Bleeding Seastar

[larman]

I just had my seastar ba125x7-bj rebuilt. I may planning on reinstalling on the boat tomorrow but noticed I do not have any bleeding valves. How do I bleed the system?

 

[Comodave]

On one of our boats we had Seastar steering. We had a port above the helm. We had to get a quart kit with a hose that hooked onto the port. Hold the quart inverted above the port and poke a hole in the bottom of the quart. Then steer all the way one way and then the other way. Back and forth to work all the air out of the system. Not difficult but takes some time. If I remember correctly they had directions on the website.

 

[larman]

Thanks I think that is the only option without any bleeding valves at the steering cylinder.

 

[sean9c]

I'm a little puzzled on how that technique gets the air out of the cylinder. If it was me I'd put the helm hard over and crack the fitting at the cylinder.

 

[Choices]

Going had lock to lock will pop the high priority relief valve and let the air escape. You will feel it as a pound bang.

 

[larman]

We left Philly after putting in the steering cylinder in. While at the dock we added about a quart of liquid gold, seastar hydraulic fluid. We are now under way with the bottle still attached to the fill and every once in a while bubbles are still coming up. Especially while turning the wheel.

 

[Comodave]

They make a bleeding system that works great but it is very pricey. For a DIY it is way out of the picture but for a shop it saves a lot of time. You will likely get air bubble for a while.

 

[Rearmount]

There are fittings on the steering ram for air removal. No other way to do it or there will be air in the system for months or longer. This is an involved procedure that will need a helper. Go on YouTube for a video. There will be several.