Steering issues

[Cturtle]

I believe the Hynautics steering on my 1979 28 Bertram is original. I had the Ram rebuilt just prior to Florence hitting Beaufort, NC, where I am. I'm curious if anyone knows if there is a place in the flying Bridge that needs bleeding or is everything, in my case, located in the starboard engine compartment. I have steering in the lower helm but the steering wheel just spins freely on the bridge. I have not tried to turn the steering wheel 40-100 times as some have suggested but I am going to replace the ATF(Auto-matic Transmission Fluid) in my reservoir which the recommended light weight fluid for airplanes. When I experienced lower helm steering problems I turned hard to the port and bleed on release point on the steering ram and then turned hard starboard and repeated the bleeding and it helped a lot. So far am I on the right track?

[Tony Meola]

Not sure which model you have, my Teleflex/Seastar unit does not have any type of supply canister. Some of them do have a canister. MY friend has one on his 28 and he has to fill it and then pressurize it with a pump.

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/wp-cont ... 43319L.pdf

When I bleed my unit I do it at the helm and the ram. I have one station so it is probably a bit easier since you need to start and bleed the lower unit then the upper.

I place piece of hose on the bleeder valves on the ram, so that they are jumped together and make sure you put a clamp on them or when you bleed the system the hose will pop off. Then open the bleeder valves.

Next go to the first station and remove the fill plug. Set up your fill system including the bottle with fluid. Once you have done that all you need to do is turn the wheel to the right or left until the bubbles stop coming from the system. Then turn the wheel the other way to make sure you have all the bubbles out. Then you need to move to the next station.


I was trying to find an old post I did a while back but I can not find it. It describes the fill system I use. I put a shut off valve on the fill line right at the point it goes into the fill hole. I use clear tubing and I put a funnel in the top and keep pouring the fluid into the funnel to fill the tube as the level drops. This allows me to shut off the flow and remove tube from the fill port without making a huge mess. Plus I do not waste fluid since I have not damaged the bottle with a pin hole as suggested in the instructions.

Good Luck.

[Carl]

If you have Hynautic Steering with separate reservoir and relief valve as shown-
Here's the steps to purging.

It's lots of fun...

[MarkS]

Just my $.02 I just went through this with mine. Dual station seastar my upper was thumping which is the first sign of low fluid. This was a reoccurring issue for me and so I did some home work. It turns out the upper station shows signs first as gravity being your enemy, or in this case your friend looses prime from the highest point first. I discovered a leak at the upper helm and rectified it. My system is not OEM and does not have a reservoir. The filling and priming was simple. If your system has the little cap at the back of the helm you will need a bottle of hydraulic fluid, (I used Seastar i'm just that way, i'm also poorer for it but that for another time) and a hose kit. Make the connections and poke a hole in the bottom of the bottle with a pin and then crank back and forth on your helm until it quits taking fluid.
Good luck,
-M

[mike ohlstein]

I used to keep a few quarts of PS fluid and a turkey baster on board.......

[Donmystic1]

There are several “O” rings in the steering head under the steering wheel. If that has not been rebuilt it should be ASAP.
I found out the hard way on my 33 Bertram when I saw an oil sheen in the entire harbor.
Investigation revealed that the steering head seals had worn and would not hold oil pressure. It was running across the curvature of the roof and into the water.

Rose marine in Gloucester, MA bought out all the Hynautic parts. A steering kit rebuild is cheap.
Take pictures with your phone as you disassemble it as there are different size o rings.

An old Frenches mustard bottle with the long nipple works great for filling those Sea Star helms