Sloppy hydraulic steering

[gwwannabe]

I have a 93 Gulfstream with twin 2004 140 hp Suziki's. Since I bought the boat a couple of years ago, the steering has gotten progressively sloppier culminating last Sunday when we were out with being able to move the wheel from about 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock with no resistance at all. I'm not losing any hydraulic fluid and I've bled the system and gone thru the process to remove all the air from the lines several times. Nothing is helping. I'm thinking the helm is the problem. Anyone know? Can it be rebuilt? It's a SeaStar I unit.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Enough Already]

I've got a little skipping in mine and pulling it off this weekend. Sending it out to http://www.hydraulicmarinerepair.com/ and letting them go through it. Less than $100 to evaluate and clean and they will let you know if it can be repaired. They don't sell new, so my guess is that they have incentive to tune yours up.

 

[gwwannabe]

Thanks for your reply, Enough. I've been doing a lot of research on the SeaStar helm unit and was surprised how many posts there have been on this forum and on THT. I also contacted the manufacturer and their response was to send it to an authorized repair center in FL. Repair kits are available but difficult to find since the manufacturer will now only sell to their authorized repair shops. However, repair kits seem to be available here and there. There are a couple of posts on THT with pics on cleaning and rebuilding it and it certainly is not that difficult.

Of the people sending their units to the repair center, it seems that most end up buying a replacement helm which is over $400. Experience with and opinions about the manufacturer's support seem to be extremes - great or awful. I can't say I'm thrilled with my response but at least they did respond. Many posts say they never got a response.

One thing I have learned is that the hydraulic steering components need a fair amount of maintenance at the helm and the motor to prevent water from getting into the system and causing major problems. There were also some posts from the manufacturer regarding the bleeding process which differs from my manual. I'm going to try bleeding again using the posted method to see if it will help.

Gary 93 Gulfstream

 

[Salinity Now]

I was having air get into mine last summer; found that the rear main (cork) seal was leaking, actually took a picture with my iphone of the label on the SeaStar helm, emialed that to SeaStar (Canada I think) they gave me the exact number rebuild kit to buy, googled it and I think I found it on Ebay for $25 or so.

I was leary on taking it apart, spoke with the guys in FL, they said they are REQUIRED to condem any units that come to them for whatever reason, ie if you can keep using it maybe with just a rebuild and get some more life out of it, they have to say "sorry" and destroy it.....that was enough to push me over the edge and dig into it myself first, read the good posts on THT about it, laid out a nice clean spot on the bench and started unscrewing!! Turned out to be that big seal that the plate bolts on to the main body, but it gave me a chance to look for corrison and damage etc inside the cylinder(s), interesting system, just be sure to remember how it comes apart and youd be surprised how easy it really is, atleast to check out first prior to mailing it in.

Good Luck!!!!

 

[billfish33]

when we bought our '93 Gulfstream a few years back, it was either spend a few hundred getting the old leaking seastar kit to work with the new Suzuki 300, or buy a new steering kit.
I did a little reading and found the Uflex {ultraflex} Protech 2 kit for $740.00 from the Ebay seller, came with everything, and I was able to get the hoses as long as I needed !

I'm told the seals hold up way better on the Uflex steering kits, were very pleased with our choice of steering kit.

 

[gwwannabe]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I checked the THT posts and decided to rebuild it. I found the kit I needed on Ebay for 39 plus 5 shipping. I finally made the time to rebuild the helm yesterday. The hardest part was figuring out how to access the back of the helm to get it apart. Finally removed the compass and came down from the top. The inside of the unit had a little sludge and some of the parts didn't move as freely as they perhaps should have but no obvious problem. I cleaned it out well and lubricated everything with fresh helm oil then reassembled with the new o-rings. Curious how the kit does not contain new springs and possibly balls, too. Every other hydraulic rebuild kit I've ever bought had them but none of them were for boats. I put it back on the boat this morning, filled it with fluid and worked the air out of the system. Tide was too low to get the boat out so testing has to wait a few more hours.

Thanks again.
Gary 93 Gulfstream

 

[gwwannabe]

So took the boat out late this afternoon to check out the steering. I'm disappointed to say the rebuild made very little difference. I still have a lot of movement in the wheel and worse, can get a lot of engine movement while hold the wheel in one place. I'm going to try bleeding the cylinder on the motor next but expect little improvement from it. I don't know what difference it would make but maybe I should replace all the hydraulic fluid. I'm not leaking any fluid from the cylinder so not sure what a rebuild would accomplish. Anyone have any ideas?

Gary 93 Gulfstream

 

[grady33]

I don't know what system you have but I have a SeaStar hyd. System year 2000. We were having some trouble this past year and i replaced the seals at the helm. It would have been easier to remove it and do it on the bench but we got it done. Bled the system a few times and it worked for awhile but we still had problems. Noticed some leaking oil at the engines and last weekend we replaced all the seals on the RAM. Fairly easy job. Did you ever do this? I also know that bleeding the steering can be a process and take a few tries. The dealers have a pump system that filters and reuses the oil. Other than bleeding the lines, we have not fully tested everything so not sure how much difference it made. no more leaks though. Good luck and let me know if I can help in any way.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I'm going to try bleeding the cylinder on the motor next but expect little improvement from it.

:uhm
Bleeding from the cylinder is how you 'work the air out'. Suggest you download the bleeding procedures from Seastar before attempting, the correct procedure is pretty much required for pleasant results ...

 

[GulfSea]

I'm going to try bleeding the cylinder on the motor next but expect little improvement from it.

:uhm
Bleeding from the cylinder is how you 'work the air out'. Suggest you download the bleeding procedures from Seastar before attempting, the correct procedure is pretty much required for pleasant results ...

X2, if you didn't do this to start with, you didn't bleed the system. Follow this link for your model's manual and it'll have a diagram explaining how to properly bleed the system: http://www.teleflexmarine.com/support-2/installation-manuals-controls-cables/installation-manuals/

 

[gwwannabe]

My pessimism at the probable outcome of bleeding the cylinder comes from all the THT posts where it accomplished nothing. I'm happy to say that bleeding my cylinder did improve things a fair amount. When I first cracked the bleeder, there was a hiss of air then nothing but oil thereafter on both sides. Definitely have less play in the wheel. Brief sea trial confirmed improvement. Going to buy more helm oil and bleed the H out of it as there were impurities in the oil I did bleed off. Doubt it will improve any more but will get new fluid into the system. Thanks, guys.

Gary 93 Gulfstream

 

[Curmudgeon]

I'm assuming you really did more than open the bleeder, but you're on the right track. Just don't expect 'rack and pinion' responsiveness, ain't gonna happen except with, well, 'rack and pinion' steering ... :wink:

 

[Tucker]

I've found that a complete fluid flush has helped with my woes in the past. Rather than buy the expensive seastar fluid; I bought a gallon of aviation hydraulic fluid (about $35) and the fitting that screws into the fill cap. You guys have'nt had hyd steering problems until you've owned a tigercat with 2-cyls and an equalizing valve.