Max II will NOT turn left???

[leschyna]

Hi,

I am a long time Argo guy, just happened that way... I recently acquired a Max II, wanted one for a while... The previous owner said that it was recently serviced and ran 100%... Well, it doesn't turn left, pulling back on the left lever has no effect... I have yet to dig into the machine and have a look, and was wondering if anyone on this forum has had this happen, or can give me a "probable" cause and fix.

Thank you.

[dirtdobber]

leschyna there could be lots of things going on, including the difference in the way an Argo steers versus a Max with a T20 transmission. Do you have tension springs that hold the steering laterals forward? If so, with the machine in forward gear and traveling straight, pull back on the left lateral with a bit of force to overcome the spring and apply the braking band, while at the same time push forward on the right lateral giving it some force to help the spring tension. (I apologize if you already know how to drive the T20!) Increase throttle as you turn because your clutch is going to shift into a lower ratio. Throttling up will help maintain your speed.

Report back and we will go deeper if needed. While you are test driving, see if you can deliver power to the left side while in reverse. Put the machine in reverse, pull back on the left lateral only and throttle up. If it moves backwards at least we know the band isn't broken.

[leschyna]

I am not experienced at driving the MAX, and yes I realize there is a difference. The machine will move forward straight with both levers forward, and turn right, when I pull on the right lever. I believe that the tension springs are present, if memory serves that levers do seem to "spring" or stay forward when not pulled on. However, when fully pulling the left lever all the way back, it just continues to move forward... I will hopefully have some time later this week to take a look at the mechanics and see if there is something obvious.

[leschyna]

For what it is worth I went out today to move it from my shop to the garage, and the steering seemed to work now... SO, is it something intermittent, is that possible? Same thing happened to the original owner when I went to purchase it... It seemed fine, then it didn't?

[ARGOJIM]

pull the diamond shifter on that side and inspect the shift pin, could be going only partially in gear.

[leschyna]

What is the "diamond shifter"?

[dirtdobber]

The diamond shifter is the diamond shaped metal plate to which your shift linkage attaches. It is located on the T20 (one on each side) above the output sprockets.