Steering idler arm removal

[John Turney]

I never paid shipping and handling for corn head grease. Just pick up a tube at any John Deere dealer.

Not everyone lives near a John Deere dealer. The nearest to me is over an hour away.

 

[rjc157]

The funny thing is that I called 2 dealers up near me and they never heard of the stuff

 

[Healey Nut]

No need to go to a John Deere dealer , try your local country farm supply type place they usually have it .

 

[Rob Glasgow]

IIRC one bottle of Penrite will fill a streering box with some left over. I used a hand squeeze type oil can to squirt the Penrite into the small hole on the top of the box. The product doesn't pour well and pouring it from the bottle in the small opening is almost imposible. It's a bit of effort to get it in, but once you succeed, it won't leak out the bottom seal. Well worth it.

 

[steveg]

IIRC one bottle of Penrite will fill a streering box with some left over. I used a hand squeeze type oil can to squirt the Penrite into the small hole on the top of the box. The product doesn't pour well and pouring it from the bottle in the small opening is almost imposible. It's a bit of effort to get it in, but once you succeed, it won't leak out the bottom seal. Well worth it.

I used a turkey baster with a wooden dowel piston. Would squeeze it into the baster and push through with the piston.

It's a good thing to operate the steering lock to lock a few times during the filling or the box will only fill half full. Scuderia Silva discusses this in one of his youtube vids.

 

[Chet Zerlin]

Hopefully not a silly question but - if the steering box is leaking but not totally empty is it necessary to drain it completely before putting corn head grease (or Penrite for that matter) into it?
Second silly question - if needed...how do you drain it?

 

[steveg]

I drained mine by loosening 4 cap screws on front plate and letting fluid drip out over course of few days. It helps to substitute longer (fine thread) bolts for a couple of them so you can slide the plate out further.

 

[Chet Zerlin]

Thanks Steve!

 

[steveg]

I drained mine by loosening 4 cap screws on front plate and letting fluid drip out over course of few days. It helps to substitute longer (fine thread) bolts for a couple of them so you can slide the plate out further.

Followup: be sure to only loosen them slightly. I loosened mine around 1/4" and evidently the rear bearing race slipped out of its housing - now I have to remove the box and fix it.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Followup: be sure to only loosen them slightly. I loosened mine around 1/4" and evidently the rear bearing race slipped out of its housing - now I have to remove the box and fix it.

BTDT (on a BN2). On the 100, at least, I didn't have to remove the whole box/shaft, just the steering rod (and the grills on 100s are mercifully easier to remove than on a sixer).

 

[steveg]

Sounds like removing the steering shaft on a 100 is a small percent of the work necessary on the 6.

 

[steveg]

Made it without removing the radiator! - had to remove the rear carb, though, which prolly wouldn't be necessary with the stock setup.

 

[Lin]

To avoid loosening the four bolts on the front plate and risking the problem Steve ran into, Can you mix the Penrite that is still in the box with added corn head grease?
Lin

 

[John Turney]

To avoid loosening the four bolts on the front plate and risking the problem Steve ran into, Can you mix the Penrite that is still in the box with added corn head grease?
Lin

Yes. Just turn the steering wheel back and forth to mix them.