'
Steering box drop arm; Ensure that the arm is tight on the spline.
Ball joints; Check for play.
Upper PAS arm; Ensure that there is no 'rocking' on the main shaft.
Barrel pins; Ensure that there is absolutely minimal play in the barrel ends/spool yoke and arm end.
Cylinder rod anchor pin. Minimal push/pull wear is acceptable but not up and down movement (see photo)
Main shaft; A greasing point that is frequently forgotten will lead to shaft and bush wear particularly at the bottom.

If all these points are in good condition then you can procede with the adjustment. I suspect that you might not be making the adjustment correctly.
Slacken the 1 1/8 spanner size nut and screw the tapered pin down until it bottoms and and all movement of the upper arm is lost. Adjust the barrel until the pins can just be fitted. Don't split-pin yet. Note the position of the taper pin slot and unscrew it SEVEN turns. This is the initial adjustment. Nip the big nut. Have an assistant rock the steering wheel back and forth.
The play that you have created should result in movement of the spool valve on the cylinder. Movement should be equal in both directions at approx 1/16". When the steering wheel is turned to the right check that you have spool movement and not the end of the rod lifting in the casting.
If you have good spool movement then start up and test. As mentioned this is an initial adjustment. If you think it could be better you can unscrew the taper pin in 1/4 turn steps but only until you have easy steering. Go too far and you will lose it! If it is still difficult one way then look very closely at the points above there will be wear there somewhere still.
The more play you can take out, the more efficient it will be.
The barrel ends, yoke and arm can be drilled out and larger pins fitted...not a job for a hand held drill.
Play in the rod end can be taken out by making a shim to suit.
Main shaft and/or bushes should be replaced but will need to be reamed or machined in place using the MF reamer.
Let us know how you get on.
DavidP, South Wales

I used Davids trick with the "thin bent washer" and managed to get my 165 adjusted ok. There's still a bit of play in the main shaft, but not bad enough to make it worthwhile tackling at the moment. I'll keep an eye on it though in case it gets worse.

Hi Mike,
Great news, glad the idea worked for you as well.
If you have wear in the main shaft/bushes there is only one answer. Ensuring that it is kept greased will help minimise further wear. Also unscrewing the taper pin a little more will help overcome any wear, but there's not much to play with before the PAS goes off.

DavidP

That pic of the cylinder or ram is not at all the same as mine.

Hi David, Howdy All, David i dont think i have ever seen a ram like in the picture, i have o/hauled the old Hydrosteers and the newer Laser setup similar to the setup pictured, do you have others in UK, ours were impoted from UK, regards from down under, Sibby

Hello John,
Its quite likely that your ram may be different but the operating principle should be similar.
DavidP

Hi Sibby,
Hydrosteer and Laser are listed in the UK parts book. From the parts picture mine would appear to be a Laser as it does not have the seperate supply pipe tp the 'push' side of the cylinder. I believe that there are some earlier ones in the North American market. This one is on my 165 and the photo was taken during restoration. How is Queensland recovering from the floods? It has not been on our news for nearly a week now.
Regards
DavidP

IF YOUR'S IS THE SAME AS THE ONE IN THE PICTURES,A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS COME FROM THE PINS AND PIN HOLES BEING WORN IN LINKAGE THAT HOOKS BETWEEN STEERING ARMS AND CYLINDER CONTROL VALVE, ON THIS TYPE STEERING IT WORKS GOOD WHEN EVERYTHING IS NEW,AS IT WEARS YOUR STEERING WILL GET HARDER UNTIL YOU LOOSEN THE SET SCREW ON THE STEERING ARM A LITTLE AND READJUST CONTROL LINKAGE ,DOING THAT WILL RESTORE CONTROL MOVEMENT THUS ACTIVATING STEERING CYL. TO HELP STEERING, BUT ALSO INCREASES STEERING WHEEEL FREE PLAY, IT TAKES VERY LITTLE ADJUSTMENT OF THE CONTROL LINKAGE TO GO FROM GOOD TO NOTHING OR POWER STEERING ONE WAY AND MUSCLE POWER THE OTHER, WHOEVER ENGINEERED THE LINKAGES DIDN'T TAKE IN TO A COUNT THEM WEARING

This is what mine looks like, but we cannot adjust it so the steering wheel turns easily from both turns.

Hi David, There was major flooding in South East Queensland, big clean up ongoing, cant believe the damage around Toowomba, it is almost on top of a mountain range, walls of water pushing cars, 4wds, water tanks, shipping containers, etc,and towns below like Grantam who had a flash deluge, it is a small town and many lives lost, they are still finding body parts, so many crops lost, one farmer has lost his second cotton crop in a row, the state of Victoria has a flood, very bad in the Horsham area, mainly broadacre wheat, etc crops, one in 200 yr flood record, the weather is just nasty. David, your steering set up is the later Laser set up, the earlier Hydrosteer had the pedistal set up on our models. cheers from down under, sibby.