I just finished the steering repair for the third time on my D170 replacing the bushings, installing new sector plate and pinion with a second sector plate cut and attached to provide a second set of "teeth" for the pinion to run on. If one really looks at the geometry between the steering shaft, pinion and sector gear it will be seen that the pinion has all the load on one small segment and will always fail prematurely. The John Deere offered fix does not address that. I intend to buy a new mower and never crawl under this John Deere again. I strongly recommend anyone running as far away from this terribly design steering section as they can possibly get!
you still have slop in the shaft that the pinion gear is on., i could see the shaft movement as you turned the ratchet. thats where the wear comes in. where the steering shaft comes through the frame must have new bushings and no play. any play there and your gear isnt gonna last long.
I have a D170 and spend most of my summers repairing the steering. The thought of bolting two plates together due to the fact that the bushing on the bolt that supports the plate provides the clearance to allow the sector gear to be tightened securely to the mower otherwise it would be essentially impossible to steer or be loosened and have excessive play. The second gear would have to be cut in much the same way as the plastic part shown in the video or alternative fix with the bolt and bushing arrangement. BTW don't go for aftermarket parts the gear teeth are thinner and will not last. It is a horrible design so don't expect the fix to last if you have any significant mowing to do!
Two nylon bushings. Upper and lower. That is the mistake I have made. Any play in the steering column means early failure of the the pinion and sector gear.
To replace the upper bushing pull the steering column up remove the battery and the nylon bushing can be pushed up an out from underneath the lawnmower. The new bushing can be inserted then from the top and pushed into place. Recommending lubricating bot bushings. It sits in a space underneath the battery and placed in opposite direction to the lower bushing.
4 bolts removed will lower the whole plate you're reaching up and around to get your wrench in there. Much easier to loosen/tighten all steering components. Plus a good time to replace the bushing. Good, clear video of parts though.
yes i know but it's a pain in the ass... it's faster and easier to just go around... plus you can still replace the bushing just pull the steering column up.
jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt If you go to JDPC.deere.com and select the steering options for the model what you are looking for is #32. part number: GY22233 It's called a "Pad"... hope this helps.
John Hink i used my mower commercially for a year and a half before i had to replace it for the first time. however, the replacement gear and plates are of lesser quality than the factory gear and plate. so expect to replace it more frequently even if you attach the plastic attachment to the plate.
Emmanuel Pillainayagam the gear itself should only fit on one way. The plate with the teeth on it that moves against the gear to turn it should be angled downward so that once you get the nut on there, it fits perfectly with the gear.
ty for responding....ive called all the jd dealers within 45 miles and so far none have the part in their listing... would you have a part number or dealer i could contact
on www.jdparts.com which is the same website all john deere dealers use for ordering, it's key #32 under steering wheel, gears, linkage and front axle... part number GY22233 it's the pad. jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt?Origin=JDParts
There is a white plastic bushing up behind the pinion gear that acts as a bearing for the steering shaft that nearly always wears out...It keeps the pinion gear up close to the fan gear...
Why did JD make a plastic add on rather than a metal add on? I can see where buying two metal plates and pancaking them together would reduce the wear on both rack and pinion, especially with some bearing grease to lube the cog and teeth.
honestly I have no clue... but one thing is that if they were to pancake 2 metal ones together, they would actually need to cut off the ends of one of them where the control arms go in to other wise the post for the control arms wouldn't be long enough. As for how it worked out... I suppose if it were used on a single yard rather than commercially as i was, it would probably hold up better but with all the wear I put on it using it commercially, it didn't last long... maybe a month. That mower has been retired now anyway and is only used in drastic circumstances.
The reason that the add-on gear is plastic is so it won't last too long and they can make more money on replacement parts...Same as with the fan gear...Thin gear has less contact with pinion gear resulting in excessive pre-mature ware...They don't make them like they did in the old days
It is incredible to think that a global corporation engaged in selling farm and construction equipment for multiple thousands of dollars would harm their brand by selling what is essentially a cheap Murray mower with little change other that a Deere logo and a larger engine. The mower and mower deck will have a short life in any environment that requires mowing a large lawn on a weekly basis. Never Deere again for me!
@@steze48 yep, that thin sector gear is CLEARLY designed to fail. And they do the same shit with the John Deere X570 tractor. They put the X300 series steering gear on the X570!!! So the steering on the X570 fails quicker than the X300 tractors do and you'll hear every X570 owner saying "damn I should have got the X580 with power steering". and DON'T EVEN get me started on the unserviceable throwaway transmissions John Deere uses on their lower end lawn tractors. More DESIGNED TO FAIL crap! John Deere really knows how to stick it to the customer these days.
