JCB Fastrac 3000 series steering tight

[charlie850]

Has any one had problems with power assisted steering on Fastrac?
Steering can be very hard to turn especially at low revs and when the tractor is warm

 

[s~~t shoveller]

Hi,never had problem but was told by someone you can up the pressure a little by putting a washer under the relief valve as if you fit wide tyres it can make them hard to steer,our sprayer 3185s on floats can only be steered easily when travelling forward or back but never better or worse when hot or cold really.pump on side of engine is perhaps giving up.

 

[Speedstar]

It needs grease in all the UV joints on it

 

[charlie850]

Turns fine with plenty revs on,maybe steering pump getting tired?
Will grease the UJ joints see if it helps

 

[Mursal]

Pressure gauge on then so ...........
After you grease all pivots with no weight on

 

[milkloss]

Old thread but relevant to our issues.

3185..... has stiff but bubbly feel to the steering. Hell of a crack halfway from lock to lock, sounds like someone's hit it with a sledgehammer. Also foaming the oil in the tank which may or may not be connected.
full pressure on the pump (185bar from memory).
got the steering box apart and no real sign of issues apart from 23 balls in the worm drive instead of 24. teeth on the unused side of the drop shaft have been hammered but I think it's a recon box using an old shaft.


any ideas folks?

 

[Mark7810s]

Hi @milkloss did you get anywhere with this? Having similar problems with a 3185. Steering pressure checks out at 210bar. Have the tractor jacked up steering is only silightly better with the engine on than off. All 3 ujs are taking grease.

 

[milkloss]

We sent the box off for repair. We borrowed a snake camera and looked at the ball race that runs on the gear inside and the race was wrecked. Whether this was due to a missing ball or whether the ball got eaten becasue of it we don't know. we Haven't got the box back yet (a mix over who was paying, turns out it was supposed to me! it's belongs to a friend) but it will be interesting if they just put an extra ball in or rebuilt the race as well....... they seemed happy just to find a ball or two missing out of the race. It should have a warranty though so we'll see.

 

[Mark7810s]

Where did you send it for rebuild and what sort of cost?