Ford 555 power steering leak: HELP

[Lokel Yokel]

The steering valve located under my gauge cluster is leaking from the last seam for the bottom cap. It has maybe 5 recessed bolts holding that cap on. Anybody seen this before? I tried giving them a little snug but they are not loose. Still leaking. It’s a 1985 Ford 555A Backhoe.

 

[highwayghost]

My Case 580SL steering valve is also leaking. Making a mess as it drips on top of the trans and some into the cab by the brake pedals. The parts manual shows a kit for it. Not much in it, a seal and a few orings. I figured I would pull it, rebuild and replace the four hoses. Not an easy place to get to. Anyone ever do this? Any tips would be helpful.

 

[jimg984]

walt's tractor has a seal kit for it,,, steering fluid is same as used transmission and rearend,,hydtransmisson,,,I put regular power steering stop leak in mine and it help 90%

 

[DMiller]

If eroded or has a seat issue these used to be exchangeable at most hydraulic shops. They would turn and true the faces on those that needed.

 

[jimg984]

seal will go steering rod, will be a large oring under flange

 

[alrman]

The steering valve on the 555 is very similar to Case 580 backhoes of the same era.
The seal you need to replace (#38) is actually a rubber tube or sleeve that is about 1.75" long.
To reseal one of these valves is a little tricky.
The valve will need to be removed to replace the seal - they also need to be timed.

I strongly suggest you get a service manual before you attempt this.

 

[Check Break]

I did one in place about 15 years ago. Just replaced the bottom seal (No. 38) and new bolts (No. 41). [Updated the bolts because the originals stretch]. A PITA doing it upside down, but much faster than removing the steering motor. Bought the parts from CNH because they had the cheapest price. The steering motor was made by Ross Hydraguide (now Parker) and the motor used to be a Model HGA. I found a manual online. Here's a couple of links to the one I used.
https://www.numeralkod.com/cross/archivemanuals/parker/2751-001.pdf
https://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Hydro_Steering/hga.pdf
If you take it out and take it apart, be careful. They're not easy to put back together.

 

[Lokel Yokel]

Hey everybody, Really appreciate the responses. This will get me going.

 

[Lokel Yokel]

Just a follow up.

Sure enough, item 38 was the problem. I carefully pulled the steering wheel, unplugged the gauge cluster, removed the outer housing and short steering shaft, unhooked the four short hydraulic lines at the firewall, removed the four bolts which hold the steering motor in place and carefully let it drop out the bottom.

when you uncap the thing immediately thread in a couple of bolts with the heads cut off. This keeps everything in the stack from getting messed up. Make note of item 39. It’s a washer that you could lose if you don’t look for it. Slide the outer housing....item 37 off and then remove the seal...item 38.

I got the new seal from Messers farm equipment in Pennsylvania. I think it was 38 dollars.

My motor was working good but leaking. Don’t dig deeper than this if you don’t need to. I did and there are little parts...the valve springs for example and a technique that you need to do to get item 33 to line up with the torque tube and the valve plate. (You rotate the steering input shaft until everything meshes the way it’s supposed to.)

one last point. When I torqued the end cap on to the max recommended 19 foot pounds my input shaft would no longer rotate by hand. I decided to interpret that word MAX to mean I could go less. So I think I ended up at 12 foot lbs. torqued down in a criss cross pattern.

Wire brushed it down and touched it up with black satin paint and got it all put back together.

Thanks again guys! The old 555 is serving me well once again. Talk to you again soon I’m sure!

 

[Borkjerky]

Additional info:
While doing this project I was perplexed at the size difference from the old seal to the new: the new being much taller. I thought Messicks sent me the wrong part, however I found a post on another forum about the same issue. The new seal is supposed to be taller and will compress when torqued down (2-3 ft lbs, then 17 ft lbs crisscross all bolts).

 

[Swetz]

Borkjerkey,
If I were doing the job, I, like you, would have thought it was the wrong part....REAL good information...Thank you!!

 

[Lokel Yokel]

Great Job! I like how you actually took the dash apart. I didn’t and it was a real pain. Thanks for adding the pics!

 

[Check Break]

Great Job! I like how you actually took the dash apart. I didn’t and it was a real pain. Thanks for adding the pics!

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Check Break]

Additional info:
While doing this project I was perplexed at the size difference from the old seal to the new: the new being much taller. I thought Messicks sent me the wrong part, however I found a post on another forum about the same issue. The new seal is supposed to be taller and will compress when torqued down (2-3 ft lbs, then 17 ft lbs crisscross all bolts).

Makes you wonder if the extra length is an upgrade. I never took a new HGA apart so I don't know if the original seal was the same length as the replacement. In any event, it seals the leak.

 

[rockwind1]

I did one in place about 15 years ago. Just replaced the bottom seal (No. 38) and new bolts (No. 41). [Updated the bolts because the originals stretch]. A PITA doing it upside down, but much faster than removing the steering motor. Bought the parts from CNH because they had the cheapest price. The steering motor was made by Ross Hydraguide (now Parker) and the motor used to be a Model HGA. I found a manual online. Here's a couple of links to the one I used.
https://www.numeralkod.com/cross/archivemanuals/parker/2751-001.pdf
https://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-Hydro_Steering/hga.pdf
If you take it out and take it apart, be careful. They're not easy to put back together.

question for you,,, what size bolts did you use to replace the other ones? they seem to be an odd size per the diagram,, either 5/16-2 5/8"s for one style motor and 5/16-2 11/16"s for another,, as seen here.

https://www.messicks.com/commoncatalog?vendor=nhc&modelId=130534

also,, how did you do it in place,, didn't the parts want to fall out and down?

 

[Check Break]

I didn't have any issue with parts falling out. You match the bolt length to the model number of the Hydraglide steering motor, or you can pull one out and measure it.