sea star

rlefevre

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My 2003 yamaha sea star steers like a tank I have bled the system it also wanders at headway speed anybody have a fix
 

kirk a

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Might need to bleed again, your information is cryptic, but air in system will cause boat to not steer as intended - will cause various symptoms. How did you bleed it -what process did you use? Some of the you tube bleeding techniques don't work properly.
 

SmokyMtnGrady

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Do you have any clicking while turning the wheel? does it seem to take more turns to get it to go one way or another ?
 

seasick

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Some simple test to help diagnose issues: Is steering harder in one direction than the opposite?
Turn the wheel (motors down but not running) and turn the wheel all the way to one side. Now turn all the way to the other side and count the turns. Do the same test for the opposite direction.
Now turn fully to each side and put more force on the wheel. Eventually with sufficient force, the wheel should rotate more than initially. Repeat for opposite rotation.

With the wheel in the center position, turn the wheel slowly while looking at the motor(s) and the wheel to see what fraction of a turn it takes before the motors start to move. That should be a small fraction of a turn.

Do you have a single or twins. If single do you have an anode on the LU with a fin? If so, at what angle is the fin set to?
If you have twins, do you have fins on the tabs?

If you have not bled a system like yours before and this a new task AND you bled it by yourself, you probably didn't bleed it correctly
 

brdawg2001

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I did purchase a rebuilt unit a couple of years ago...good investment...had new tilt mechanism as well.
 

SkunkBoat

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first things first...

disconnect steering bar and turn motor by hand. If its difficult, you may have dried grease in the swivel bracket,
 

seasick

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first things first...

disconnect steering bar and turn motor by hand. If its difficult, you may have dried grease in the swivel bracket,
Good point, I forgot to think of that.
 

Doc Stressor

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"disconnect steering bar and turn motor by hand. If its difficult, you may have dried grease in the swivel bracket,"

Absolutely the first thing to test. This is very common, even with engines that aren't too old and have been serviced regularly. Often a zerk will become clogged and no grease enters either the upper or lower part of the shaft.

The condition comes on gradually and is often ignored until it gets really hard to steer.
 
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rlefevre

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Might need to bleed again, your information is cryptic, but air in system will cause boat to not steer as intended - will cause various symptoms. How did you bleed it -what process did you use? Some of the you tube bleeding techniques don't work properly.
I have just purchased a closed system bleed kit will try it as soon as it comes in
 

rlefevre

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Thankyou all will also check the grease out and re bleed