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Hi, I have a Long 445 that has similar problems. If you have cleaned the suction filter and feel certain that it is free flowing then I would have to say the pump is probably shot. It is a poor design in that it shares the transmisssion oil which is prone to water and metal partical contamination. I recently bought a remote resevoir from another Long model and will be doing some revamping of the steering circuit on mine soon. Anyway, what you need to do is to "tee" a pressure gauge in the output line of the pump and see what sort of pressure you are getting when you work the steering wheel back and forth. Never "dead-head" a pump with a guage! Also, visually verifying flow of the pump really shows nothing other than it is still turning. The Long manual says the pump can produce up to 2,100 PSI. My pump has never been able to do better than 500 PSI which is adequate for power steering. Anything lower than that and it gets tough to turn the wheel. Note that you can rebuild the pump. You can machine or replace end thrust plates and O-rings and recoup some performance loss. I did this to mine and it worked great until more crap from the dirty transmission oil scored it again. Scoring of the pump body cannot be fixed without replacing the body. The suction filter used is really nothing more than a strainer and will not stop damage from small particles. Note that a scored pump will lose much of its ability to draw oil to the inlet. So, buy an inexpensive test gauge in the 2,500 PSI range and do some testing. It is a good idea to "tee" into all pressure lines on your tractor and use them as a test ports. Plug them when you are not testing. You will find other uses for the gauge once you have one and it will eliminate guess work as you diagnose the system. Randy
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