Help with bleeding steering 58LRC

[zigzag930]

We are on our maiden voyage from Portsmouth, VA - south. Prior to leaving the yard replaced a section of bad hose on the hydraulic steering system section in the lazarette. It appears they did not bleed the system fully and we are having some issue with steering the boat.

Can anyone help? I'm going to remove the cap up on the flybridge and turn all the steering wheels left and right to see if any air bubbles out. Not sure how to get the air out of the autopilot (if it's in there as well.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. We are anchoring for the night in about 30 minutes and will attempt to see what we can figure out.

Thanks in advance to all who help out.

J

[Pettigrewr]

do you ave hynautic steering?

[Pettigrewr]

to be more clear, is your hydraulic steering system the "Hynautic" brand?

[Fanfare]

On the SAMS Marine header page, on the column to the left side, click on the next-to-bottom "Tips & Tricks" section. This shows you a link to bleeding the Hynautic Steering system.

Be sure your steering reservoir is 3/4 full. If you have fluid visible in the reservoir AND your pressure gauge shows any pressure then you do not have to open the reservoir. Open the bypass valve (labeled "relief valve" in the schematic shown at the end of the Hynautic explanation, , probably in the stern above the steering hydraulic ram. Turn your top (bridge) steering station 100 turns to the left, then 100 to the right. Same for lower steering station. Lastly, turn auto pilot all the way to right for a while (estimate 100 turns), then left, same.

The bypass valve unit on mine is green, has 3 metal pipes going in. The first hex cap is a cover. Remove, don't drop! Beneath is a screw head but held at the base with a hex lock nut. Loosen nut, unscrew the slotted needle valve a bit. Afterwards reassemble, tighten all not too much.

My boat has the very first Hynautic system ever put on a Hatteras--so it's old! However the basic principals apply. Loosening my needle valve in the "relief valve" lets all entrapped air route back to the reservoir. I have never had to bleed the steering ram itself. Yours may vary. I hate it when this happens!

[krush]

Back by your ram that moves the rudder you need to find the relief valve and open each valve up. Unscrew the nuts on top until they stop...they will not come out all the way. Don't force it. Then turn each wheel left a bunch, and right a bunch. Make sure resivore full of fluid and pumped up.

Some will say turn the wheel hard and keep going and it will purge it. I don't recommend this as it is very hard on all the components and risks bursting something old and weak.

If pic doesn't show, search Hynautic MSV21 for a picture.
It looks like this

https://image.fisheriessupply.com/f_jpg/f_auto/t_Legacy-750x750/v1/static-images/215624-tfx-msv-21-it1-tif

[scottinsydney]

A trick I learned was to use the auto pilot port and Starbord buttons to bleed the system.

[zigzag930]

Thanks guys for the help.

Tonight we went up to the flybridge and opened the vent cap. Installed a fitting with hose attached to a quart of hydraulic steering fluid.

Turned both wheels and the autopilot about 100 times (seemed like 1,000) while holding the quart of new fluid inverted. Got tons of air out of the system and now the rudder indicator gauges move correctly and the wheels move about 5 turns from the center to each side.

I didn't know if there was a reservoir as I hadn't seen one. I did not go down into the lazarette to the steering ram to look.

We will run the boat tomorrow and see how things are working, but if not operating correctly. Will follow the suggestions here to locate the reservoir and perform the steps outlined.

Thanks to all for the help.

[SKYCHENEY]

I would not leave the dock without going down to inspect the reservoir and to look for leaks. You need to understand the system and make sure it has no leaks and that the reservoir has the proper fluid level and pressure.

What you just did by opening up that system was to loose the pressure charge. At a minimum you need to repressurize the reservoir.

[Pettigrewr]

When I experienced total loss of steering, I went crazy and wasted hours looking everywhere for that reservoir and finally found it when I unlatched and tilted back the helm console. Look there first!
My Hynautic reservoir has fluid sight windows on the side, making it easy to see the level without opening the cap.
It showed full, however, I had air in the lines and at the rudder cylinder.
After following the process for bleeding, the reservoir was half full and I ended up adding a qt. of fluid.
It is a simple process but requires patience repeating turning the wheel and bleeding out the air.

By the way, aviation hydraulic fluid is about $35 for 5 gal. pail and that SeaStar hydraulic fluid for Hynautic is $22.95 at Napa. I didn't know better at the time and spent over $50 for just 2 qts.

Good luck and smooth sailing.

[zigzag930]

Ok, I looked inside the lower helm station. The helm says "Capilano Helm" by Teleflex, so maybe I don't have a Hynautic helm after all???

I wonder if it was changed somewhere along the way by a previous owner or if this boat came that way from the factory. Model 58LRC model year 1977.

J

[Pettigrewr]

Capilano by SeaStar is heavy duty system. Similar to Hynautic in principal however,Capilano does not have a seperate reservoir. The upper helm is where you fill & purge like you already did.
Here is a link for a manual that may help.

http://www.seastarsolutions.com/support-2/installation-manuals-controls-cables/installation-manuals/hydraulic-installation-manuals-inboard/

[krush]

I prefer the 3 line Hynuatic style system to the 2 line Seastar system. The hynuatic naturally allows self bleeding over time and is easier to do a complete system bleed/flush if air gets in.

With hynautic, you literally just open the two bleed valves and turn the steering wheel. No mess, no need to hook up a hose with fluid and watch bubbles, etc.

[zigzag930]

The Capilano system on my vessel is a 3 line system.

The bleeding process we attempted yesterday has had huge improvements. May need to re-do it again tonight and next day until all the bubbles of air are gone (if any).

Thanks to all for the assistance