[swissarmychainsaw]

"flushed the really nasty mud out of the system"

Hrm... sounds like maybe your cap seal is not good and you have contaminated fluid in there? And/or air.

Replace fluid and bleed.

I would get a turkey baster and remove the fluid from your system.
If it is contaminated as you mentioned, I would get it all out.
Meaning: Fill with clean fluid. Run engine. Remove fluid.
Repeat that until you turkey baster shows clean fluid.

Or you could pull the Saginaw gearbox and open it up, clean it and put it back together with fresh fluid.
If you have a pitman arm puller it might be just as easy to pull the gearbox.

I would try the turkey baster method first.

The way to bleed air out of your hydraulic steering is to:
1. Jack up the front end (be safe etc.)
(some say to disconnect the steering linkage, but I did mine as is)
2. With engine OFF
turn wheel all the way right, then all the way left.
Check fluid level, fill if needed.
Repeat that about 20 times.
Should not have bubbles present in the reservoir.
Start engine let idle a bit, then add fluid again.


Good luck, let us know!
Nick