Chris2520

I would surly increase presure.
I got a guage and i ant scared.....

John Deere 2520 , R4's , 200CX loader with 61 inch bucket and JD Tooth Bar. And Markham 7 tooth. Tooth bar. 46 Backhoe with 16 inch bucket. with Custom made Street Flip pads off a 448 hoe. Foward work lights. Dual rear work lights. Heavy duty Alternator. I-Match , Ballast Box , Frontier BB2060 box blade , Frontier pallet Forks , JD 3 point reciever hitch. and soon A lot more.. and for grass cutting , John Deere GX 255 with 48 inch deck.

burtco99

My 2520 suffers poor steering at idle as well. bumping the revs to 1000 or more cures it. When I first rec'd the machine, I found that my hydraulics lost a very slight amount of power when hot, but it was barely noticeable.

During a discussion with my dealer, I was told that the 2520 normally comes with the low-vis Hygard oil from the factory. Last winter I had a line come loose on my FEL resulting in some oil loss. I was forced to add some generic normal viscosity hyd oil that carried the JD specs as it was all that was available to me on a weekend. Since then my machine requires a longer warm-up in the winter otherwise the hydrostatic drive growls a lot more. The steering issues still remain unchanged, but the hydraulics seem to perform a bit better when hot.

Since you don't see the severe cold I see, your machine would greatly benefit from the regular viscosity hyd oil. I'd do an oil change ASAP using the Hygard stuff.

For the Power steering, the service/maintenance manual has a specific procedure for checking & adjusting the PS pressure. I don't recall the specifics, but I seem to recall that the PS pressure is lower than the main system pressure. You might be able to bump up the pressure slightly, but I doubt that it will solve the problem. Since RPM affects the situation, it is most likely that the PS pump circuit is not providing enough volume to permit smooth operation. Volume is only adjustable through RPM.

Chris2520

Burtco , i had the same problem with the factory fluid.
i went to a high temp JD fliud. it dont list it in the manual.
and a world of different. steering is 100% improvement.
look at the top of the JD page where i show how to do the 50 hour
service. and you will see the fluid i went with. now my hydraulics
stay the same hot or cold.

Chris.......

John Deere 2520 , R4's , 200CX loader with 61 inch bucket and JD Tooth Bar. And Markham 7 tooth. Tooth bar. 46 Backhoe with 16 inch bucket. with Custom made Street Flip pads off a 448 hoe. Foward work lights. Dual rear work lights. Heavy duty Alternator. I-Match , Ballast Box , Frontier BB2060 box blade , Frontier pallet Forks , JD 3 point reciever hitch. and soon A lot more.. and for grass cutting , John Deere GX 255 with 48 inch deck.

clacy

Mine was doing that and come to find out it was the hydro pump. Dealer said it was bad from the factory. They had to do some teeth pulling with deere but in the end deere gave in and admitted that it had a bad batch of pumps. Check in to it further, it may pay off.

Ducati996

Welcome to the M.U BTW! glad you could join us!

I had power steering stiffness as well and as a general difficulty to steer at low RPMs - and it manifiested itself when doing delicate manuvers putting back on the backhoe.

When i did the 50 hr service, there was a significant improvement to the point where its almost gone. I will switch over to what Chris suggests somepoint down the road...

Other than that its really difficult to tell if its normal or a bad hydro pump. Not sure if the dealers would go out of there way to determine this either.
They have a bad habbit of telling you the world is flat, and its normal.

However my older 4100 didnt suffer from any power steering stiffness at any rev. The pumps are similar on these machines (4100 -2520 series) from what I can tell.

New to the Fold: Kubota L39 w/grapple, pallet forks, BH QA buckets, and more!
JD 2520, 210Cx, 46BH, 60" Box Blade-Mid West, 52" Mid West aerator, 52" first choice Tiller, 5' Fontier blade, 42" pallet forks, Green MFG PHD, Mid West York Rake w/guage wheels, Cub 3204 with Blower & Simms Cab, Mowers (44",48",50"),Ford 2006 F550 turbo diesel 4x4 w/11' mason dump, 16' 10k Doolittle trailer, Southwestern enclosed trailer, Wright Stander RH 52", Better Outdoor Product Quick 32" WB mower, and more !!

PaulChristenson

Hydraulic fluid

A magnetic oil pan heater mounted under the sump helps ensure lubrication asap after startup.
Cold engine oil flows from the oil pan to the oil pump like corn syrup straight from the fridge.


Another option for really cold weather ops...
http://www.kennedydiesel.com/
Click on Truck Accessories
Click on Oil Pan Heater

Paul in VT

I used to own an ant farm but had to give it up. I couldn't find tractors small enough to fit it.
-- Steven Wright