Damn steering
 

I opened up the boat yesterday, and discovered my steering problem from the end of last year. The port seal on the actuator was is leaking as evidenced by the puddle of hydralic fluid under it. I have to check through my paper work, but I hope the thing is covered. The boat is an 04, the steering is Sea Star by Teleflex, I would think 2 seasons is a short life for the part. I hope they stand behind it. The marina ordered a new part, about $500, and said about an hour of labor to install. Other than that boat is shiney and new, All electronics worked , I'm ready to go!

$500 dollars is a rip off. You can buy the whole cylinder for that. The seal is more like $50, and it takes about an hour (and 2 bottles of fluid) to replace it. Very much a DIY project. Seastar sells a sealkit for about $100 that includes 2 end seals, a bunch of O-rings you won't need, instructions, and a spanner wrench. I just changed mine. Really easy. If I was doing it again I would have just ordered one seal from seastar and borrowed or bought the spanner elsewhere. If you want, pm me, and I can probably fax you the instructions and part number.

Tell me about it, i have had problems almost every year with my hydraulic system. Teleflex customer support is great, they sent me a new cylinder OUT OF WARRANTY.....

I am in the process now of installing the new cylinder.
Contact teleflex by email and tell them what is going on. they sent me a free seal kit first, then when I saw the problem was worse they sent the cylinder.

I am with these guys. They are ripping you off and teleflex is great to deal with

Great something to go wrong with hydraulic steering. I just ordered the set up for my boat last week and I was hoping to avoid problems with steering in the future. Now I see there are problems to be had with these things too:rollem: . Can't wait. P.

I was so sick of hyd. problems , I nearly went back to mechanical (the new NFB) system this year. If teleflex had not sent me a cylinder free, I would have switched back.. That said, some guys I know have had hyd. for years with no issues at all. Maybe you will be in that group (hopefully)...Make sure you rinse the bejesus out of it, but not with pressure. Pressurize occasionally to make sure water does not get in. That is what failed my cylinder. I found pitting inside the cylinder. Alos make sure the connecting plate is free to move, I have seen many that its frozen and it puts strain on the selas.

From now on, I am going to flush the hyd. fluid every season, maybe even take the cylinder off and make sure everything is well lubbed. On the new one, I covered the exposed piston rod with flexable bellows to keep salt water off and keep them oiled.

Steering
 

I just replaced one of the seals on my boat last week. I bought the seal kit for just over $100. I changed it myself it's not that big of a deal. If it's the round cap on the end with the o- ring it should be the same one. $500 seems a little steep.

Thanks for insight and info, just e-mailed teleflex, hopefully they will back up thier part.

The problem I had with Seastar steering unit on my boat was when you tilted the motor up to put it on the bracket, if the motor wasn't centered the end caps would hit the bolt heads that hold the motor bracket onto the transom and cause the end caps to leak. My firend also had the same problem with his boat. The first time the dealer just tightened up the end caps two years later it is starting a slow leak again from the end caps.