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Hydrulic steering- filling/ purging? Seastar

fbpd227

fbpd227

Active member
I was needing some more info on filling ( an empty ) hydrulic ( seastar ) system. It says I need to have some kind of a filling tube- screwed onto the helm, and poke a hole in the bottom of the can to fill it? I do NOT have the filling tube- is there another way to do this? Also- it says to ( 2 people ) hold the steering cylinder with the bleed valave ( one side at a time ) open while turning the system to purge the air at the cylinder....how many times do you do this? on each side? know for sure ALL air is out? Can you catch and save the fluid to re-use ( in a clean contrainer )? I have 2 Qt's- should be enough- but if ALOT of bleeding is in order- I might as well just pour one Qt on the ground to start?!?!? LOL! Thanx for the help brothers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Not sure if it's the same, but I can talk from experience with my Imco setup. For filling/bleeding, its kind of of like a brake setup. In my ZT, the steering is a bypass system anyway, so I basically disregarded all the directions for filling. They say to run a satellite reservoir with a hose into the power steering so that when fluid runs low/the system needs to burp air, fluid will replace the "empty spot" instead of more air. If the Seastar is anything like my Imco, Just fill the reservoir, start the boat, steer for a few seconds back and forth while you or someone else monitors the fluid level in the power steering pump. As it starts to fill the lines/cylinders, the level will obviously fall. Just keep it full by continually pouring until you can actuate the rams and see little to no fluid drop in the PS pump reservoir. Next up is the bleed. Not sure if you setup is a single/dual ram, full with helm or assist, etc, but the bleed process is fairly simple. turn the wheel hard right(while the motor is running will speed this up), and slowly loosen the fittings at the acuator/acuators where fluid pressure is being applied. I'm sure you probably understand this, but for instance in a hard right turn, you're port steering ram would have pressure applied at the fitting closest to the hull, while the starboard ram would have pressure at the fitting closest to the drive. In a hard left turn, it would be the opposite. When you steer it hard right, someone needs to hold pressure on the wheel at full lock while you loosen the fittings under pressure. Then tighten them down and have the person turn hard left and hold it against lock while you loosen/tighten the other two. Rinse and repeat. I did mine 5 times each way just to be safe, but didn't get a whole lot of air out of the system on any bleed attempt. You first time or two, you should see some bubbling from the threads at the fitting. Once you see a steady run from the threads, you should be good to go. You will only be backing the fittings off about 1/4-1/2 turn, so you hardly lose any fluid as long as you can manage to keep the wrench on the fitting. Like I said, could be 180 degrees different from the way your setup runs, but post some specifics and I think we should be able to figure it out.
 
I would do it exactly as the instructions say. Air bubbles in those hoses is your enemy, if you leave some in, you will have quite a bit of play in your steering and it just won't be safe. You need some sort of tube with a threaded piece on the end so you can hook it up to the hydraulic oil (mine came with one, i'm sure if you call teleflex they'll ship you one). You're not supposed to ever let air bubbles even get into that intake tube, because the helm pump is sucking that oil in and pushing it into one of the hoses depending on which way you're turning. A second person is a must. I saved the oil that I bled, and now I have a TON left over. Pretty sure they take a lot of waste into account. If you do save it, make sure you use CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN materials to catch it.

It's going to take a few times on each side before you're seeing complete oil flow with no air bubbles, so be patient. You have to keep positive fluid pressure on the hoses/cylinder while you close the valve, so unless you can turn your steering wheel and use a wrench at the same time to shut each valve, don't forget to bring a friend.
 
I'm not even sure what the fill tube process is or what it accomplishes. I pieced my steering together, so two things I didn't get were a "fill hose" and directions. I had to wing it.:eyecrazy:
 
Mine is also a peiced together system- and I will be going down the same road you did Rhino1653- please tell me WHAT you did to get your system up n running SAFELY! Thanx in advance!
 
I have not read the directions for sea-star, but I have read the instructions and followed them to a tee for another older brand. You will need a fill hose with a adapter as well as some small clear tygon or vynil tubing just big engough to fit over the blead fittings on the cylinder and some small hose clamps or just wire ties work good.. You should not lose hardly any fluid this way either.

BTW this will only work if you have the bleed fittings that are located on the fittings that screw into the cylinder.

First: Take and turn the wheel all the way to one side or the other untill the motor is complete over to one side (if you need to move the motor by hand and keep it there with a rope).
Second: Connect the small clear hose between the two bleed fittings and then open the fittings.
Third: Connect the filler hose and adapter to the helm. I like to connect a small funnel to the other end of the hose, but you can use a skirt adapter on the bottle as well. Pour some fluid into funnel, or hold the bottle upside down and over the helm.
Fourth: Slowly turn the wheel IN ONE DIECTION ONLY whild making sure fluid stays in funnel or bottle higher then the helm. Continue to turn helm for 10 revolutions or so to ennsure all air passes throguh the lines.
FIFTH: Have someone close bleed fittings on cylinder then turn helm to where the motor is in the opposite direction.
SIXTH: Open Bleed fittings again and repeat Process four again making sure to only to turn in one direction for 10plus revolutions untill no more air is burping and remember to make sure to keep the funnel filled or the bottle held high so no more air can get into the system.
SEVENTH: Close bleed fittings again. Turn wheel opposite direction to hard-over, then just a little past hard over. Disconect the filler tube and adapter from helm and replace plug whil the wheel is held past hard over with some pressure on it. This creats a slight head pressure on the system.

Your done, drink beer now. No wasted fluid and no mess.

What you have done is to bypass the cylinder and bleed the helm and the lines. Whe the cylinder was hard over in one direction, you cleared one sixe of the cylinder of air. When you turned it hard over the other direction, you cleared teh other side of air, but introduced the lines with air again, so that is why we bypass the cylinder twice.
 
a36pilot said:
I have not read the directions for sea-star, but I have read the instructions and followed them to a tee for another older brand. You will need a fill hose with a adapter as well as some small clear tygon or vynil tubing just big engough to fit over the blead fittings on the cylinder and some small hose clamps or just wire ties work good.. You should not lose hardly any fluid this way either.

BTW this will only work if you have the bleed fittings that are located on the fittings that screw into the cylinder.

First: Take and turn the wheel all the way to one side or the other untill the motor is complete over to one side (if you need to move the motor by hand and keep it there with a rope).
Second: Connect the small clear hose between the two bleed fittings and then open the fittings.
Third: Connect the filler hose and adapter to the helm. I like to connect a small funnel to the other end of the hose, but you can use a skirt adapter on the bottle as well. Pour some fluid into funnel, or hold the bottle upside down and over the helm.
Fourth: Slowly turn the wheel IN ONE DIECTION ONLY whild making sure fluid stays in funnel or bottle higher then the helm. Continue to turn helm for 10 revolutions or so to ennsure all air passes throguh the lines.
FIFTH: Have someone close bleed fittings on cylinder then turn helm to where the motor is in the opposite direction.
SIXTH: Open Bleed fittings again and repeat Process four again making sure to only to turn in one direction for 10plus revolutions untill no more air is burping and remember to make sure to keep the funnel filled or the bottle held high so no more air can get into the system.
SEVENTH: Close bleed fittings again. Turn wheel opposite direction to hard-over, then just a little past hard over. Disconect the filler tube and adapter from helm and replace plug whil the wheel is held past hard over with some pressure on it. This creats a slight head pressure on the system.

Your done, drink beer now. No wasted fluid and no mess.

What you have done is to bypass the cylinder and bleed the helm and the lines. Whe the cylinder was hard over in one direction, you cleared one sixe of the cylinder of air. When you turned it hard over the other direction, you cleared teh other side of air, but introduced the lines with air again, so that is why we bypass the cylinder twice.
Click to expand...


THAT was an awesome write up!!!!!!!!!! THANX!!!!!!!!
 
I have already figured out ( trial and error ) that a male end air hose fitting screws into the helm, and a bit of rubber hose attached to a funnel will complete my "home made" filler set-up. I really like a36pilot's idea about the funnel AND rubber hose to connect from one bleader to the other for quicker one person bleading! I'll let ya know how it works when my damn seastar iol finally gets here!!!!! lol! should have had it today! if it doesn't get here tomorrow ( saturday ) mt Checkmate cherry will remain intact another week! lol! thanx again- to EVERYONE for ALL the help, advice, ribbing, and most of all support! Without all of you I surely would have given up LOOOOONG ago!! Checkmater's are a rare and close bunch! Chris- A HUGE thank you to you- for this site... a place for us all to connect, share, and learn from each other mistakes and successes!
 
One person bleeding isn't a problem. Turn the wheel all the way one way, open opposite bleeder, then gently push steering til she squirts and close it up. Turn other way and do the same. Repeat 2-3 times and done. <--- Done while it has the gravity fed fluid going into it... I tried a funnel first time tryin to be cheap but it worked very poorly, still let air in helm. A fitting that screws into the helm is the only way to go with rubber or plastic tubing.
 
a36pilot said:
Your done, drink beer now. No wasted fluid and no mess.

What you have done is to bypass the cylinder and bleed the helm and the lines. Whe the cylinder was hard over in one direction, you cleared one sixe of the cylinder of air. When you turned it hard over the other direction, you cleared teh other side of air, but introduced the lines with air again, so that is why we bypass the cylinder twice.
Click to expand...
What a good idea... if I ever get to own an outboard again, I'll have to give that method a try. Sounds like it'd work great!
 
yellowfiero88 said:
I got the filler hose. If you need to borrow it I can send it down to you, just send it back:cheers:
Click to expand...
THANX brother! I think I got it......holding the engine over to bleed the air SUCKS! It's damn near imposible to hold! I tried the bypass hose on the bleeders- but i couldnt get my hose to seal good enough on the bleeders- so I had to follow the mfg sugestions......I THINK I got all the air......almost impossible to tell, since you can NOT hold the cylinder against the helm pressure! Took @ 1 1/2 qts to fill and purge. Would have been ALOT easier with the proper fill hose though! I tried everywhere from Anderson, SC ( Lake Hartwell ) to Waynesville, nc to Hayesville, NC ( Lake Chatuge ) and no one had one! ( drove by all those areas today for work....lol):devil:! Anyhow- I believe it's bled of air and working proper. I forgot to count the turns lock to lock to determine if all the air was out- AND which type of helm I actually have.....started raining...maybe later. Sure steers ALOT smoother than cables though! THANX GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
BADBK said:
One person bleeding isn't a problem. Turn the wheel all the way one way, open opposite bleeder, then gently push steering til she squirts and close it up. Turn other way and do the same. Repeat 2-3 times and done. <--- Done while it has the gravity fed fluid going into it... I tried a funnel first time tryin to be cheap but it worked very poorly, still let air in helm. A fitting that screws into the helm is the only way to go with rubber or plastic tubing.
Click to expand...


BADBK. Read my post, I did not just suggest a funnel, it was a funnel with a hose attached to the filler adapter. There is no way air can get in if you keep the fluid visibly in the hose. Imagine doing this on a 70 houseboat. Thats alot of hose to clear using the brake bleeding method. Now double it for an upper and lower helm. This is what frequently I have to do with my houseboat. My method has worked great over the years and is strait from the helm manual.
 
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