Bleeding hydraulic lines

[Fotoman]

Looking for info on how to bleed the lines for the steering. The former owner told me there was a screw near the rudder. Not too sure how to proceed. Any help would be appreciated.*
*

 

[Capn Chuck]

It looks like your system is pretty close to ours so here is some info that might help you,
http://tinyurl.com/yf94o47

 

[Phil Fill]

Is it**2 or*3 lines?*


*
If 3 lines you do not have to bleed, just turn the helm hard over and hold then back the other way and hold until the helm is and rudder are firm, while pouring in additional fluid at the upper helm pump.* If a 2 line your have to loosen the hydraulic lines to bleed, again turn the helm back and forth while adding fluid at the upper helm until firm.


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***

 

[Fotoman]

I see only 2 lines and the former owner told me I had to bleed the lines once in a while. I'm guessing there is a slow leak somewhere.

 

[RickB]

Slightly off topic but those two green wires disappearing into the transom below the steering cylinder at bottom center of picture 2 are electrically connected to that loose plate you asked about.

And, as long as the boat is on the hard, it might be worthwhile to pull the bearings on the rudder stock. It looks like there has been more moisture than maintenance in that area and those bearing plates tend to wear badly if they are not greased regularly and kept clean or the balls rust.

-- Edited by RickB on Thursday 22nd of April 2010 08:44:34 AM

 

[Phil Fill]

Then* loosen the line at the rudder and turn the helm back and forth until solid, while adding more fluid.* By the amount*of fluid in the bucket you should be able to estimate how far away the leak is.***

A common area to leak*is the*helm pump.***The O ring*for the*steering shaft gets old and start to leak, so*check/wipe around the helm pump.***We had a leak in the lines because they ran under the start battery bank and the acid ate through.***That was messy!

So what fluid*is in the *steering ?* Many take red*transmission fluid but some use hydrailic.**Make sure you added the right kind of fluid.*

-- Edited by Phil Fill on Thursday 22nd of April 2010 08:53:27 AM

-- Edited by Phil Fill on Thursday 22nd of April 2010 08:55:45 AM

 

[Fotoman]

Good point Rick. And you are right about the wires.

Thanks Phil. I think It's transmission fluid because I found a few bottles in the flybridge console. Is it ok or should I replace with a specific hydraulic fluid?

 

[dwhatty]

RickB wrote:
"It looks like there has been more moisture than maintenance in that area and those ....tend to wear badly if they are not greased regularly and kept clean or the balls rust."

That's just what I told my wife yesterday.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

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[Phil Fill]

If the fluid IN the hydraiulic is red then put in transmission fluid.*

DO*NOT mix*the two.

*

 

[Arctic Traveller]

Rick,* I'm oddly disturbed by your new avatar photo, but I'm not sure why.* Is that some new type of get home device?.......................


Trawler training and yacht charters at www.arctictraveller.com

 

[FF]

Ricks avatar just shows him on the job , watching the clock , for the next "promotion".

GREAT SHOT!

 

[Forkliftt]

Phil,
I wouldn't consider this the final word on mixing fluids- but in our service vans for forklift repairs we carry a tractor/ hydraulic oil for use in almost all pwershift transmissions, any of the hydrostatic drive systems (truck mountabkes), and finally for all hydraulic systems. I had a powershift transmission fail several years ago with low hours after a rebuild. During our disassembly and failure analsis I pulled an oil sample and sent it to our dirt Cat Dealer to inspect for contaminants, etc. We had filled the transmission with Dextron and talking with the lab I found out that the trac/ hyd fluid had several times the wear addative put in. Since then we have stayed away from Dextron for transmission applications.
Now, to simplify truck stock we keep one fluid in the vans. What I was told long ago is the you can use trans oil in a hydraulic system but you can't use hydraulic oil in a transmission. Any compartment with clutch discs needs the friction addative that hydraulic oil doesn't have.

 

[Baker]

dwhatty wrote:

*
RickB wrote:
"It looks like there has been more moisture than maintenance in that area and those ....tend to wear badly if they are not greased regularly and kept clean or the balls rust."

That's just what I told my wife yesterday.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

*

*

Oh man, I laughed until I cried on that one!!!!

*

 

[sunchaser]

It would appear that the previous owner was into too much DIY. If your budget can support it, get a pro to go through the steering system and fix it up properly. Ditto rudder post area. Monitor their work so you know what to look for in the future.

And rickB, I'm ticked off at my yard. Had I known there was an option for my big $$ Lewmar 24V thruster system I had installed this spirng ----? Judging by the biceps, I'd guess two six packs a day of fuel* per day would suffice.