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Here is what I have been using for mine… You need some very inexpensive stuff. first some clear tubing that fits the bleed fitting barbs that are located on the steering ram itself. Next, you should buy an inline diesel fuel filter. Heres how you set this up: 1. Attach a piece of tubing to one of the bleeders. The other end of the tubing connects to the filter, and a third piece connects to that and should be long enough to get to the helm… 2. Take a 1 quart bottle and so that you can insert that piece of tubing that is coming from the back of the boat. Rig something to hang this bottle over your helm, maybe a foot or two above it. Take the helm fill fitting you should have and install it in place of the fill plug that is in the helm, and use a piece of the tubing to connect the bottle you have hanging over your helm. 3. Now you should have a “closed loop”. bleed fitting to filter to bottle to helm. Now you are set. 4. Turn the wheel all the way to the left until the motor stops moving. Use a piece of wood cut to length to block the hydraulic ram so that the motor can not turn the other way. The piece of wood will fit between the end of the hydraulic cylinder and the bracket that connects to the stainless steel ram itself, and it will lay against the stainless steel rod. Hold it with string, rope, wire ties, etc. 5. Now connect the tubing to the bleed barb on the right hand side and open the bleeder. Walk up to the helm and start trying to turn the motor to the right. It wont move, and fluid will start to come out of the fitting, thru the filter, and into the bottle that is refilling the helm. Dont go too fast as the fluid is thick and it is being forced thru that filter to remove any trash before recycling it into the system. Watch for bubbles, and turn until absolutely none are seen exiting the bleeder. Continue for a bit longer to make sure no bubbles are trapped. 6. Now walk back to the back, close the bleeder, and turn the motor all the way to the right after you remove that blocking piece of wood. re-install it on the opposite side, move the tubing to the left bleeder, open, and repeat. 7. If you are anal, you can now close everything up, remove the blocking piece of wood, and run the motor back and forth several times. Then you can repeat to get any last trapped bubbles out. Once things come up bubble-free, you are set. One thing I have seen is to look under the helm, and at the back of the boat and look how the two kevlar hoses are run. Normally they come out the side of the helm. If they rise up a bit, there is a potential air trap there, and about the best solution is to just turn the wheel much faster when bleeding as the thick fluid will carry the bubbles along to the rear. But you want to avoid blowing the tubing off the filter and making a mess, so easy does it. Ditto for where the tubing connects at the rear of the boat. Hopefully the helm and rear cylinder represent the high points in the fluid system which makes bleeding easier. The reason for all the stuff is that (a) you can not let the helm run dry while bleeding or this will be a never-ending process. The closed loop makes sure that you always have fluid in the bottle that is continually refilling the helm. And since there is always fluid in the line from the bleeder, there is no way for air to work its way back in prior to your closing the thing. Once you are done, you can probably throw the tubing away as by the time you need it again, it will be cracked or brittle thanks to that fluid left in it. I have done this many times and it is an easy one-man job once you understand the process. The part about turning the motor to one side, and then bleeding from that side is to prevent air from being trapped in the ram itself. If you are not sure which one to bleed, you can block it to one side and when you try to turn the wheel in the opposite direction, you will only get fluid from one of the bleeders, that is the one you are working on. Do not, under any circumstance, open the other bleeder while bleeding the opposite side, as you will introduce air on that side and it will have to be expelled again… hope that helps. You can do it using two people, but you have to still be very careful to keep that helm refill bottle full so that you dont let air in anywhere… If you have any questions, feel free to ask. This will get almost all slop out. There will still be a tiny bit, and when you grab the back of the motor and yank left or right, you will see the kevlar hoses move a tiny bit inside the boat. Not much that can be done to get that last bit of slop out, but it wont be a problem as you likely have more slop than that in the rubber engine mounts…2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
Step two above should be something like this: take a 1 quart bottle and punch a hole in the bottom so that you can insert the tubing from the back of the boat, with the bottle hanging upside down over your helm… Somehow that part about punching a hole was deleted as I typed…2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
In the case of mine, what I have is a T fitting on each end of the hydraulic ram assembly. One end of the T has a hydraulic line to the helm, the other side has a barbed fitting with a rubber cover to keep it clean. This barb does not have any sort of automatic valve in it, you just loosen the barb fitting (just one end of the T, not the entire T fitting) as you do to bleed brakes on a car. When you loosen it, it opens it up so loosen it just enough so that you can bleed it, but not enough that it will come off or let air leak in… I had missed that part of your question. This is one of the early SeaStar systems that was designed for real high-performance boats, but they have been improved even further after Allison asked for even less slop. Ive not seen any that bled differently than what I explained, but it is always possible that a new design might separate the bleed and fluid fittings completely rather than using the T.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
We would have to take the official stance on steering and refer you to the Teleflex manual, or their on line assistance guide. OT57 has given you a pretty good description in detail.
OT57 Once again step by step and complete detail. Really like the closed loop system and the filter is a great idea too. Ones that I have done took two people, one at the helm and one at the rear of the boat. The closed loop is a great idea. Joe Murray
thanks guys for the help. After BCB mentioned the Teleflex manual I went duh. Johnny
I use the tubing and filter as I help friends do this regularly enough that it saves a lot of fluid… I just cap the tubes, roll them up, and wait for the next time one needs bleeding. The filter is probably over-kill, most likely, as the tubing should be clean already, and the fluid in the bottle is certainly already filtered. But I always felt better doing it. But remember my warning. The first time I did this approach, I made a royal mess as I got to really spinning the wheel to expel the last tiny bubbles and blew the tubing off the filter. You dont realize that you are creating a lot of pressure with the wheel, and the filter is the “choke point” that will build up pressure behind it and blow the tubing off. Even if you clamp it as I did. 2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
Just got a PM asking about “why do you need the block of wood to hold the motor at one extreme of its travel?” The issue is this… If you dont block the motor, or have someone hold it, it will move, and that will let bubbles get trapped in the hydraulic cylinder because fluid does not flow all the way through the thing. By blocking the motor at an extreme travel point, the fluid goes from the line right to the bleed fitting and there is no fluid in that end of the ram to trap air… Hope that helps…2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
Also the do not spin the wheel, use slow methodical motions as the excess speed of the swage in the slave pump increases those tiny bubbles and froths the fluid which turn into one big bubble. BCB
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