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A little "Tune-up" for my steering.

FIRE UP

FIRE UP

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Well gang,
AS some of you know, I recently installed the Sideshift stern thruster. We got a chance to see how it performed right after the install and so far, I'm very well impressed. But, while doing some basic maneuvering right off the trailer and in the marina, I noticed (and actually it's been like this for a while) that my steering on our '14 25RCL Benny with the 350HP Yamaha sure seems to not be as responsive as it should be. Seems like it takes more turns of the steering wheel to make it do what I and the CEO want it to do, especially in tight quarters maneuvers.

It even seems like it needs more correction under speed, say, around 30-35 mph or so. My hand(s) on the wheel would travel from almost 9:00 to 3:00 just to keep it going straight at those speeds. NOT GOOD! So I decided to delve into what could be the cause. It didn't take long to figure things out. After a bit of Youtube college on Seastar steering, and all the components and cause(s) of rambling steering, it was detemined I had AIR in the hydraulic system. A tiny bit of history here. I blew a steering hose fitting a couple of years ago and due to the logistics of how things work, especially with the Bennington parts system, I had to buy BOTH steering hoses to the tune of around $225 plus or minus.

I installed them and did what I thought was a pretty good job of bleeding the system after the install. At least the boat did seem to handle fairly well. But, for some odd reason, I may have acquired some air into those lines or system, somehow. Based on close inspection of both the double rams and all the hose connections at the stern and under the helm, there's no leaks. Oh, by the way, we do have the Seastar Power Assist also. Soooo, I looked up what tools and components I might need for bleeding the system and figured what the heck, I already had them, crude but, they work. And while this my rile some of you, instead of paying a ridiculous price of close to $30 a quart for Seastar fluid, in a bit of research, it was determined that I could use regular basic vehicle automatic transmission fluid for around $8.00 a quart!!!

So, in your basic 112 degree heat, I buzzed down to my local Autozone on my trusty Honda and picked up a couple of quarts of STP ATF. I'd already made my own *I.V.* system of gravity feeding the helm and a receiver with hose for the return/exiting fluid and accompanying air bubbles. The fluid that was being expelled with the air bubbles was purple due to a mixture of red and blue from the original fluid and some that I installed during the hose installation. Of course the ATF is all red so, as I bled the various components of the system, the purple turned to red and that made me think I was basically purging and flushing the system at the same time. And of course, there were plenty of air bubbles escaping the system also.

Once it appeared that about 99.9% of the bubbles had escaped each section of bleeding, I locked that sections bleeder down. I moved onto the next section. The whole operation took me about an hour 'cause, I had to go get more ATF. But now, it's all done and my steering is SERIOUSLY BETTER than it was before. I could move that engine back and forth by almost an inch and, the steering wheel would move as stated earlier. Now, that engine doesn't move at all and the steering wheel moves from about 2 minutes to 12:00 to about 2 minutes after 12:00 before the engine begins to move. And, as stated on many Youtube videos of bleeding the Seastar system, it should take approximately 4-5 full revolutions of the steering wheel to go from lock to lock.

We'll he heading out to the lake on either Friday or Saturday to really do some testing.
Scott
 
Oh yeah, no doubt about it, youtube is by far not always an accurate source of information. Ya kind-a have to sift through it to determine or at least try and help determine if what you're seeing or looking at is valid or not. So far, in all my viewing of various vids on various subjects in the last few years, I've found it to be of great help. Now, I surely can see that if one makes a living as a paid mechanic, youtube can possibly help detract from their income, SOME. There are still gazillions of folks that not only don't want to take on repairs, alterations, modifications etc, but many of them don't even OWN a wrench! And those folks still patronize the great technicians of our planet.
 
Yep, that's the danger of Youtube it sometimes gives confidence to shadetree types but leaves out little nuances that mechanics have experience with. I think about all the broken little plastic clips and stripped aluminum in my cars from my hack attempts. Thankfully they were minor and most didn't have to pay twice for a shop to fix my mistakes. I say most - let's just say I will never touch an AC problem again in any of my cars!
 
Ya know, speaking of A/C problems in vehicles, here's a short story. We have a diesel pusher motorhome. It's now exactly 20 years old and has 113,000 miles on it and runs like a top. The dash A/C worked great for several years until it didn't. I've been a "shade tree DIY type" for decades but, not knowing anything about A/C work, I paid a local shop a few hundred bucks to fix it, more than a time or two. Each time they said they fixed this or that or replaced this or that and then vacuumed and charged it and then called and said it's fixed, come get it. We'd then head out for a trip and the A/C would last only ONE DAY. From then on, it was blowing warm air.

I finally checked out youtube and armed with mediocre knowledge, I purchased a vacuum pump and all the appropriate gauges and lines. I'd vacuum and charge that system many times and would look and look and look for a leak. No find!!!! The 10 oz. 134A freon was $4.20 a can when I started this process. OVER the next couple of years of doing this vacuuming and charging multiple times, those cans went to $10.00 PER CAN! That got expensive REAL FAST. So, one day, I'd ripped the bed apart in the bedroom so I could gain access to the engine for an inspection for trip we were planning on. Hmmmm, what's this? I noticed that some corragated plastic tubing that covers one of my A/C lines about a foot from the A/C pump was WET!

The other line was bone dry. There was no oil leaks of any type on or near that engine, ANYWHERE. Only that small section of that corregated plastic protective line was wet. Sooooo, I peeled back that corragated cover to find what I'd call a "splice" in that line. Hmmmm, what the hell is this? (we didn't buy this coach new) Why in the world would someone put a splice in a line about a foot from the fitting where it attaches to the back of the A/C pump??? Fortunately, it was the shorter of the two lines off that pump. It was'is about 9' long. I removed it and took it down to a local auto parts place that also makes A/C lines. The nice lady made one up for me to the tune of about $135.00 or so. I installed it and then again vacuumed and charged the system.

It has held now for over 2 years!!!!!!!!!!

I'd spent oh, somewhere in the neighborhood of around $1,000.00 or so for that company to "fix" my A/C system. And they kept saying it was this or that and even told me I needed a new A/C compressor. They told me it would be around $1,500 for them to install one. I found one at out local Freightliner dealer for $242.00 and installed it myself. Then took it back to them for a vacuum and charge. Guess what, that vacuum and re-charge lasted ONLY ONE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was then that I decided the hell with them and took on the job of what I just finished describing. And this company supposedly has quite a decent reputation for doing quality work. Yeah sure.
Scott
 
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