Helm Assembly Tip

[Briankinley2004]

Finishing up my bridge painting/deck repair project and decided to replace the leaking shaft seal on my helm while I had it out to paint. Sams had the seal kit in stock. I decided not to attempt to replace all the seals but just the shaft ones on top. The issue I am having is the shaft turns easy until I close the last 1/16" gap between the gold cover block and the plastic. It then becomes so difficult I can barely get it to turn even with the wheel on it. I took it apart and everything is clean and I don't see any burrs, etc. on the metal. Got to looking closely and noticed when I tighten the cover the wiper seal pops up all the way around except on small area. I think this is what is causing the binding.

I took apart and tried rotating the seal, etc. I was also careful to tighten the cover bolts evenly, keeping the gap the same. Still the wiper seal has a spot that wont protrude around the shaft. It fits fine in the cover off of the shaft. Trouble is I can't slide it on the shaft in the cover as it won't clear the wider taper in the block. It has to be off to be worked over the shaft. I tried using silicone lube on everything and the same results. Tried turning the shaft occasionally as I tightened the block but when it gets to the last 1/16" of crack to close, just where the wiper appears, it binds and the wiper has the same spot. It is not always on the same area.

Does anyone know a tip or trick to get this wiper seal to push out properly? I am out of ideas

[Briankinley2004]

So I don't think my issue is the lip not protruding properly. I took the wiper seal completely out of the equation and the shaft is still difficult to turn, even with the wheel on, when I tighten the last 1/16" of gap. I took both shaft seals out and it rotates by hand when tightened down. I thought maybe with the seals it is supposed to be stiff so I went ahead and put it on the boat with the seals in. I can barely turn the helm with one hand with the wheel on. Something is not right. I have looked closely at the seal diagram that came with the kit. It is hard to make out which seal is which but it only makes sense that the one with the lip that fits in the cover is the wiper seal. Short of some wisdom from here I am to the point of sending this thing off to make a supposedly simple repair.

[scottinsydney]

seal.JPG


Here is our story of replacing the helm seals.

https://www.samsmarine.com/forums/sh...Front-Oil-Seal

The drawings in the instructions are woeful and I spent considerable time working out what was the seal and what was the washer and their orientation.

Remove the old wiper and seal making sure the bearings are covered up.

You need to lightly clean the shaft. I used a very fine 1300 3M foam backed wet and dry sanding pad to make it shiny. Lube the shaft... I used a squirt of WD40 ... and then slide the seal down. The wiper was difficult to seat and seems too small, but it will eventually push over the hump in the shaft and seat down next to the seal. The wiper does seem to have some stretch so I don't think you can break it. Its just tough on your fingers.

The wiper will also seat into a recess on the inside of the gold cap, and in a perfect world, its lip should protrude equally between the gold cap and the shaft. I think this has to do with seating it squarely on the seal and tightening the bolts equally. Mine was not perfect.

Initially the wheel was impossible to turn with one hand. It will get better the more you use it.

After two years our new seal has has not leaked and has loosened up a great deal.

I think you have done the repair correctly.

[Briankinley2004]

Scott-

Thanks for the reply. I read your thread a couple of times during this process. I am glad to hear yours was difficult to turn and it loosened with use. This makes me much more comfortable with what I did. I don't quite get the seal under the wiper seal. There is a notch in the shaft and this seal fits loosely around that notch. It also fits loosely in the gold cap. I don't know its purpose but can only assume I have it in the correct location based on the vague instructions. I think I will go ahead and fill/bleed the system and hope it loosens up like yours. I do have the luxury of going up there every day and rotating it a few turns while watching the sun set. If this doesn't work I discovered I am one hour from Southern Charm that will rebuild these things for $350. I really appreciate you responding and letting me know that yours was tight as well.

[scottinsydney]

The wiper is only to keep the dust/moisture out and keep the seal in position As long as the seal is doing its job the helm will not leak. Also when you pressure up the system it will put some oil against the seal improving the ability to turn the wheel.

The fastest way to prime is to pressurise the system to 30PSI, then use the autopilot to move the oil about tweaking wheel port and starboard. ie. using the autopilot pump move the wheels back and forth to open the valves inside the helms. The autopilot will stop at about position 20.... then turn the wheel by hand to the end both ways. Takes about 5 minutes in total. You will also probably have to loosen the top station fittings to let air bubbles escape. The system is primed when the auto pilot pump does not make any air bubble noises as oil passes through it.

[jmooney]

The pump should be disassembled from the rear . The seal will be much easier to install. The large o-rings are of different diameter. Match them correctly .

[Briankinley2004]

I guess putting caps on the lines as I removed them kept very much air out for me. I did the auto pilot trick and never heard any bubbles. Its in the ER so I am not sure if it pushes fluid all the way up to the bridge or not. Anyway it would get the rudders to 20 each way. I wrestled the wheel to 40 each way several times. I would hate to have to do the 60 turn deal as tight as it is. I bled air out of the tuna tower until I got fluid but that helm is still air locked. Another job for another day. I don't really go up there much. Anyway I have rudder in both directions according to the AP indicator. Im glad I don't use the wheel much and mostly use engines at dock and AP at sea. I hope this gets better. I have never ran a boat with steering this stiff except cable steering that was in rough shape. I guess I have never ran a boat with new steering with this size helm. They all have been old worn out ones but never had one steer this stiff.

[dsharp]

The only thing that will make it hard to turn is one or more of the pistons may have rotated slightly. The tops of the pistons are grooved so the ball bearings will roll over them. I can’t imagine how that could have happened if you didn’t disassemble the entire steering head. If it’s really stiff I would take it back off and disassemble it on a clean surface and take some pictures. What model pump is it? Did you make any changes to the relief valve?

[Briankinley2004]

The only thing that will make it hard to turn is one or more of the pistons may have rotated slightly. The tops of the pistons are grooved so the ball bearings will roll over them. I can’t imagine how that could have happened if you didn’t disassemble the entire steering head. If it’s really stiff I would take it back off and disassemble it on a clean surface and take some pictures. What model pump is it? Did you make any changes to the relief valve?

It is the H-42 like pictured above. I only took off the gold cover on the shaft end. The shaft did lift up a little when I pried up on the cover to help remove it. Other than that nothing else was removed. I did, after re-assembling several times due to the stiffness, remove the roller bearing assembly to reveal the ball bearings below. They all looked fine and clean. I know this didn't cause the issue as it was already doing it before I removed them. It was steering fine before I removed and it still does until I close the last 1/16" of the gap between the gold block and the plastic. I am thinking of loosening the bolts on the bottom slightly to see it that helps. If I wind up removing again I will take some pics and post

[dsharp]

I found an illustrated parts assembly for the smaller control head. The top parts are the same. When I get back to work Monday I’ll scan it and upload it.