Hynautic Steering System

[tallswede]

Hi all, I have a Prairie 36 with Hynautic steering and have been experiencing a problem. The boat always wants to drift to port and constant adjustments have to be made to continue straight. Maybe one every few seconds depending on wave and wind conditions. I have not found an external leak and I have only had to adjust pressure once in the last 2 years. This doesn't seem to be a problem in maneuvering around docks or close quarters, only in long straight line cruising. Have any of you had this problem and what did you do to address it? Thanks for any input.

Kevin

 

[rslifkin]

Go through the bleeding procedure to make sure there's no air trapped anywhere in the system and when finished, make absolutely sure the relief valves are fully closed. If one is leaking a bit that could allow waves, etc. to push the rudders around a bit.

 

[twistedtree]

When you say it drifts to port, do you mean when the rudder is centered, the boat is still slowly turning to port? If so, how are you centering the rudder? Do you have a rudder indicator? I'd say the rudder just isn't actually centered and you need to re-zero the indicator.


If, on the other hand, you mean that the rudder position shifts to port (and the boat with it), then there is some bypass leakage in the rudder cylinder and/or the helm pump (or AP pump if you have one). You could narrow down between the two if your system has valving that allows you to isolate the helm pump or the cylinder. Isolate either and see if it still drifts.

 

[gordytwo]

Pulls to port

I had the same problem. The oring on the piston in the steering cylinder was hard. I rebuilt the cylinder and all was fine. Kits are easily found online.