Steering Cylinder

[Fish On]

I'm beside myself. Went to pick up the boat today. The steering is definately not right. There is 330 degrees of play when changing direction from right to left when the wheel has been turned all the way to the right. There seems to be a leak at the steering wheel (puddle of fluid on the deck beneath the wheel). They are trying to rebleed any additional air oput of the system but are now telling me I will likely need a new helm.

Anyone install a new helm before. Anything a novice can try to do themselves? I need to take my boat out of there and never bring it back to them again.

[teaser]

Welcome to the game of marina repair!

That what was wrong with mine after I got it back from my dealer, the steering had waaaayy too much play in it and it leaked steering fluid from underneath the mount.

Well I told them I paid to have it fixed so fix it the right way, they said because I put a new cylinder in the back it most likely is stronger than the helm being newer, kind of like replacing one brake line with a master cylinder with a car ... the pressure is much stronger in the new parts causing the older ones to fail.

I told asked them okay why all the play in the steering ... said it was same case senario.

Told them to go *&^% themselves and hijacked a mechanic soon after.

He told me part of their answer is true, the part about the newer parts versus the older ones, makes sense if you think about it like a cars brakes or sensors, if you don't replace all of it you can be sure it won't be long before you are doing it.

But the part they don't mention is that all the play is due to air in the line either being sucked in through a bad cylinder or through the helm which they now made a must replace part. It gets blown out by the higher pressure of the new cylinder.

I would ask them straight out what caused this and see what they tell you, that'll tell you if they are a reputable place to deal with or not. Like I said before they fix one problem only to cause another.

You can either replace the whole system or just keep an eye on it and add fluid when you need to.

Sorry to hear that you're not back up and fishing due to this, hope it all works out for you.

Keep us posted.

[fishaholic18]

Why does everybody think mechanics are ripping them off?
Being an auto tech for 25+ years, that really pisses me off.
It is probably true that the helm was on it's way out and wasn't noticable due to the problem with the cylinder.Now that the cylinder is working properly,another weak link is found.Happens all the time with cars too. I say, if you don't want to pay to get it fixed right....Go bust YOUR knuckles,buy Your own tools and spend YOUR money on the education and fix it yourself!

[Squid kids Dad]

I tend to agree with fishaholic...Tho when spending hard earned bucks its tough to trust anyone...I think the marine mechanic or any responsible mechainic should have told him what might happen ..I.E. If you only replace this, the other realted items might fail but maybe not...At least the owner knows about it ahead of time..Good customer service!!!

[fishaholic18]

Originally Posted by Squid kids Dad

I tend to agree with fishaholic...Tho when spending hard earned bucks its tough to trust anyone...I think the marine mechanic or any responsible mechainic should have told him what might happen ..I.E. If you only replace this, the other realted items might fail but maybe not...At least the owner knows about it ahead of time..Good customer service!!!

Problem there is...You can't possiblty predict what will happen. If I replace a brake line on a guys car and the rest look OK, how do I know what may fail next? Would you just be happier if I said you should replace them all,(Probably the safest,but most expensive way out), I would still be accused of screwing you.. Catch 22 I guess. Then there's the liability issues. Not easy!!!
But...try to save a guy money and say: I can fix this one line for you....Have another one fail and see what he thinks of you...

[Fish On]

There are several valid points here to a passionate situation that we all encounter one time or another. I'll admit I wanted to take the cheap way out from the beginning. I typically always look for the most cost effective solution. I was affected by the size of the bill but also that the day I went to pick up the boat I found it with the issues mentioned previously. Long story short they kept the boat another night, rebled the steering several times, and it seems to be working much better. Took the boat out for the weekend. There was a small drip at the help when I started, but after cleanup it did not return. Play is down to about 100 degrees which is better than it was when I started. I'll keep an eye on it and replace the helm if necessary and give it a shot on my own first.

Tight lines!