Leakink fitting on helm

[Top Shelf]

Just noticed some hydraulic fluid leaking onto my half tower top. Sure enough the helm on the tower was leaking and the hynautic system is slowley losing pressure. What it looks like is one of the flare nuts on the poly tube where it enters the helm is dripping. It doesn't seem to be the helm it self, just the brass fitting. I snugged it but no joy.

Can a fitting like that go bad? Or did the poly tube entering the fitting split or ?? Anyone else run into this? Thanks in advance.

 

[mobilemn1]

Usually the fitting don't go bad, even though they can. I would say in your case the tubing may have a leak due to to tight a bend going into the fitting causing a chaff that may have rubbed a pin hole. Could just be a vibration leak too, as tubing whether plastic or metal will fatigue with vibration.

 

[Boatsb]

If it is the same as the fittings I used the end is re usable. Just disassemble it and re do the end a few inches shorter

 

[Top Shelf]

Re: Leaking fitting on helm

Thanks guys. I'll try that this weekend.

 

[Top Shelf]

Re: Leaking fitting on helm

Well I'm embarassed to say that I never got around to fixing this issue. Now the boat is headed to San Sal this Friday and I'm wondering if I'll ad more problems with the auto pilot and would it just be better to leave and live with this leak. We haven't used the boat much in the last month but I did ad air to the system and it seems to hold for weeks. I'm going to top the fluid off today and recharge the system

Of course now that little voice is starting to bug me. Here's a pix, this seems crazy to me that the actual fitting would leak. I'm going to get a ru of tubing, some extra fittings and fluid to take with and will have time to work on it down on San Sal. But has anyone ever seen a fitting leak like this? Is there an opportunity for completely losing steering other than keeping it topped with fluid and pressurized? here's pix. Thanks much....

 

[fixin-to-cruise]

Looks like the fluid is leaking out of the gap between the captive nut on the hydraulic hose and the pat that attaches to the hose itself. If that's correct you should be able to tighten the nut a little and stop the leak. Be sure to use 2 wrenches and turn the nut on the hose and not the fitting where it goes into the helm. About 1/16-1/8 of a turn maximum should take care of it

If the fitting going into the helm is overtightened you could crack the helm housing. Use opposing pressure from the wrench on the brass fitting to keep pressure off it. You can put the wrenches on the fittings so the handles are a few inches apart and just squeeze them together in your hand to be safe. It looks like there is some type of sealant where the brass fitting screws into the back of the helm pump. That area is relatively free of hydraulic fluid so it looks like the leak is not there.

 

[Top Shelf]

Thanks for the feedback. I did as you said, sorta cammed the wrenches against each other. Very, very little movement, but maybe just a hair is all it needed.

Anyway I topped off the fluid and re-pressurized. I put a new diaper under it, went stop to stop several times on both stations and I'll check it again tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[captddis]

I would remove the fitting from the pump and install a new fitting with some thread sealant and look at the swivel fitting closely for damage or a cracked nut. I bet the threads are leaking and the fluid is seeping down the swivel.

 

[Top Shelf]

That's probably the smart thing to do. But with this trip coming up on friday I worry about bleeding it properly. It just seems like there are a lot of places for air to get trapped in the system and I really don't want any auto pilot issues on the trip. But I am carrying the parts and fluid and I'll do that when I get down there.

The consensus is that this will be a bothersome leak (although it was dry this AM) and slow to lose pressure (ie steering). As long as I keep it topped and pressuirzed the risk of losing steering is small?????

I guess once you crack the system, the volume of air you get in the system is fixed or proportional to how long the system is open or how much fluid you lose or?? Thanks.