The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

The oil seal on the steering rocker shaft has decided to leak which is a bit frustrating because the steering box has been full of oil for about 12 months during the repaint/rebuild without the slightest sign of a leak but I expect it is because the shaft is being rotated again now the tractor is operational.

The question is- can the old oil seal be removed and a new one inserted without removing the rocker shaft from the steering box ?
The Repair Manual mentions that to remove the oil seal retainer "first carefully clean away the staking securing the oil seal retainer and lift out the retainer"
I am not quite sure what this means. Is the oil seal retainer held in place by small screws ?

Any guidance welcomed.

Regards
laurie

Dear Laurie

I think "early" steering boxes had a seal and retainer (a washer), whilst later boxes from June 1961 just had a seal. I cannot remember how different the seals are, but they have different part numbers. Up to 6/61 it was 116522-ES, after 6/61, it was E1ADDN - 3539.

The retainer is held in place by staking the steering box housing around it to stop it falling out in about 4 places (may be more). The staking are "flats" formed into the housing edge using a chisel, or similar tool, thus stopping the retainer falling out. The tricky bit is removing the "stakes", without damaging the housing too much, although I seem to remember doing it with my "Black and Wrecker" Power File and careful use of a small, sharp chisel to clean them up.

I have found seal replacement is not always a complete success, so I always fill these types of steering boxes both on Fordsons (and other makes of tractor) with Swivel Hub Housing grease as used on LandRovers, (well certainly on my 1996 Defender anyway). It is easy to use (especially if warmed slightly before injecting into the steering box filler hole) and I have had no leaks through worn/grooved steering shafts and seals. So if you renewed the seal early on in your rebuild, you might try sucking out the EP 90 oil and squirting in some swivel grease instead of replacing the seal.

Hope this is of help.

Tim E

Tim

Many thanks for the informative response.The seal on the steering box must be at least 28 years old but I did not replace it during the rebuild because it seemed OK with no sign of a leak.
I guess that trying to remove the staking with the shaft in place might be a bit tricky.
I think your tip about using grease instead of the oil might be the way forward. I assume that it has not caused you any problems with the steering.

Thanks again for your help

Regards
Laurie

I've given some thought to you guys with steering box problems. I have not had any problems with my Power Major's box and it is as tight as can be. I would attribute that to the fact that my Power Major has factory Power steering. My thought is that the steering box has a lot less pressure against it as the PS unit takes a lot of the brunt of the forces against the box away. I know this is not a common option, but the tractor drives like a dream with it. Any one have anything to add to this? Dandy Dave!

Hi Tim
Replacing the EP90 with grease sounds like a useful plan. I just wonder how the rocker shaft bushes would fare - they would lose their lubrication with the grease option. This setup is analagous with the clutch cross shaft, which is dealt with by means of grease nipples. I wonder if a minor modification wouldn't be possible, namely drilling and tapping a hole in the housing to allow the fitting of a grease nipple.
Best
Adrian

Since I have put a greas cord in It the probleem has been solved. This is the original way of sealing It.

Dear Adrian

I note your concern about rocker shaft bushes, but I don't think they will suffer. The LandRover swivel housing grease is like a really soft graphite grease with a certain amount of thick liquid in it. It has to lubricate the top and lower swivel bearings, as well as the drive joints that pass through the housing, so there are both slow moving weight bearing surfaces and fast moving torque transfer shafts and bearings to lubricate in the LandRover front axle swivel housings. The top swivel bearing is only lubricated by "splash" from the driven shaft, so the penetrating properties of the "grease" must be pretty good.

Provided the "grease" is filled to the same level as the steering box oil, I think it will get to all the parts that it needs to. It has been in my NP Super Major box for 7 years (operating with a loader on a farm in the Yorkshire Dales), a TE20 steering box for 4 years and an International B414 for quite a few years and so far, I have had no problems with the steering on any of them.......well perhaps the Super Major steering is a bit hard to turn with a 1 ton round silage bale spiked onto the loader and facing downhill on a very steep track in 4 feet of snow......

Regards

Tim E

Thanks for a very comprehensive explanation, Tim. Your theory and experience do it for me. It always seemed a bit of a quaint solution to lubricate the steering worm gear by encasing it in a bath of oil. After all, we're not talking about a high revolutions/heat build-up situation here. I think Laurie has got his answer!
Best
Adrian