Adam - NC

I got the carb back on and everything back together enough to run it this afternoon. Switching the lines to the steering cylinder fixed the steering issue. Now I just need to fix the clutch, transmission, water pump, alternator, steering wheel / steering shaft, fuel leak, water leaks..... This has not been my best purchase so far....

Mine has the cylinder on the front axle, and the valve on the steering column looks like the drawing I posted. But I’ve got the violent oscillation you are describing. I appreciate the help!

I'm not seeing the 'notch in the valley' part that needs to be timed - I did see a picture of that in the I&T manual, but I'm not sure I have the same steering motor.

One more thing - the auxilliary hydraulic valves were removed from the tractor when I got it. I purchased the end plate that goes on the valves and bolted that to the tractor without any valves. Just wanted to make sure this arrangement would work on a 404.

I got far enough into it last night to be able to disconnect 4 lines and remove the steering motor, but I chickened out. I can't see any evidence that it has been touched in recent history. I'm also moderately terrified to take the steering motor apart. How difficult is it to get to the pieces that need to be timed?

So much for that plan. All the sheet metal is already off, so I popped the steering wheel and dash off after work. I don’t see any evidence that the steering motor has been touched lately, but the previous owner did change the steering wheel. The new one was not install tightly, so it came off easily. Any chance he could have damaged something getting the old steering wheel off? There are grinder gouges in the shaft, so it didn’t come off easily. Time to go find the manual and see home to get into the steering motor.

Thanks for the info guys - It will be a bit before I get into the steering, I have to split it to fix the clutch. It went from slipping with the throw out bearing fork installed wrong to not releasing with it installed right. I'm thinking I need to split it and fix the clutch correctly next.

So, which part do you (ya'll?) think is not timed correctly?

As best I can tell, the previous owner at some point was able to drive and use the tractor, and says he didn’t do anything to the steering, so I’m doubting it’s hooked up backwards. Could it be air in the cylinder? Or a stuck pressure relief? My fix it and flip it project is looking more like a tear down and rebuild, and never see my money again.

The 404 utility uses a steering motor (?) under the dash and a cylinder on the front axle. I haven't had it apart, but there is no telling what the previous owner has done. So far I've found a new distributor with no insulator on the terminal for the power to the points, and the throw out bearing fork in the wrong place.

The power steering on my project tractor isn't acting right. Once the hydraulics primed and the lift started working, the steering would spin the sheel pretty violently when I attempted to steer the tractor. I figured out I could put very light pressure on the steering wheel in one direction, and the front wheels would turn in the opposite direction. If I try to force the wheel in the direction I want to turn it has enough pressure on it that I can't move it. Reading that probably doesn't make sense, but any help is appreciated. Is it maybe just air in the system and I need to run the tractor for a while and cycle the wheels back and forth? Or maybe a relief valve stuck somewhere?

I was able to get the clutch fork removed and reinstalled correctly last night. Maybe tonight I can get the linkage adjusted and go for another test drive.

Not very well. Wouldn't pull itself up a slight hill to get back to the shop. Always had pressure on the throw out bearing & clutch fingers.

It is possible to remove the fork and get it reinstalled through the inspection hole, but I struggled.

I'm pretty sure my 404 project has the throw out bearing installed wrong, but wanted to make sure it is wrong before I try to fix it. I believe the throw out bearing carrier should be inside the fork instead of in front of it. Is that correct?