Feedback on 240 Utility Hydraulics - Update

Basically I can sum it up in one word so far. CLEANLINESS, and I can't stress that enough. I ended up R&Ring everything from the front of the tractor back to the seat, and as I went whatever came off, got cleaned and painted and rebuilt if necessary.

When I finally reached the Hydra Touch control bank and levers, I was amazed that the levers even moved. The control shaft was caked with years of dried grease and mud, as well as rust. In cleaning the bank of valves I found that manifold on the line from the pump to the control valve had dried and cracked O-rings which I ended up replacing on both ends. I pulled the filter screen to find it was coated with a slime like substance that was almost like thick glue, and there was no filter element inside. Someone had omitted putting a element back in. That explained the high moisture content problem.

As I started putting the machine back together, I CLEANED EVERYTHING, and rebuilt if needed. Including Starter, Generator, Water Pump, etc., and I'm glad I did. I found the the Governor had a broken screw on the fork that bolts to the rockshaft control arm, allowing the fork to vibtae and loosen the other screw, so the fork was flopping all arond. This allowed the trust bushing which was nylon, to remain at the end of its travel and allowed the bearing to burn into the end of the bushing about a 1/16 of an inch. This whole mess basically made the Governor in-operative.

I thought I was going to have to break the tractor apart because I thought I had a front seal problem. It seems that I may not have to do that now. The previous owner had over-filled the rear end. When I drained the rear end, I removed almost 12 gallons of fluid, and there should have been only a little under 5 gallons.

I also made new wire looms, and put new guages in the dash.

Sorry for the long update guys. I do have pictures of before and after if anyone is interested. Drop me an email, or post a note here on the board if you want to see them. I still have work to do on it, but it runs better now than it has since I got it. As a closing note, the "Better Half" made the following statement to me. "Our %@$#*%! grandchildren had better learn to use it and treat it right, because it isn't leaving the family as long as I'm alive."

I'l keep you posted as I do cosemetics and other repair work.

Thanks for all the help and feedback guys.

Jerry

I recently resolved some age-old hydraulic problems in our 460 and learned a great deal in the process and have recorded my findings and fixes to help others with hydraulic problems with this series of IH tractor. It seems there are a good number of posts regarding hydraulic problems with the -60 tractors. Seems to be a weak point with them, although they're great when they work. Other posters with greater knowledge of IH history can add to this, but to me, the -60 series was IH's first fully integrated, unitized hydraulic system reflecting the market trend at the time for more hydraulic capability. Perhaps that is why they frequently have problems.

scotty