Hello, To all who may have some insight on this matter, I welcome your input. I have been dealing with a steering problem now for a good three weeks!. I have a 98' 270 Sea Ray with twin mercruiser 4.3s powering a couple of Alpha 1 Gen II out-drives.
The problem - I found PS fluid all over the bilge while the boat was running at idle at the moorage. I found that the fluid was coming from an extremely loose clamp that feeds the low pressure side from the actuator to the oil cooler before it goes back to the PS pump. (my thought is that the actuator created a large amount of pressure on the low pressure side and popped the clamp or the clamp simply lost it's bite and loosened the hose enough to let it leak out.)
There was no oil left in the PS pump, I rebuilt the PS pump with new seals and rings. Bled system - result no power steering.
Then I replaced the PS pump with a remanufactured one. Still now fix!
Then I replaced the PS pump again (x2) due to the common issue with bad remanufactured PS pumps. Still no fix!
Then I bought a new Mercruiser steering actuator, while replacing it, I disconnected the steering cable and checked it for damage. No damage and relatively easy to turn the wheel. I had to friends, both Captains and fairly knowledgeable mechanics both advised that the cable was fine and does not need to be replaced.
I put everything back together and guess what? NO STEERING!!!!!!
SO, I then decided to move the PS Pump and high pressure line from my Starboard engine over to the port side engine. STILL NO STEERING!!!!!!!!
As you can tell, I'm at my wits end! Oh by the way, I also moved the Gimble handle while in the middle of replacing the actuator to make sure it was not a stuck out-drive. It moved just fine.
The only thing that I can think of is that even though I truly made an attempt to keep the flats on the actuator tube vertical, when I tightened the steering cable nut to the actuator tube, it did move about 30 degrees towards the horizontal position. Of course I noticed that once I reinstalled the high rise manifold and exhaust pipe.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Would that 30 degree difference truly not allow the control valve to function properly?
Im really trying to not pay a Technician to come out spend hours trouble shooting everything that I have already done.
In regards to bleeding the system, I have done both turn the wheel to each side with the engine off, (great workout!) and also turning the engine on and trying to turn the wheel to each end and wait 2-3 seconds before going the other way. No Blockage in the lines either had the engine running and poured fluid in while the fluid rushed out the low pressure side. Nope no blockage!
The problem - I found PS fluid all over the bilge while the boat was running at idle at the moorage. I found that the fluid was coming from an extremely loose clamp that feeds the low pressure side from the actuator to the oil cooler before it goes back to the PS pump. (my thought is that the actuator created a large amount of pressure on the low pressure side and popped the clamp or the clamp simply lost it's bite and loosened the hose enough to let it leak out.)
There was no oil left in the PS pump, I rebuilt the PS pump with new seals and rings. Bled system - result no power steering.
Then I replaced the PS pump with a remanufactured one. Still now fix!
Then I replaced the PS pump again (x2) due to the common issue with bad remanufactured PS pumps. Still no fix!
Then I bought a new Mercruiser steering actuator, while replacing it, I disconnected the steering cable and checked it for damage. No damage and relatively easy to turn the wheel. I had to friends, both Captains and fairly knowledgeable mechanics both advised that the cable was fine and does not need to be replaced.
I put everything back together and guess what? NO STEERING!!!!!!
SO, I then decided to move the PS Pump and high pressure line from my Starboard engine over to the port side engine. STILL NO STEERING!!!!!!!!
As you can tell, I'm at my wits end! Oh by the way, I also moved the Gimble handle while in the middle of replacing the actuator to make sure it was not a stuck out-drive. It moved just fine.
The only thing that I can think of is that even though I truly made an attempt to keep the flats on the actuator tube vertical, when I tightened the steering cable nut to the actuator tube, it did move about 30 degrees towards the horizontal position. Of course I noticed that once I reinstalled the high rise manifold and exhaust pipe.
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Would that 30 degree difference truly not allow the control valve to function properly?
Im really trying to not pay a Technician to come out spend hours trouble shooting everything that I have already done.
In regards to bleeding the system, I have done both turn the wheel to each side with the engine off, (great workout!) and also turning the engine on and trying to turn the wheel to each end and wait 2-3 seconds before going the other way. No Blockage in the lines either had the engine running and poured fluid in while the fluid rushed out the low pressure side. Nope no blockage!