Hydraulic Steering

[Bill L]

I have a 93 aft cabin model that I bought about a month ago, it has hydraulic steering and I think I need to add fluid to it (it doesn’t steer smoothly). From what I’ve seen, typically there is a nut on the steering column at the help, however I just don’t see one anywhere. Can someone give me any suggestions as to where to add the fluid.

[g36]

Got any idea what make of steering you have,,? Do you have a upper and lower steering stations,? The steering "column" you mentioned is the helm pump and there should be a cap to unscrew sitting on top of it to add fluid. Maybe a pic?

[Beufort]

Mine works off the engine power steering pump, just like a car.

[Midnightsun]

Not sure what they had in the 95 vintage so this may not be your case,

Mine is located right at the steering column which actually looks like a steering wheel tension knob,

Then there is the fill bottle which is located near the rudders which looks like a typical automotive brake fluid bottle.

It is not as easy as fill her up, there is a procedure for doing this correctly in order to bleed the air out. Find out what brand they put in yours and follow their bleeding recommendations.

Found this which is rather helpful in pointing you in the right direction however this is the lazy mans way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Qi1ETRp8s

Here is the correct full procedure. https://www.boats.net/blog/how-to-purge ... c-steering

[Cooler]

The helm you most likely have is a Hyanautic 50 series. The fill access is behind the console. That helm is no longer available and the replacement is a Seastar. How did I find this out? I experienced a similar symptom last season, and then 2 weeks ago, the helm started leaking fluid. I have the original Hyanautic owners manual. New Seastar should be here today. I may be able to finish the season with a leaker, but it is really messy and the fluid eventually leaks to my walkway. Real slippery stuff so gonna fix now before someone gets hurt. er

[Cooler]

The model number I ordered was HH5273-3. Seastar 2.0. It is supposed to be an exact fit, and hopefully an easy fix. er

[Viper]

Depending on the unit, some fill ports are on the top front of the unit (most setups), back of the unit, and some flush mounts have a separate fill port from the unit and plumbed in with a hose. The fill port for that type of install is usually on top of the dash somewhere.

If you have a pressurized system with a reservoir/pressure tank, make sure you release the pressure first, and the tank is where you should be filling.

[Bill L]

Thank you all for responding! I’ll head down to the boat this week and snap some pics and look at the model of my system!