Electric Steering Upgrade and Autopilot

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Koakine88

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Location
Haleiwa, Hawaii
Model
Adventure
Aloha,

I have a 2021 Adventure 208 and had my hydraulic steering go out on a recent fishing trip on my Yamaha F200. Learned my lesson to keep extra hydraulic fluid on the boat, as I had to fill with engine oil to get home as I was unable to maneuver in 20 knots of wind and somewhat rough seas off Kaena Point. The leak is on the steering ram, and I was looking into just rebuilding it with new seals or ordering a new ram.

My steering had a “clunky” feel for a few months, and a few weeks ago I paid a reputable local shop to do my 500 hour maintenance and check the steering system (do service myself with exception of the 500 hr intervals). They bled the system, but I believe I had a slow leak that got worse quickly on that last trip, especially during the 20 minute fight with a black marlin.

In contact with the shop and asked about electric steering upgrades and maybe adding auto pilot. Since my F200 is the DEC version with digital throttles, the harnesses already installed should make it a much easier conversion.

Looking for any opinions on this, has anyone converted their hydraulic steering to electric? Is it worth it? And how does auto pilot options work with the newer electric steering? Specifically for Helmaster EX line.

90% of my boating is trolling for big game fish at 8-10 knots. Conditions in Hawaii offshore typically don’t allow for real cruising speeds.

My thought is that instead of paying less $ to just fix something on my boat, maybe pay more $ for an upgrade and something that may even increase the value/ desirability of my boat in the future.
 
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First off - I would totally add an Autopilot. I'd go out without life jackets before an Autopilot!

Not sure about your question but if you're asking about adding an electric assist pump to your hydraulic steering I will say this:

Most boats that have electric assist pumps plumbed into their steering (and autopilot) systems have twin engines (i.e. heavy).

If you're talking about a non-hydraulic steering system (i.e. a 100% Electric) I don't know about that...

A single Yamaha 200 doesn't strike me as something that needs power assist unless you feel your steering is hard "as is".

And, I recommend you carry a small oil can with a flexible tip full of SeaStar hydraulic fluid in case you get low out there!

Kinda like this which makes it easy to top off in that little black cap at your helm:

 
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Your motor has digital throttle and shift but probably not electric steering. You would need to totally remove the existing steering system including the helm and replace with a digital electric helm and either hydraulic or electric steering ram. That just the mechanical part of the job.
Your boat is relatively small and as stated, standard hydraulic steering should be more than enough. Repair or replace your ram and remember when you get that clunking feeling, something needs attention:)
 
HMBJack said:
First off - I would totally add an Autopilot. I'd go out without life jackets before an Autopilot!

Not sure about your question but if you're asking about adding an electric assist pump to your hydraulic steering I will say this:

Most boats that have electric assist pumps plumbed into their steering (and autopilot) systems have twin engines (i.e. heavy).

If you're talking about a non-hydraulic steering system (i.e. a 100% Electric) I don't know about that...

A single Yamaha 200 doesn't strike me as something that needs power assist unless you feel your steering is hard "as is".

And, I recommend you carry a small oil can with a flexible tip full of SeaStar hydraulic fluid in case you get low out there!

Kinda like this which makes it easy to top off in that little black cap at your helm:

Click to expand...
Yeah, my 201 came with Seastar hydraulic steering from the factory on my F200. I did opt for DEC, which does make the throttle more smooth but was sort of a really expensive option that doesn’t give a ton of return. Since I have DEC, adding digital electric steering and auto pilot is less intensive.

I never loved the feel from my hydraulic steering. I deal with a lot of swell in Hawaii and when running down swell it’s always harder to turn one direction depending on how I’m quartering the seas. This really comes down to ease of operation. I troll at low-ish speeds with rougher conditions regularly and constant helm adjustments down swell gets old.

I know I don’t “need” electric steering or auto pilot, but it seems they work well together. Being 10-40 miles offshore on a pretty straight course for hours at a time, being able to let the boat maintain course sounds pretty amazing.

Mostly curious how people feel about it, the feel, the performance at lower speeds… I’m not looking to add an electric assist motor to my hydraulic system, but the full helm master package without the joystick.
 
seasick said:
Your motor has digital throttle and shift but probably not electric steering. You would need to totally remove the existing steering system including the helm and replace with a digital electric helm and either hydraulic or electric steering ram. That just the mechanical part of the job.
Your boat is relatively small and as stated, standard hydraulic steering should be more than enough. Repair or replace your ram and remember when you get that clunking feeling, something needs attention:)
Click to expand...
Yeah, when that happened I regularly checked the fluid level and it seemed to remain topped off. My hopes was just some air bubbles in the system, and I had that upcoming service scheduled anyway when I got closer to 500 hours.
 
if it's just end caps they're pretty easy to replace. make sure bleed valves were retightened correctly and no leak in any other part of the system. power purge to make sure the system is charged correctly.

as mentioned above, you can always do any modification you would like, but is it really worth ripping everything out it if it's just a couple end caps?
good luck, ron
 
You can't justify the cost and effort for "electric" steering, even if you could get it.

First things first, disconnect the cylinder (ram) from the tiller/swivel arm. Make SURE you can move the motor easily by hand.
When you grease the swivel bracket(sometimes called steering bracket), grease should come out the top.
There is a bushing that can get sticky after years of grease. Your 2021 should not be at that point ...but who knows. .

Once you are sure there is not binding, then refurbish or replace cylinder.
There are orings on the bleed valves.
The end caps are fairly easy.
There are orings in the center of the cylinder also. thats a harder job.
There is a seal in the shaft of the helm that can leak.

I highly recommend a good Autopilot. Especially for you, since you travel far and you troll. After you have an autopilot, you will think that trolling without it is just stupid.
 
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The leak is coming from the starboard side of the steering piston. So that seal definitely needs to be replaced and I need to confirm the rod has no marring.
 
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Those endcap seals are easy to change, just buy the tool and the replacement caps. Your challenge is often getting the attachment off the end of the ram due to corrosion. If that is not too hard, this is a quick and easy job. From your photo of the ram itself doesn’t look bad slight marrring is not a major issue and with new seals should be OK.
 
Seastar hydraulic steering is 1000 times more reliable than anything electronic and not difficult to work on...you can plumb your Autopilot in and it will work great. I did replace the helm pump on mine after 18 years..boatsteer.com has rebuilt stuff that works great.
 
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Got the quote back for install of electric steering + helm master auto pilot and it was nearly $10k. Maybe this is something I’ll do with a repower down the road, but I wasn’t expecting costs that high.

I ordered new seals and the tools to replace the leak myself and will flush out the system. Now that I’m down the rabbit hole of wanting auto pilot, I’m finding decent deals on Garmin Reactor 40 1.2L pump systems and it looks like a fairly easy install with the many kits available. It will work nicely with my 942xs+ and CL7 display. I think I’ll be fine without needing the integrated display, but could always add that after if I find I need it.

Mahalo for the advice and steering me towards a more sane choice (the cost of a conversion helped sway me too). Will report back as I start the project.
 
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I expected the steering conversion to be more than 10k.
 
Ended up getting the Garmin Reactor 1.2 autopilot pump and GHC 50 screen. I’m about halfway through the install with everything mounted. Going to have a local shop do the final hydraulic rigging and finish the ram seal kit. Excited to have autopilot for the long trolling days.

Went with SemperFi Fishing from The Hull Truth, very competitive pricing on these kits!

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