Hydraulic Steering question

[sailscubasurf]

The boat I just purchased has two helm stations and hydraulic steering.

The steering at the top station is tight and very responsive, however, the steering at the lower station is much more sloppy, especially at slow speeds.

Anyone have an insight on what I can do to correct this?

[Cheechako]

I might say try bleeding air out of the lower station, but often any air goes up to the top station on it's own.... so... not sure that would be it.
You can check to see if both pumps are the same cubic inch displacement, maybe one was replaced with the wrong one at some point? a small pump can feel less responsive as it pushes less hydraulic oil.

[sv_pelagia]

Just guessing here: perhaps issue with seals on lower helm pump?

If there is a hydraulic autopilot in system (assume it is lower than 2 helm stations), how is it working?

Might help to tell us brand/model of hydraulic system.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

You can check to see if both pumps are the same cubic inch displacement, maybe one was replaced with the wrong one at some point? a small pump can feel less responsive as it pushes less hydraulic oil.

Could also be seals, but most likely they have different volumes.



Does it take the same amount of turns to go end to end for each station?
Any noticeable leaks on the lower station?
Is it a pressurized system?



As requested previously, what brand is the system?