Sea Star Hydraulic steering

[dgetswet]

Hi All,

I have a Sea Star Tilt Helm HH5741 manufactured by Teleflex Canada which is connected to a pump in the bilge that has no name Just Type 1 12V with an A side R middle and B side for the hydraulic tubes. Last year we bleed the system when the steering started to feel loose. It seemed fine until I left the dock. I heard a small noise and felt a little pressure in the wheel then went to nothing. Didn't stop turning in either direction.

We tried to put fluid in at the helm the way you normally would. Once the bottle was in place we opened the valve on the piston and tried to bleed it out. Nothing. We then went to the other side and other than a couple air bubbles nothing happened. We then opened the valve by the cylinder and removed about 8-10 ounces of fluid. But at the helm it would not take any fluid. We found an article about the auto pilot and to turn that on while turning the wheel. That did nothing.

Has anyone else gone through something like this? I included the photo of the electric motor which has no bleeder valve on it. Going to try again tomorrow before calling the mechanic in. So if anyone has any words of wisdom I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thank you all in advance.

[Tree]

That pump is your autopilot pump. The bleed is the middle hose. The check valves are built into the pump on the ports where the two outer hoses are attached. It’s likely you’ve air in the systems now which will need to be bled from the central hose or possibly at the ram end of the steering by the rudder. Try turning the wheel hard to port then starboard and back again a few times until the rudder moves. Then with the rudder hard over, hit the auto button on the control and the pump should bleed the air. I usually have the port on the back of the wheel open with the fluid bottle attached ready to expel any air back into the bottle and it will then pull fresh fluid back in the system each time you press auto.

[dgetswet]

Thanks for the information I will give it a try and see where it goes.

[catalina_mike]

Totally agree with Tree. Bleed at the pump as a starting place.

[dgetswet]

So we went down to the boat opened the helm port and put the sea star oil in. To our surprise it went right in no blockage. We opened the stern cylinder and spun the wheel and all the air started coming out. After several turns of the wheel we closed up and the steering was perfect. We did not have to bleed the pump which I am thankful for.
My only question is where did the fluid go? Now a search for some kind of pin hole leak.

Thanks for the advise and help.

[catalina_mike]

Not much tubing to check... runs on stbd side on my old 99 28TE.