41flathead - hmmmm. Wonder if that's a Chevy or Ford? Anyway, I have a JD 322 myself. Your 318 and my 322 have essentially the same hydro/differential/steering system. To check your hydro oil: look at the rear of your tractor. There should be a sight glass on the right rear of your tractor. The hydro fluid should be in the center of that glass. Next thing: How long or how many hours has it been since you changed your hydro fluid and transmission filter? If you can't remember, go to your JD dealer and get the proper hydro filter. Whilst you're at it, get the JD hydro fluid. You can use Type "F" automatic transmission fluid if necessary, but you're much better off using the JD stuff. The maintenance book says about 4.6 qts for the refill. So get two gallons of JD fluid, and that way you're covered. Purge the system by hitting your up and down hydro levers, then once you get close, put the tractor in forward, followed by reverse, and so on, and so on until it functions as normal. Make sure you stop every now and then to refill the hydro, but don't over fill. Oh, draining the hydro usually takes a 7/16" 8 point socket. I had to use a 3/8" drive socket with a 1/2" adapter then that was attached to a 1/2" breaker bar. Usually that plug is in there very tight, so be prepared. Try to not round off the pipe plug or you'll be very sorry on that account. Pipe plug is located just to the right side of the differential on the bottom. Once you get started draining the fluid, jack the front end up slightly to get the flow going. It will take a good while to drain all the fluid, so don't get hasty. You pour hydro fluid into the oil fill cap on the left side of the tractor beside the left pedestal under the hood. It is a flip type cap. Yes, your deck is working off the same hydraulic system. In fact, you have hydro ports on the front of the tractor that can be used for the 4 way snow scrape blade, or for a snow blower. IIRC, the outermost hydro lever controls the right side ports, and also the deck lifting mechanism. The inner hydro lever controls the left side hydro ports. If this doesn't help your steering, you could try to bleed the power steering. This means cracking the fittings near the power steering cylinder or the valve. You're trying to get any air out of there if you can. If this fails, it could very well be the valve or the cylinder. Hope this helps.

OK, you just bought this tractor and don't really know it's past. Have you raised the steering axle off the ground and tried turning to see if it turns free when unloaded? If you have any steering components that are on the verge of seizing or locking up, you will find it somewhat difficult to turn even unloaded. With the steering axle off the ground you should be able to turn the steering wheel with your little finger. With the steering axle off the ground you should be able to grasp either of the front wheels and turn the steering from lock to lock also. If you can't do either of these, you probably have some part of the steering system trying to seize. Check the king pins, tie rod ends, drag link, and the steering column bushings. It may well be necessary to separate or isolate steering components in order to confirm which component is "binding". Another thing that can (but rarely found) cause "hard" steering is a differential with locked up side gears and spider gears. Have you ever driven a farm tractor equipped with a differential lock? If you answered yes you may recall how the steering goes to blazes if the differential doesn't unlock when you let up on the actuating pedal. That condition will not affect the steering effort on a parked machine so I really doubt it is your problem since you say it is hard to turn when sitting still.

Last year my daughter was driving a 2012 Nissan Pathfinder, transporting her 2 children ages 1 and 3. This was the only vehicle that she owned and drove it for almost 2 years before the incident happened. My daughter totally lost all control of her steering after taking a left from a stop sign on to a main Hwy. She was almost involved in a serious if not fatal collision. Her husband had it towed to the dealership where they could find nothing wrong. They tried re-enacting what happened but still said they found nothing. My daughter refused to set foot in the vehicle with her children and got rid of it. This brings me to this web site today. Last night My mother was driving her 2009 Dodge Caliber to my house to visit me. She had bought the car new off of the lot and had been driving it since. She was waiting at a red light when she noticed an emergency vehicle approaching. Her light turned green and she waited to let the emergency vehicle pass. She said that she tried to give the car gas but it wouldn't move at first. She said that when it finally moved it acted like it wanted to fishtail but yet she hadn't given it too much gas. She was turning left at a major intersection and said the car was uncontrollably steering all over the road. She said it didn't matter which way she turned the wheel it went where it wanted to go. She described it as driving on ice. My mom made it to the median, turned the car off, with hazards on, trying to catch her breath. She was almost at the turn to my neighborhood so she decided to go very slow. She said that it could have been really bad. I believe that something serious is being missed mechanically. The reason that I'm searching for answers now is because it happened to 2 of my family members at different times and in different vehicles. How many more has this happened to or will this happen to? If anyone out there has any information that would help me find out what's causing this please let me know. Thanks

HI Kalining That car should have the VAPS, "Variable Assistance Power Steering" system on it. You are describing a classic failure of the actuator. Look at the high pressure line where it attaches to the steering rack. You will see a solenoid in line. That's it. Just be sure it has correct power and ground available to it before throwing the part.