# MF 135 Power Steering issue



## TeedOffMFer

Hi folks, I just bought my first Tractor, a Massey-Ferguson MF 135. I guess i inherited a problem with it. It seems to be pushing the fluid out of the vent on top of the steering gear. It empty's the resevoir real quick. 

I went back and looked at the paperwork i received from the previous owners. They had taken it in to the local Catepillar shop complaining of this exact problem. They completely rebuilt the steering gear to the tune of about $4,500 dollars for parts and labor. So now, it has been five years, but only about 25-30 hours of operating time and it is doing the same thing!! Seems like a shoddy repair to me but i would imagine i have no real recourse since i am not the owner when it was repaired. I am gonna talk to them in person and hope they will help me out in some way, maybe a discount on the parts? What are your opinions on this matter?

So, I spent 4 grand on the tractor and i'm pretty darn broke now, i was hoping to get the work i needed to do on my property without spending much more. has anyone had this problem? similar tractor?Any ideas on cheap parts? or where to get a used steering gear for reasonanble price(lol,funnyi know)? 

I called an oregon tractor parts place that had one and i don't think it is even rebuilt, 1,100 bucks.. ouch!:fineprint

Thanks in advance for any and all info and suggestions. have a good day, Roy.


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## CMW

*power steering problems*

Did you ever find out what the problem was. I have A 135 doing the same thing, So I Found A bad seal in the cylinder so I replaced it. Then it blew out the steering shaft seal, so I replaced it also. Then it blew the seal out in the cylinder again. Then I pull down the steering valve and found that the springs that keep the shaft in center postion were the pressure would not stay on cylinder all the time were broke installed new springs and put back together and blowed the steering shaft seal again. Any information would be helpful. Thanks Mark.


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## shona13

G.Day teedoff. 
First remove the reservoir tank this is the small tank secured to the end of the pump when you remove it there is a small filter in there either carefully wash it out in petrol or replace with a new filter ,refit the cover making sure you fit a new "o" ring or gasket Important when you refill with oil use ATF transmission fluid ,dexron 2 etc dont use ordinary hydraulic oil it will eventually stuff the pump when filling ONLY FILL TO THE BOTTOM of the threads on the filler hole start the engine and let it idle ,turn the steering wheel full lock left to right a few times to expell all the air in the system then leave the wheel straight ahead and turn the engine off top up carefully do not overfill if you overfill there is no room for the fluid to go when it warms up,this can cause leaks like you describe.
Make sure the hydraulic hoses going to the power steering rams are connected properly ,if they are connected wrong you will have a situation where one ram is pushing and the other is pulling this can cause an overload of the system.
The only hydraulic part on the steering shaft under the dash is the transmitter valve and this valve has two power steering pipes going down under the battery box and joins flexible hydraulic hoses two going to each ram to repair replace all "o" rings in the valve should cost no more than ten dollars for a kit from your local mf dealer you can easily do this job yourself just remember where all the bits go Ha Ha no seriously it is easy.
The power steering rams are the same to strip them if you look closely at the end of the ram there is a cap nut which unscrews you may need to use muligrips be carefull the cap is very thin material and is easily damaged ,
Before removing the cap nut remove the track rod end thats the bit with the castellated nut with the split pin going through to do this remove the split pin and undo the nut say three turns and get a hammer and hit the casting where the end goes through do not hit the nut with the thread ,hit the casting on the side what you are trying to do is shock the taper on the ball end, When loose take the nut of and unscrew the cap holding the ram in remove the ram this will be easier if you LOOSEN the hydraulic hoses.
Once removed take the rams into a vice and using soft jaws or a rag to protect the ram look carefully look at the swivel track rod end you wil see a small roll /spring pin going through this stops the ram from unscrewing use a pin punch and knock it out you can then unscrew the rod end and slide the ram end cap of ,replace the seal ,next remove the split pin on the piston undo the nut and replace piston seal . Reassemble ,refill with fluid and you have overhauled the power steering .
I dont know what was replaced for 4500 dollars sounds like he was had.
anyhow a long story But this will get you out of the S---T and it wont cost that much .
The massey 135 is a great tractor and very simple to work on.
See Ya. 
Hutch.


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## Mintoo

*Massey Ferguson*

Can you please send some pictures for the filter or the resorviour as to where these are located on the tractor. THANKS


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## shona13

G'day mintoo.
The power steering pump is on the right hand side of the engine front right hand corner ,it has two hydraulic lines coming from it going to the steering column under the dash,it has a kidney shaped TANK which can be split ,when drained and separated the filter is inside ,replace the filter and fill with Dexron II or any power steering/auto transmissoin oil,fill to the bottom of the filler hole no more.
Happy days. 
Hutch


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## Electromatic

*I have a fix for the MF 135 fluid coming out of the steering collum*

After much playing around and changing the column seal the fluid was still pushing out the top of the steering column. It seemed to worsen when the steering was used hard like with the front loader.

The problem is a worn power steering valve at the base of the steering column. The valve has sliding parts that are a lapped fit with no seals. When the valve wears fluid seeps out between the spool and the body. The steering still works but you lose all the fluid and then have no power steering.. Your foot is also wet with fluid.

I figure out a fix in stead of buying the $700 if you can get one power steering valve.

I replaced the steering shaft seal in the bottom of the column. While I had the column off I drilled and tapped a hole below in the cast base the seal for 1/8 npt.
Next I placed a compression Tee in the return line to the power steering pump. I made a pat to return the leaking fluid to the pump by connecting the port I drilled to steering fluid return line.

Photo is attached. It works great!


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## mdunan

Electromatic said:


> After much playing around and changing the column seal the fluid was still pushing out the top of the steering column. It seemed to worsen when the steering was used hard like with the front loader.
> 
> The problem is a worn power steering valve at the base of the steering column. The valve has sliding parts that are a lapped fit with no seals. When the valve wears fluid seeps out between the spool and the body. The steering still works but you lose all the fluid and then have no power steering.. Your foot is also wet with fluid.
> 
> I figure out a fix in stead of buying the $700 if you can get one power steering valve.
> 
> I replaced the steering shaft seal in the bottom of the column. While I had the column off I drilled and tapped a hole below in the cast base the seal for 1/8 npt.
> Next I placed a compression Tee in the return line to the power steering pump. I made a pat to return the leaking fluid to the pump by connecting the port I drilled to steering fluid return line.
> 
> Photo is attached. It works great!



Thank you for this post. I give up looking for the parts, they don't seem to exist. I will be doing this fix this week. Awesome idea.

Marvin


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## Electromatic

My pleasure. I posited the fix for the sole reason to help out others with the same problem


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## mdunan

I did Find the valve for $580.00. But I am going to do your method anyway. At least for now. I've got all the pieces, and I will be working on it tomorrow. This seems to be a common issue, I've found a few threads on it, if this works for 2 of us, I will be spreading the word. Thanks


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## Fedup

Electromatic said:


> My pleasure. I posited the fix for the sole reason to help out others with the same problem


I can appreciate that the fix for your problem has worked well for you. However, my understanding of the operation of this valve leaves me thinking that the area below the upper seal(where you have added your fitting) should already be internally connected to the return tube where your tee is installed. I wonder why that was insufficient. 
Your success would make more sense to me had you run the tubing all the way to the pump reservoir and bypassed the existing return line entirely.


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## Electromatic

That is a good point. I believe that the small hole thru the vale body to the return line was insufficient to carry away the leakage flow.
fluid out of the top of the steering column is a common issue with the type of power steering on 30 plus year old tractors.

running a home run line back to the pump would work also but the Tee in the return line is not detrimental as the small amount of return line back pressure is not high enough to blow the steering column seal.


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## Electromatic

I actually tried to order the valve in frustration after changing the seals and still pumping the fluid out the column.
After I placed my order I got a not back that it was not available and the order was cancelled. 

The only part I changed after that was the seal at the base of the column. The seal has to be pried out as it is in a blind counterbore.


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## mdunan

The seal is not meant to hold any pressure. the cavity above the valve and below the seal was not meant to have any fluid, or at least very little. ( for anybody who has not been into one of these, the seal is just maybe a half inch above where electromatic installed the fitting in the picture. and just below the red plug. so it is very low in the column.) Anyway, the fact that the valve is worn allows fluid to pass through the valve into the lower column, and it is under some pressure so it pushes past the seal up the column and out. Installing the home made return line is the path of least resistance. In theory...
I will be testing that theory over the next couple days.


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## Electromatic

PS
The red plug was my first attempt. I thought I could drain the column by gravity. I made a separate drain line back to the tank but the steering column still filled up as there was insufficient pressure to push the fluid back in the hose I ran. The fitting located in the area under the seal was my plan after thinking the at the lower column seal would hold enough pressure to push the fluid back thru the return line to the tank.


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## mdunan

Electromatic said:


> PS
> The red plug was my first attempt. I thought I could drain the column by gravity. I made a separate drain line back to the tank but the steering column still filled up as there was insufficient pressure to push the fluid back in the hose I ran. The fitting located in the area under the seal was my plan after thinking the at the lower column seal would hold enough pressure to push the fluid back thru the return line to the tank.


I had a feeling that's what that plug was. Well the verdict is in. I finished putting my tractor together this morning, and it works great. I am not loosing a drop of fluid. Thanks again for your post. I'm not sure I would have thought of that one. 

Here is some info and pictures for however may need to do this.

The Valve part # is. 1018735M92 you can google it and it comes up all over. There is a someone on ebay selling them for $580.00. I know they have them because I contacted them to check. If you want to spend the money this will fix the problem. If Not.......Here ya go.

The seal Part # is. 1751702M1 I got mine on Amazon. You will want to have a new seal to do the project. The return line is a 3/8 pipe, so you will start with a 1/8 NPT at the column and end up with 3/8 at the return. 

That's about it. The pictures tell the story.


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## Electromatic

mdunan. Looks Great.
Glad it worked for you. Have a great weekend.


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## Electromatic

The only issue is what will happen in the summer when the fluid gets hot. if the plastic shunt line gets too soft it may have to be changed to steel or copper tubing.


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## mdunan

Electromatic said:


> The only issue is what will happen in the summer when the fluid gets hot. if the plastic shunt line gets too soft it may have to be changed to steel or copper tubing.


Good point, but that is an easy fix. I'm up in the Sierra's of California at about 6000 feet. It doesn't usually get more then 85 degree's in the summer. So hopefully that wont be a problem. 

PS. The name is suppose to be Duncan ( mduncan ) I typo'ed when I signed up and never bothered to fix it.

Have a great weekend....


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## atdoman

Ok...so I've been hanging in the back reading these posts as I have a MF 135 and experiencing the same problem. I had power steering fluid leaking out of the top of the steering shaft. I read in this message board about creating a return line so I bought all the supplies and installed the reroute for the fluid. After replacing the shaft seal and completing the line setup I'm amazed to say it worked like a charm...for a little bit. I used my tractor for mowing the yard three times without issue. This weekend I detached the finishing mower and hooked up my scrap blade and then my tiller. At that point I started having fluid roll out the top of the steering shaft which meant I blew the seal again. I don't quite understand how I've used the tractor 3 times in the past to mow and no issues then all a sudden I put the tiller on it and it starts leaking again. My question for the group is could it be possible that when I was using the tiller the load on the tractor made it run hotter than normal which made the power steering fluid run hotter than normal therefore it started melting/ disintegrating the seal which allowed steering fluid to pass?


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## sixbales

Has anyone ever tried to install a sleeve (I think they are called speedy sleeves) on the shaft to provide a new surface for the seal to ride on? The shaft may have a groove worn in it which shortens the life of the seal.


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## Electromatic

I still advocate the fluid bypass fix that I picture below.
It is possible that if the seal later blew after making the bypass one of two things happened 1) you hooked the bypass line to the pressure instead of the return line to the pump, 2) you are bypassing more fluid than the small line can flow.

Fix 1 by rerouting to the return line. Fix two by increasing the bypass line to a 3/8 line size.

Burl


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## TraderMark

Just a random thought here since I have no experience on these steering valves.....

If the seal that's in that steering column isn't designed to handle pressure why not put a seal in there that IS designed to handle some pressure. There are hydraulic shops all over the country that could match up a U-cup or Poly-Pak seal that's normally used as the rod seal in the gland of a hydraulic cylinder. 

Seems to me that if a fella was to do the bypass upgrade like Electromatic AND installed a U-cup or Poly-Pak seal, that column would stay about as dry as a snuff makers' fart.


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## mdunan

Problem is that that steering valve is letting to much fluid through it because it is worn. The seal in the shaft was never meant to hold much pressure. This fix is to avoid the cost of the 600$ valve. As electromatic says it is a good fix. Mine has been working great. I agree that you should be sure to go with a 3/8 line. My fittings at the column start at 1/8 but I adopted up to 3/8 the rest of the way. He as well mentioned making sure you are connecting to the return line. My tractor is a mf204. If you are using my pictures to go by, it may be different . Good luck.On May 18, 2016


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## mdunan

Also, to the random thought guy. Putting a seal in that is meant to hold pressure is not a bad idea.On May 18, 2016 8:28 AM,


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## mdunan

The more I ponder this, the more I think your problem is that your valve may be more worn then ours allowing too much fluid through. Which means electro and I may be facing the same issue eventually. One fix of course is to replace the valve. Part number 1018725M92. I like the idea of an updated seal or speedy sleeve as mentioned by others. Or just replace the seal again and run it......see what happens.


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## mdunan

Part number correction on the valve1018735M92..... Sorry.


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## shona13

Hi.
To fix the problem ,remove the spool valve ( the round part in the centre of the pump and machine in the centre of each of the three groves to suit an O ring .this will fix the problem I have done this on more than one power steering unit.
Happy days.
Hutch.

p.s be carefull when installing the spool with the O rings fitted ,plenty of rubber lube ! Not KY!!


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## Electromatic

Can you show a photo of the machined spool? I thought it has springs around the outside to bias it upward.


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## Chuck Webb

I have a question about this fiX. Do you close off the vent where the leak is coming from after you install the bypass ? I’m afraid to do it because I don’t want to blow any seals if that vent is supposed to be left open .


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## Bbrooks

Electromatic said:


> *I have a fix for the MF 135 fluid coming out of the steering collum*
> 
> After much playing around and changing the column seal the fluid was still pushing out the top of the steering column. It seemed to worsen when the steering was used hard like with the front loader.
> 
> The problem is a worn power steering valve at the base of the steering column. The valve has sliding parts that are a lapped fit with no seals. When the valve wears fluid seeps out between the spool and the body. The steering still works but you lose all the fluid and then have no power steering.. Your foot is also wet with fluid.
> 
> I figure out a fix in stead of buying the $700 if you can get one power steering valve.
> 
> I replaced the steering shaft seal in the bottom of the column. While I had the column off I drilled and tapped a hole below in the cast base the seal for 1/8 npt.
> Next I placed a compression Tee in the return line to the power steering pump. I made a pat to return the leaking fluid to the pump by connecting the port I drilled to steering fluid return line.
> 
> Photo is attached. It works great!


I also have the same problem with my MF 135, leaking from the steering gear box overflow. I ordered the valve parts, cost about $370.00. Ordered from Watsons tractor in Scranton PA. Just need to take it apart and install the valve parts when they arrive. Just need to figure out how to get to the valve. Any help would be appreciated.


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## Brasso

shona13 said:


> G.Day teedoff.
> First remove the reservoir tank this is the small tank secured to the end of the pump when you remove it there is a small filter in there either carefully wash it out in petrol or replace with a new filter ,refit the cover making sure you fit a new "o" ring or gasket Important when you refill with oil use ATF transmission fluid ,dexron 2 etc dont use ordinary hydraulic oil it will eventually stuff the pump when filling ONLY FILL TO THE BOTTOM of the threads on the filler hole start the engine and let it idle ,turn the steering wheel full lock left to right a few times to expell all the air in the system then leave the wheel straight ahead and turn the engine off top up carefully do not overfill if you overfill there is no room for the fluid to go when it warms up,this can cause leaks like you describe.
> Make sure the hydraulic hoses going to the power steering rams are connected properly ,if they are connected wrong you will have a situation where one ram is pushing and the other is pulling this can cause an overload of the system.
> The only hydraulic part on the steering shaft under the dash is the transmitter valve and this valve has two power steering pipes going down under the battery box and joins flexible hydraulic hoses two going to each ram to repair replace all "o" rings in the valve should cost no more than ten dollars for a kit from your local mf dealer you can easily do this job yourself just remember where all the bits go Ha Ha no seriously it is easy.
> The power steering rams are the same to strip them if you look closely at the end of the ram there is a cap nut which unscrews you may need to use muligrips be carefull the cap is very thin material and is easily damaged ,
> Before removing the cap nut remove the track rod end thats the bit with the castellated nut with the split pin going through to do this remove the split pin and undo the nut say three turns and get a hammer and hit the casting where the end goes through do not hit the nut with the thread ,hit the casting on the side what you are trying to do is shock the taper on the ball end, When loose take the nut of and unscrew the cap holding the ram in remove the ram this will be easier if you LOOSEN the hydraulic hoses.
> Once removed take the rams into a vice and using soft jaws or a rag to protect the ram look carefully look at the swivel track rod end you wil see a small roll /spring pin going through this stops the ram from unscrewing use a pin punch and knock it out you can then unscrew the rod end and slide the ram end cap of ,replace the seal ,next remove the split pin on the piston undo the nut and replace piston seal . Reassemble ,refill with fluid and you have overhauled the power steering .
> I dont know what was replaced for 4500 dollars sounds like he was had.
> anyhow a long story But this will get you out of the S---T and it wont cost that much .
> The massey 135 is a great tractor and very simple to work on.
> See Ya.
> Hutch.


Hi ,we have a MF 135 and the power steering oil is disappearing into the engine ,think it is the seal needs replacing on the power steering pump ,have covers off and filters out but can’t figure out how to get to the seal ,hope you help


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