Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hey guys I need a little help. I am having an issue with my steering. It is seastar hydraulic steering and it is turning hard to the left. I have had a fluid leak of some sort for a while and think it might be the steering fluid with a very slow leak. If it was low would it make sense that it is Hard to turn only to the left? If so, can I just add fluid for now and get it looked at later? What fluid would I use? Where would I add it. It is a bennington with ESP package. Thanks for any help.

Roadking, have you talked to the dealer service folks?
I don't know about it being harder to turn in one direction than the other, but the service people could probably hazard a guess.
SeaStar makes a Marine steering fluid for hydraulic steering. CAUTION: Add fluid in very small amounts and make damn sure you have some absorbent cloths/paper towels around the fill hole. You can't tell until it's too late that you poured too much into the hole and you don't want that mess all over the carpet.

Use automotive power steering fluid and save. The Seastar oil is $20+ a quart.Yes the manual says it's ok to use.

It will effect turning making it hard and jerky. Its like bleeding brakes, a helper is handy, there are two bleed valves on the hydro cylinder at the motor, add some fluid( but dont overfill) and turn the wheel all the way to the left and bleed the right valve, then add fluid and turn to the right and bleed left valve repeat until you dont get any air bubbles out of the bleeder valves. Make sure you continue to add fluid as you go to keep from getting more air in the line. The place were you add the fluid should be a black, star shaped plastic cap somewhere around the steeringwheel, on my 05 Benny it is to the right of the steering collum on the helm. Hope this helps.

If the leak is at a seal, try adding a bit (2-3 ozs) of brake fluid. It's an old automotive trick that's saved me from dropping several transmissions to change the front seal. Brake fluid (it's a hydraulic fluid) swells rubber which helps maintain a tight system. Brakes work under thousands of lbs of pressure whereas most other hydraulic systems don't. I've also used brake fluid to stop leaks in car engines from the front & rear crankshaft seals.
If the leak is not at a seal, don't add it.

Yikes!

Saving a few dollars just to fix a steering problem..... ya gotta quick fix for my bad brakes on my semi?????

The end cap seal repair kit is NOT expensive.... relative to someone's safety.....( average cost is $50 retail )

The "jerky" steering is from air..... find the bleeding instructions somewhere online or send me your email and I'll scan and send them to you. Dexron will work fine for the fluid. As for the leaking if you have any..... check all hoses, check the end caps on each end of the cylinder if it's a "balanced" cylinder, the one end cap if it's a side mounted "unbalanced" one, next.... check the steering shaft the cylinder travels on for nicks on the surface.... if you find ANY..... you will need to replace it.... period! New cylinders are expensive but I see them on ebay used and good for about half of a new one. "Hard" turning can also be the result of someone stepping on the cylinder and bending the shaft OR a frozen swivel shaft on the motor from lack of lubrication ( usually salt water related motors ). In most cases a low fluid level does NOT cause the steering to be hard.

It's a safety issue..... not just the lives onboard, but other ones who may get in the way...... please.... fix it right.

I am thinking it might just be torque steer and the hydraulic steering is stiff any way. I am fine with it, but my wife and 17 year old son are having a hard time. Maybe just need to add power steering I don't think it is the steering leaking fluid. But something else on my motor is. I can't find where the oil is committee.g from. Very frustrating. It is a minor leak but enough to leave a little oil slick every once I'm a while.

The Mercury rep says if you idle around a lot you can get a little oil from the idle port on the leg.

I do have a long no wake to my docking spot. Maybe that's it. Just doesn't seem rightright. My motor is a 4 stroke, it shouldn't have any oil coming from it! I can't find any leaks though, so I guess that makes sense.

I have a 4 stroke too but that was the story they told me. The guy stuck his finger in the hole and it was a gummy black stuff in there.

Boatsnmore; A tad bit of brake fluid has saved me thousands of $ over the years. It's never did any damage to an engine/power steering unit/transmission yet. It hasn't always fixed the leak, but those leaks neede a seal replaced anyway. On marginal leaks, it's worked great for me.

I haven't had the problem for 20 years or so, but whenever I'd have a stuck lifter (hydraulic valves, not a race engine), pouring a quart of type "F" transmission fluid into the oil has cleared up the problem. (Tranny fluid is high in detergent, it cleans out the sludge that block the ports in hydraulic lifters). Believe me, I'm no fan of "mechanic-in-a-can" but sometimes it can save a body a lot of unnecessary work. I'm not afraid to tear an engine down to its individual parts, I've done it on everything from weed-eaters up to and including turbine engines. I just don't like to do so if it's not required.

I didn't recommend using brake fluid to fix a leak because I'm a shade-tree mechanic. I've earned a living for years fixing aircraft, which included rebuilding engines. Sorry if I sound a bit snooty.

[quote="belercous"]Boatsnmore; A tad bit of brake fluid has saved me thousands of $ over the years. It's never did any damage to an engine/power steering unit/transmission yet. It hasn't always fixed the leak, but those leaks neede a seal replaced anyway. On marginal leaks, it's worked great for me.
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I didn't recommend using brake fluid to fix a leak because I'm a shade-tree mechanic. I've earned a living for years fixing aircraft, which included rebuilding engines. Sorry if I sound a bit snooty.[/quote]

I found this older thread while searching for power steering fluid help. I did find this on Sea Star's FAQ page, fwiw:

"Automatic transmission fluid (Dexron II®) may be used in an emergency. Never use brake fluid. Any non-approved fluid may cause irreparable damage, loss of steering, and cancellation of warranty...."

Not trying to reboot an argument, as everybody here is way more experienced than me. However, if you care about your waranty on the system, you may want to watch what you put in.

does the boat want to turn right when you are running straight and level or is a right turn super easy vs a left turn. Might check the trim tab under the cavitation plate. I have regular steering so I cant speak to hydraulic steering but I drove a pontoon triton with lifting strakes& hydraulic steering last weekend and it was a sweet ride...hands off at 33 mph--zero turning.....good luck.....