Back to the main site

For you DIY types, who works on or bleeds their own Seastar steering system?

FIRE UP

FIRE UP

Well-Known Member
Messages
181
Reaction score
359
Hey Gang,
Been a bit since I've been here. I have a kind-a weird situation. We came home from a 5 week RV trip recently and in making my rounds of the house etc. I found that there was an oil puddle under the very rear of the center pontoon on the concrete. Obviously it's not the lower end of the prop etc. since it's farther forward. It was red-ish in color which auto-pointed to the steering system since I used ATF when I filled the system and bled it way back a while ago. Well, upon further inspection, I found what you see in the pic. It's a bent 90 degree fitting that one of the steering hoses connects to on the Seastar HC5345 cylinder.

At first, I thought what in the he.. could have actually bent that fitting, especially in the UPWARD angle. It's bent enough that it almost touches the bleeder right above it. The other 90 degree fitting on the other hose is perfectly fine. But, due to the stress of this bent fitting, it has caused a leak at the threads. Since it was at such an angle, I immediately thought the cylinder was damaged and I began searching for a new one. They're not cheap folks! I was looking at spending somewhere north of $800 for a new HC5345 cylinder with attachments.

Well, I got around to removing that cylinder today and brought it in to the work bench. I had to remove the bleeder in order to gain clearance for the swing of that bent fitting while I unscrewed it. To my surprise, upon removal of that damaged fitting, it appeared/appears that the threads in the cylinder are not in any way damaged. I just happened to have a 1/4" short 2" brass pipe nipple hanging around in my junk plumbing box and screwed that nipped right into those threads without any form of interference or off camber attitude. Those threads are perfect.

Ok, that's the history. I've acquired a new fitting for the cylinder and will install it and the cylinder tomorrow and reattach the hoses and all the rest of the components. Then, due to the bend, which caused the threads to stretch on the bottom side, it had leaked for a while and the warm weather we're having here in Havasu which is about 200 degrees in the shade, and a few drips when the system was taken apart to work on that cylinder, I'm gonna have to bleed the system. I have done it before and with decent success. But, that was a while ago and I'm gonna have to do it again. I've watched a good half dozen videos and some are kind of conflicting with others. There are numerous "kits" for this operation on line, especially Amazon.

Many of those kits supply and employ a short clear line with quick release fittings that connect to the bleeders. But, where I'm a tad confused is, when people are using that line, and it's connected to the two bleeders, the bubbles are simply transfering from one side of the system to the other. And back and forth. I'm just not quite sure how that works. And this leads me to my topic or heading of this thread. How many of you that do this type of work, do your own steering system bleeding and may I ask what your methods are? I sure appreciate any help or advice here.
Scott
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8575.JPG
    IMG_8575.JPG
    128 KB · Views: 6
Wow, no one's worked on or bled their hydraulic steering systems?
Scott
 
Not sure if anyone has or not, but since this was only posted overnight, it may take some daytime hours for the right people to read this and respond. I agree that the Hull Truth might have more DIY people with this sort of specific experience as well. So might be good to cross post what you have above over there and see what you get.

I’d toss in some advice, but the extent of my DIY on my boat these days is opening my own beer. ;)

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
You can download the Seastar manual on how to do it. It's a PITA mess. I splurged years ago and bought the Power Purge when I had multiple boats with Hydraulic Steering. I'd be glad to do it for you for you it's a bit of a ride across I-10 to north Florida! You don't have to go to a Bennington dealer to get this done. Any local boat shop can get it done in 10 minutes and $100. Worth every penny.
 
Hey guys,
I surely appreciate the advice here. I sometimes get impatient. I did cruise over to The Hull Truth and poked around 'till I actually found exactly what I was looking for. And that was/is a thread on bleeding the system. The problem with that particular thread is, about 80-90% of it deals with "AP" or Auto Pilot and the bleeding of it too. Well, I'M the auto pilot on our boat so, I kind-a have to take all the answers and suggestions and funnel out anything that has to do with AP and then see what's left that I can use for advice.

All of the info is helpful. It's just that, if there's components that are options, like electrical power steering assist or AP, you have to work out what's good for you in terms of how things are done and when. Our boat happens to have electrical power assist steering which, is phenomenal if you've never tried it, you should. And I don't mind doing things like bleeding this system myself. I'm retired and have been for a while and I still enjoy working on or performing maintenance on my own stuff, to a limit. Bleeding a steering system is actually fairly easy. But there's some slight confusion as to the equipment and the exact way things are done.

There are some on good ole Youtube University that have created their own way of doing it and have had success. And some use the Seastar manual and some use both. I know one thing though, Seastar steering fluid is PHENOMENALLY COSTLY compared to any other brand and it's all the same stuff. I've been using basic ATF for a couple of years now and that system has worked absolutely flawlessly. And the cost per quart is about 1/3 to 1/4.
Scott
 
Never ever use ATF in a hydraulic steering system. It is to be used in an emergency only! There is a Phillips 66 equivalent that you can buy at your local municipal airport. It's dyed red so you can see a leak on an aircraft. It is an approved substitute for Seastar fluid. I don't have the number in front of me. But honestly, 2 bottles of Seastar fluid will run $40, so what?
 
Well,
Not to be argumentative but, as stated, my Seastar system with electronic power assist in our '14 Benny 25RCL with the Yamaha 5.3L V-8 350HP, has had ATF in it now for at least 3 years and there's been no catastrophic events or failures, no massive leaks, no drop in performance, and not even a hint of any form of an issue. While I don't have one at hand that I can link, I have red of situations or documents that stated that ATF CAN be used. I am no "oil" specialist or engineer but way back when I damaged one of my hoses a few years ago, I'd red of many boat owners that had switched to ATF as an alternative to the ultra high priced Seastar fluid and they too had absolutely zero issues after it had been in their systems for quite some time. So, I thought I'd try it. No issues in the 3+ years.

And as for your price of a couple of "bottles" of Seastar fluid for $40, well, you must live in in different part of the country or have some inside privy to seriously special prices of Seastar steering fluid.

I'm assuming that by "bottles", you mean quarts, correct? Especially since that's the most common way Seastar is sold. And a couple of quarts, using advanced math is jussssst a bit over $40...

Amazon.com: SeaStar Solutions HA5430H SeaStar/BayStar Hydraulic Steering Fluid, 1 Quart : Automotive

Buy SeaStar Solutions HA5430H SeaStar/BayStar Hydraulic Steering Fluid, 1 Quart: Power Steering Fluids - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

and here:

Amazon.com: SeaStar Steering Fluid, 1 Quart (Two Pack), Marine, Prevent Corrosion, 32 oz : Automotive

Buy SeaStar Steering Fluid, 1 Quart (Two Pack), Marine, Prevent Corrosion, 32 oz: Power Steering Fluids - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

and here:

Amazon.com: Dometic SeaStar Hydraulic Steering Fluid, HA5430H, 1 Quart (Single Pack) : Automotive

Buy Dometic SeaStar Hydraulic Steering Fluid, HA5430H, 1 Quart (Single Pack): Hydraulic Oils - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

and even at West Marine, different packaging but same product:


And any entity that manufactures products like Seastar and markets their own OIL, will of course say it's the ONE AND ONLY oil you should use. I get that. It's business. I have a Caterpillar C-7 330HP in our diesel pusher motorhome. CAT says you should ONLY use CAT oil and filters. Hmmm, I've been using aftermarket filters (WIX, Carquest, Napa and more) and various brands of oil (of the designated weight though. 15W-40) now for 121,000 miles and 21 years and well, that motor has not grenaded yet. It's a choice thing. You choose what's best for you.
Scott
 
Don't get fired up! The point was it's cheap, not worried about price to the third decimal place...Use the aftermarket stuff, I've been bleeding hydraulic steering systems for 30 years and never had a comeback, always used Seastar fluid. To each his own!
 
Well boys and girls,
It's all done. After watching a few dozen videos and reading the Seastar manual and instructions, it's all bled and I've got a new fitting on the cylinder where the damaged one was. While in reality it's not a hard or even overly technical, there is a method (or two or three) that can be followed. Yeah, yeah, I could have just towed the boat down to our local Benny fix-it place and had them do it for a mere $250 or more. Yep, they have a fairly high hourly rate here. But, I still like doing lots of this kind of stuff for myself. Only been doing my own work now for about 55+ years or so. Why quit now? Anyway, while the job is done and I got about 99.99999999999% of the bubbles out, I still have about a half inch of swing in that motor by moving it by hand. Not the end of the world but, I may try one of the wazoo YouTube methods to see if I can get it to zero engine movement.
Scott

P.S. One thing though, in following even the first part in the Seastar manual, there's things that don't make sense. What they have you do and the end results I encountered are not the same as what they show for results. From then on, their instructions just don't seem to add up. Oh well. it's basically done.
 
Scott,
1/2 inch steering lash is too much and will be noticeable. That's why we spend $1100 on a Power Purge, do it in 10 minutes, no air, no comebacks. I'm sympathetic trying to do it by the manual or Youtube. You cannot get all of the air out, I've spent hours trying. I'm 65, retired from 46 years in manufacturing with the same company, started as a toolmaker, so details come easy for me. Always made what I didn't want to buy on a lathe and a milling machine. My retirement allows me a bit of investment latitude now as I'm sure yours does as well. As I age, My emerging equation is; Investment / aggravation = lower blood pressure, less collateral damage when I'm getting ready to toss a wrench across the shop when my wife asks "honey, what are you doing and why don't you do it this way"? I made the mistake of showing the picture of your sponsons to my wife and she said, " how come our Bennington doesn't look like that one" I said, "because there would be one less person in this household and I'm too cheap to spend $2K to get it done and maintain it"! It's all about life's priorities!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top