air in hydraulic steering

[fishingstories]

Hello to all,

Got a 24 offshore with a full transom, bracket, 225, hydraulic steering with the hydraulic reservior in the helm. I have a bad hose that is gonna break and want to replace. Is there a way to remove without getting air in the system. I got air in it now and was wondering if it will self bleed itself by turning steering wheel all the way to left and then to the right? Or do I have to bleed in some other way. any info is appreciated.

 

[tiderunner]

No,

You are going to have to bleed out air after you replace the bad hose. If it is a Tleflex system the bleed screws are located on the cylinder mounted on the engine. You are going to need 2 people to do this properly. search this site you will find more .

 

[CJBROWN]

Download the service/bleeding instructions from the SeaStar site. It's easy to do; you need a quart of fluid and the fitting for the helm fill.

tiderunner, can you edit your sig-pic size so it doesn't blow out the thread???? A couple of hundred pixels is all we really need :wink: Gradyfish too.
Thanks!!

 

[BobP]

One person can do it too, just takes some more effort and time, no big deal.

 

[fishingstories]

just bleed the steering and took it to the water. i bleed the line through the allen screw on each side. it works fine now but if i slowly turn the steering, it will not catch and will not turn outboard. if i move it back and forth with a rapid movement kind of like to get it primed, then it willdo fine. do you think i still have air in the hose. but i kept on bleeding it and all liquid keeps on squirting out. so, what now?

 

[BobP]

Did you follow the instruction to the letter? Step my step in the exact sequnce?
When you were turning the wheel with the bleeder open, and went to close bleeder, did you turn the wheel backwards even a tiny bit before you closed the bleeder?
Did you attach the container via the hose at the fill port and never let the fluid get lower than the bottom of the container?
How much fluid did you drain off from each side?
There are two bleeders, do you know that ?

 

[BobP]

When you started the sequence on each side, was the ram all the way hard to the proper end, and do you go all the way?
How fast did you turn the wheel when bleeding?
Did you use the Teleflex fluid or something else?
Are all the fittings snugged up?
Did you secure the bleeders fully?
If you stand behine the engine and try to push it to turn it, does the ram move in the cylinder? If so, how much?

 

[CJBROWN]

Uh, bobP has obviously done this before....listen and learn.

Download the PDF from Seastar and follow it to the letter. They are a finicky little system 'till you get it setup right and then you can pretty much ignore it. I had to bleed mine, got the bottle of fluid, pumped a quart through the system, and it's been good since.

I found that an air-chuck fitting would screw into the helm and I could attach a short lenght of clear tubing and a funnel so I could keep the fluid topped up while I bled the ram cylinder. Otherwise you need the little filler thingy that SeaStar sells for bleediing them, and they tell you to punch a hole in the bottom of your fluid bottle after you attach it to the filler fitting. Wifey turned the wheel while I bled. And yes, you cap off the bleeder while its flowing, not after it stops. First one side, then the other. Use a length of clear tubing on the bleader, like you do a car brake, that way you don't suck air back into the bleeder.

The instructions tell you which one to start with but I'm not sure it matters, just that you bleed it all the way one way and then the other. Bob may have a point there, I'd have to read thru them again.

 

[BobP]

CJ, what I did was just cut the whole bottom of the container off and tied it up with a rope so I could refill it from another container as it lowered.

If it was bleed properly, he may have had some debris get loose and screw up a check valve or the like. If done right, needs to try it again.

 

[wilson]

easy peezy lemon squeezy!!! just tie the bottle upside down after hooking it to the helm. cut a hole in the bottom. run two clear hoses from the bleed screws up into the bottle. open the screws (one at a time) and turn the wheel. the air will escape as it pours in the bottle. it's okay to stop turning the wheel while you tighten and loosen the screws because the hoses will have a fluid "head" and won't let air in the bleeds. you can do this by yourself, no need to incorporate the little woman, besides it will just end up in a fight.

 

[CJBROWN]

easy peezy lemon squeezy!!! just tie the bottle upside down after hooking it to the helm. cut a hole in the bottom. run two clear hoses from the bleed screws up into the bottle. open the screws (one at a time) and turn the wheel. the air will escape as it pours in the bottle. it's okay to stop turning the wheel while you tighten and loosen the screws because the hoses will have a fluid "head" and won't let air in the bleeds. you can do this by yourself, no need to incorporate the little woman, besides it will just end up in a fight.

LOL. Yes, the little woman. What do they say...if it has tits or wheels, sooner later you're going to have trouble with it? Guess we can add, anything to do with boats. :wink:

I like the idea of lines long enough to refill the fill bottle, thereby recycling the fluid. At $15 a quart or whatever it is, it's money saved. However we must operate under the assumption that the fluid coming out isn't contaminated. SeaStar does say if it's not discolored you can re-use it. If not, best to discard it and replace with new fluid.

BTW, I recall there was a substitute hydraulic fluid for the SeaStar product, like a Texaco tractor fluid or something like that. Can't remember what it was exactly though. But I know it as about $5 a quart and virtually the same type of fluid.

 

[wilson]

yes, this procedure is assuming there is no contamination of the fluid. i had repowered and everything was great except they snapped off the thru hull hyd. line and replaced it without the power purge. i had a billion pin point bubbles in the system. but the thing with using hoses is you can turn the wheel until your arm falls off, to get all the bubbles out of suspension. when the fluid reaches the bottle and goes to atmosphere pressure the bubbles leave the fluid. i did this for 20-30 min. on each side of the ram and my steering is as tight as my cable drive on my other boat. i did use sea star fluid, which must have gold in it for that price!! and i needed two quarts because the helm was low to begin with and the volume of the hoses. but it's done and i think it is how they (seastar) should tell customers. it's fool proof.

 

[fishingstories]

Thanks alot ! that did it. wasn't hard at all. Just follow instructions and some pointers from ya. Yes it is messy. Lucky I had some oil pads to catch the drip. now i got a trailer problem. that will be a new post.

thanks again.