# Ford 4400 Industrial



## jeepee (Apr 18, 2017)

Can you adjust the power steering actuator to stop the steering from turning left by itself and be almost impossible to bring back unless I lift the front wheels with the loader.
J-P


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy jeepee,

When your power steering turns full left and is almost impossible to bring back, most likely you have a leakage problem in your control valve. Do you have a manual? Your manual should cover adjustment of the PS actuator.

Your power steering cylinder is under the front end of the tractor. The control valve is built into the cylinder. My guess is that you have a leaking o-ring in the control valve causing pressure to be applied in one direction only. 

Removal of the steering cylinder can be difficult task due to stuck pins. One pin is tapered (see item #44 on attached diagram).

After you get the cylinder out, I would take it to a local hydraulics shop for rebuilding, although you can get rebuild kits from NH, and do it yourself.


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## jeepee (Apr 18, 2017)

Thank you so much Sixbales. That contradicts a local mechanic who said there was an adjustment screw that equalized the oil flow to make it turn left or right. Most of the front end is off, I have to remove the radiator and the fan before removing the cylinder.
J-P


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## jeepee (Apr 18, 2017)

In other words, I have to remove the actuator...
J-P


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## EdF (Sep 15, 2014)

You can try adjusting the actuator.


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

Not necessarily. Removing the radiator will open up more access, true, but you need to determine what you're after before removing the cylinder. Once you can see down into the linkage area you need to enlist an assistant to turn the steering wheel back and forth while you observe the linkage movements. Hard to do by yourself. What needs to happen is this -- when the steering wheel is turned the drag link moves forward and/or backward(depending which way it's turned) acting on the first part of the linkage. This in turn acts on another which acts on another and so on until the control valve spool moves. The valve directs oil flow to the cylinder to steer the tractor. It's not the world's best system, but it's what you have. Wear in the pins, links, and bores takes it toll over time and what you probably have now is the result. The adjustment your local mentioned is near the point where the drag link attaches and may be of some help here. It's two set bolts/stops that can be turned in or out limiting travel of parts involved, it actually has no effect on oil flow directly. 
At this point, anything you can do linkagewise to improve the action between the wheel turning and the control valve spool movement should make an overall improvement in steering. Some of these parts can be replaced, others can be "blacksmithed" as needed to help eliminate slack wherever possible. Study what you have going on then decide what you can do(or have done) to improve the situation.


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## jeepee (Apr 18, 2017)

Thank you Fedup, I will check this out. Hopefully this could be adjusted.
J-P


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