Sea Star tilt helm leak- 272 Sailfish

[reelserious]

Last season I had the seals replaced on the tube assembly at the motors. The good news is that there are no leaks back there. Unfortunately, this season I had a leak coming from somewhere in the helm assembly. I got through the season by adding a little fluid from time to time, while trying to isolate where the leak was. I replaced the vented cap and checked all fittings as well as the allen screws at the aft end of the assembly. After talking with Sea Star the only place left that can be leaking is the shaft seal at the helm. I plan on having the dealer address the issue prior to launching next spring. My question is has anyone had this seal replaced and does it make more sense to just replace the whole helm assembly on a 10 year old boat?

 

[amr72]

I have the exact same problem. I am curious to hear the responses...

 

[LUNDINROOF]

"O" ring

I had fluid leaking behind the helm, between the bulkhead and the helm. The dealer changed it and I think the charge was about $5 for parts and an hours time. No leaks for the past two years. You should try this before changing out the helm.

 

[Renovator]

I am in the process of repairing mine now. I had to repair the shaft seal on my last boat after about 8 years and to my knowledge it is still fine. I would definitely go that route before purchasing a new helm. My current leak is coming from the rear gasket area and having removed the helm I have discovered that the port side hydraulic line was bent at a 90 and completely pinched/ creased and I believe causing to much backpressure or loss of fluid flow. I can't imagine that GW installed it this way, I'm thinking whoever did the ap install may have crimped it by mistake during the reinstall. I have also discovered a leak on the cylinder so I will be replacing those seals as well. We'll see.

 

[Workdog]

First of all, if it's a leak from the steering shaft seal, check out this website for details on how to change those seals: http://www.continuouswave.com/whaler/re ... xSeal.html
I had a leak coming from behind the console. It ended up being from the two relief valve caps located on either side of the helm pump towards the back. To get to those easiest with least amount of spilled steering fluid, you would disconnect the two hydraulic lines from the pump, unbolt the pump from the console (in my case I didn't have to remove the steering wheel from it), then unscrew the relief ports (one big flat head screw cap on either side of the pump). Clean the pieces inside and replace the O-ring on the caps. If you are leaking from the steering shaft, you should see fluid leaking down the front of the console your steering pump is mounted to. You say you replaced the fill cap, and that sometimes leaks when they go bad. But, if you are getting drops of steering fluid on the deck behind the console, the leak is probably on the back of the pump.

 

[reelserious]

Workdog....thanks for the link and info. I am not sure if it makes a difference, but I have a tilt helm. This helm is mounted at an angle. I mention this because the fluid is dripping from the back side of the pump assembly (behind the dash). My thought is that simple gravity is why (ie, this is the lowest point on the setup). At first I thought it might be coming from the back plate which is mounted by 8 allen screws. I checked the screws for tightness and cleaned off the area. I then stuffed a paper towel at the spot when the pump assembly exits the dash on the back side bottom. The next few days showed no dripage/accumulation at the bottom/back of the assembly. The towel did have fluid on it. Based solely on the process of elimination, I assumed it must be coming from the shaft seal. You mention two relief valve caps. I was not aware that they existed and are therefore a candidate. Before I go forward how can I confirm or eliminate them as a potential source of the leak?

Thanks again for the info/link.

 

[Workdog]

You should be able to detect fluid coming from under the wheel if it is a shaft seal problem (stuff a scott towel between the steering wheel and pump unit and run it like that for awhile). If you have fluid there it is either the steering shaft seal or fluid coming down from the fill cap. The "relief valve caps" that I talked about above are not mentioned in the Seastar service manual. There should be one on each side of the pump towards the back of the pump. They have a large blade screwdriver slot on them. When they are removed/unscrewed you will see an o-ring on them and a small aluminum cylindrical valve inside. To get easy access and an easier reassembly one would probably need to take the pump out of the helm to get to them. On my boat at least, there is hardly any room to see those while the helm pump is in place. I determined mine were leaking by cleaning the whole steering pump assembly as best I could and ruling out leaks from the front and leaks from the hydraulic lines. My wheel is not a tilt, and there was no other place mine could leak from. Yours sounds like a shaft seal. Try stuffing the scott towel under the wheel.

 

[reelserious]

Based on what Renovator, Lundinroof and workdog are saying, it sounds like it is worth going for the rebuild versus replace. I will go ahead and do the 2 o-rings as well as the shaft seal as long as the assembly will be removed to do the shaft seal anyway.

Thanks again for the feedback.