John Deere 830 Rice Special - Serial 8300998

I recently purchased the 830 Rice Special that was restored from Polk Auction Company in New Paris, Indiana and had it shipped to my home in PA. The tractor runs excellent, but I noticed the steering pulled to the right. Also noticed the power steering pump (near fan in front of tractor) had a leak.

Here is the story:
? My mechanic pulled the pump and purchased replacement seals.

? He noticed when he took the pump off that the inside of the casting had some damage.

? I then decided to send the pump to Owosso Tractor Parts in exchange for a re-manufactured pump.

? My mechanic installed the pump. He said the steering was working well for a short time with no leaks and steering easy

? Then all the sudden the tractor stalled at idle speed.

? He removed the pump and called Owosso - Jermey. They asked him to take the pump a part. He noticed the machining inside of the housing and the brass bushing inside of the housing pushed forward and was stuck in between two oil pump gears jamming the gears and stalling the tractor.

? He sent the pump back to Owosso who replaced the pump.

? After installing the new pump and turning the steering wheel for the steering valve to build pressure he noticed the fan skipped then suddenly stopped.

? He traced the ?apparent? problem back to the fan-drive and water-pump drive unit. The keyway inside the oil pump gear is sheared. He was able to see this with a bore-scope.

? He has an ITT manual, with a breakdown of the gears, but it does not give a procedure. He thinks he can do it based on the diagram, but a procedure, if available, would be helpful.

Questions:
? Does anyone know of an experienced JD 830 Mechanic that could help with questions for my Mechanic?

? Is it possible the too high of pressure in the system caused the original pump to leak and the new pump to fail (we don?t think so), or was the defect listed above more likely the only cause? Reason for the question, after we get the repair complete, Owosso replaced the pump no charge, but I do not want another pump failure to cause damage to the tractor again. So we want to understand all potential causes for such a pump failure.

? He has an ITT manual and power steering manual for the system. Are the any other manuals or repair procedure manuals for such a repair?

? Is it possible to repair the gear with out removing the flywheel etc (we do not see how that is possible)?
? How many hours would a mechanic typically spend on such a repair ? is there a John Deere standard hours for repair of the gear that runs the oil pump and power steering drive?

? I really appreciate any advice or other expert contacts you can provide to us on this matter! I love this tractor and want to make sure our repair goes well and is done with excellence.

One of the primary problems has been mentioned twice , the IT manual.
Call Sharps for a reprint or 1-800-522-7448 for factory hard copies or CD’s .
There is a separate manual specific to the power steering system.
There are vendors in Green Magazine that supply obsolete power steering components.

copy and paste your message in the John Deere forum here. That may get you some quicker response from experts.

Thank you. Will do

Thank you

I really can't tell you what caused the bushing to move, but there is a real good chance there is now some metal flowing through the system, and could have been some in there before the rebuilt pump was installed.

That is most likely why the steering was pulling to the right, especially if it was pulling or easier to turn to the right even when not moving.

The only way to get it all out will be to disassemble the steering gear, lines and hoses, cylinders, any and all components that are supplied by the steering pump, and thoroughly clean and flush them, check for damage or scoring.

If this is an Orbitrol steering system, be extremely careful to go back with the pump/motor components exactly as they came out. Take lots of pictures, mark everything. It will go back many ways, but only work when exactly right. BTDT!

If the pump was simply leaking, and still working, I would have simply resealed it.

Nowadays, MANY times your original part is better than parts "rebuilders" throw together, and the replacement pump MAY have had more hours of use and wear than yours.

The first thing to try when pulling to one side happens with one of these unique antique DEERE power steering systems is to LOOSEN the 4 bolts holding the steering valve and tap it slightly fore or aft to center the valve in neutral.

If this dosen't fix the "pulling to one side" problem, there's a "ramp" or "cam" and pin and spring mechanism inside the steering worm that create the motion to move the valve.

They wear, and chip and fail, causing erratic valve action, which causes the "pulling to one side" or weak steering in one direction.

It's too bad you didn't ask some questions here BEFORE your "mechanic" destroyed your tractor!