Seastar steering clicking ?

[Marek]

Boat sat for a few weeks and now the helm steering wheel and the wheel at the rear station are making a clicking noise when turning to one side. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be ?

 

[seabob4]

Doesn't clicking usually indicate a check valve in the helm?

 

[Bryan 2530]

Sounds like you are a little low on fluid which may have caused a check valve to stick.

Fill er up and cycle back and forth to purge the air. Hopefully that cures it, you're ram seals may need replacing soon.

 

[tara11]

Mine clicked and added fluid and worked perfect, I keep and empty dish soap bottle filled with Sea Star fluid on my boat, it is easier to add a small amount from the dish soap bottle than using all the stuff that screws on, I may be doing it wrong, but works fine for me !

 

[stonebuster]

Mine also "clicks" and I can hear the springs in the check valve ping if I turn the wheel very slowly and only to one side. This has been going on now for two years. The colder it gets in the late fall the worse it gets. Once it gets down in the low thirties overnight it gets to the point the motor will not turn when I attempt to go in counterclockwise direction very slowly with the wheel. My fluid is not low and my cylinder is not leaking. Once I get it working at the dock, I'm good for the rest of the day. It seems strange though that yours would do this at both stations. Good luck and let us know your progress.

 

[Striperswiper]

Stonebuster
Any chance you have water in there that's freezing at low temp or turning to slush?

 

[stonebuster]

Stonebuster
Any chance you have water in there that's freezing at low temp or turning to slush?

That's an interesting possibility I didn't think of. I did replace the hydrolic cylinder since it was scored and the seals kept going bad. Maybe it drew some water in there when the seals were leaking. Thanks.

 

[Megabyte]

Squeeze bottles.
You can get them in red, yellow, or clear.

 

[bdgrbu]

Mine also "clicks" and I can hear the springs in the check valve ping if I turn the wheel very slowly and only to one side. This has been going on now for two years. The colder it gets in the late fall the worse it gets. Once it gets down in the low thirties overnight it gets to the point the motor will not turn when I attempt to go in counterclockwise direction very slowly with the wheel. My fluid is not low and my cylinder is not leaking. Once I get it working at the dock, I'm good for the rest of the day. It seems strange though that yours would do this at both stations. Good luck and let us know your progress.

Thats interesting, I have the same problem. It gets worse in the fall too. This past spring, I purged my system, replaced the helm seals, checked the valves and still have an issue. Fluid is somehow slipping past one of the seals because I have to keep turning the wheel to stbd the whole time I'm driving. Very annoying on long trips. I'll be looking to replace the ram seals this fall.

 

[hyper striper]

i have the same problem, but i have to keep turning to port on long runs, waiting for steering ram seels to come and change, ive got about 700 hours on boat shawn ludlow mass

 

[grouperjim]

been through a couple of SeaStar helms already. right out of the box there is a slight clicking sound.

if you find yourself turning the wheel constantly in one direction to run straight then the likely culprit is one or both of the check valves (located on either side of the helm). on my boat, it is easier to remove the helm to clean the check valves. FWIW on a 2520 it is not necessary to remove the helm.

when rotating the wheel, one spring loaded check valve opens and the other closes, allowing the one way movement of fluid. when debris, fluid residue, or rust fouls the check valve, the one way movement of fluid is disrupted. assuming proper fluid level and a good steering ram, this is what causes you to keep turning the wheel to maintain direction.

it is an easy procedure to remove and clean the check valves. while doing it, it also a good time to change the fluid and bleed the system. proper and complete bleeding is very important. FWIW a shop will charge you a $100 to power bleed it.