naiad Oil light on/ low oil

[spincycle]

Oil low light came on with my Naiads. went down to the engine room and found the reservior glass almost empty. what type of oil do i top up the system with? i found a small leak on top of the starboard side hydralic line, some oil in the bilge area. looks like ithas been leaking for some time now.

Spincycle

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Use 10w40 in the Naiads. Unscrew the vent on the top of the tank to add oil. Take a good look at your hoses. If they have a small leak, it will quickly develop into a ruptured line as the system works at several 1000 psi. Remove the bad line and take it to any hydraulic shop. They can make up a new one for you while you wait. They are easy to change.

Also, if you haven't changed the oil your system recently, now would be a good time to do that. It takes about 12qts. To empty the oil, just unscrew the feed line coming from your pump to the gyro and put it in a bucket. Then start the engine and let it idle as the oil pumps out. Once it starts to spit air, shut down the engine and reconnect the hose. Change the filter if indicated on the filter housing. Then refill with oil and start the engine. It may not pick up pressure without cracking the outlet line at the pump. Don't worry, you can run that pump dry without damage. Just crack the line until it starts to pump oil and then tighten. Now you're good to go for a few more seasons.

 

[GJH]

You want to make sure exactly where the leak is coming from. In my recent case, it was the actuator cylinder on the port side; 9 Boat Units on your dial. I too at first thought it was the hose/fitting. Agree you might as well do a complete oil/filter change, and go ahead and make a preemptive check on all the other hoses and fittings if you are making a trip to the hydraulic shop.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

If it is the cylinder, you can rebuild those.

 

[GJH]

Indeed you can; I went for new, I think I got a couple hundred bucks core credit (would have to dig up the bill); which I should have mentioned. Mine was actually busted up pretty good but that can happen after 20 some odd years.

 

[spincycle]

thanks guys, i will add the oil this weekend. I had the cylinder seal replaced last march because we thought it was leaking. turns out it is not the cylinder leaking, because i still have the leak. the hatt dealer up in Ga. told me before we did the cylinder seal that there was one other possible thing but this was the most common, so lets try this first, if thats not it we will do the other, problem is i forgot what he said the other cause might be....... the oil comes out of the top area of were the cyclinder is mounted on the Naiad unit.

 

[TopHattandTails]

Any update to this? I'm possibly looking at a new cylinder right now. Would love to see what else before the boat units escape...

 

[SKYCHENEY]

thanks guys, i will add the oil this weekend. I had the cylinder seal replaced last march because we thought it was leaking. turns out it is not the cylinder leaking, because i still have the leak. the hatt dealer up in Ga. told me before we did the cylinder seal that there was one other possible thing but this was the most common, so lets try this first, if thats not it we will do the other, problem is i forgot what he said the other cause might be....... the oil comes out of the top area of were the cyclinder is mounted on the Naiad unit.

It is usually the feedback assemblies that leak. You can rebuild those with new o-rings and lip seals or you can replace the whole assembly. They do not cost too much and they are not that difficult to replace as long as you don't push them too far and cut the o-ring.

 

[GJH]

If it is any comfort, I mis-typed. The new cylinder was 900 dollars, or .9 boat units. Those pesky decimal points!

Coincidentally, I just blew a hose up by the reservoir on the way up to NC from FL. I didn't figure out what was going on after I found oil dripping down the cover to the stbd, sea strainer... then the Naiad light came on. By that time had dumped a gallon of oil into the bilge. A lot easier than cleaning up the mess when the cylinder blew...