350C steering valve housing questions

[dozingdozer]

Hey guys. i trust you are all well. i had my 350C steering valve housing out of the unit, since it seemed darn near impossible to replace the valve seals properly without removing the unit. a few questions...does anyone have advice on how to get those seals replaced without removng the entire housing? the angle to put the new seals seems impossible, especially on the right hand side? i am also going to replace the o rings, springs and balls (3) since i had to use o rings that were from NAPA and not exact parts. in my manual it shows steel balls and says there are 3 of them used, but did not give a part number. when i go to online JD parts catalog it shows no balls being used. Has anyone had this apart and are there balls being used to help regulate the oil? also my manual had a air pressure check but required removal of the entire clutch housing, which i dont want to do. is there a port somewhere or other test point i can check for 10lb pressure without removal of the entire steering clutch assembly? thanks in advance for replies. DD

[CatD8RII]

Hi
I believe the best way to get at those valves is to just take stuff off until theyre easy enough to work with. If it helps, once you take off youre steering linkage the spools will slide right out. If you look up the control valve under a 350D or 355D and itll give you the part number for the balls which is a T23426. They are indeed in the valve but Im not 100 percent sure what they do. My memory is really failing me here!!! Nevertheless you can do the pressure check on the machine,fully assembled. You just need to tee into the supply line for your control valve. Be aware, you need to have something (usually the steering linkage) holding youre spools into the control valve or they will come out before you reach 10 PSI and they can become a projectile!!!

[dozingdozer]

Cat thanks for the advice and i'll let you know how it turns out. where is the best place to to tee into supply? just cut line and ad a couple of compression firrings ?

[CatD8RII]

You can connect your air right at the control valve. You dont have to tee into it per say, just connect into the valve itself. You can leave the tube from the reverser to the valve off, just dont start the machine. I think its a number 6 or 8 JIC male fitting on the valve. I just used an adapter from that to go to pipe thread for the air supply

[dozingdozer]

Cat, thanks again, ill give it a try. DD