Steering helm on Marine Trader

[nobles9596]

Have a Marine Trader and helm behind steering wheel is leaking hydraulic fluid. Lines and fitting are dry. It has a brand on it that I can seem to read but under the name is says, Teleflex, Canada LTD

Looks like the spelling of the brand may be Syren?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. n. Sounds like the shaft seal is leaking. Probably worn O-ring(s).

 

[nobles9596]

Wondering if these are rebuildable? I cant find the brand that originally came on it.

 

[Portage_Bay]

Teleflex is the brand. Anything else on the label would be model etc. Most hydraulic helm pumps are rebuildable. Any decent hydraulic shop should be able to rebuild it. As RT says likely O rings. Or maybe seals.

 

[Keysdisease]

That's a Teleflex SYTEN helm. Teleflex was bought by Dometic and rebranded as Sea Star Solutions SeaStar Solutions

I do not believe the early Syten helms were repairable. The typical failure is the shaft seal, if it's in the back, a connection. If your helm has the removable seal cover like the one in the picture the shaft seal is replaceable, it's an O ring. Some of those systems were simple 2 line systems, some 3 line with a uniflow valve, a part that is no longer available.

Check if its a 2 or 3 line system, how many lines connect to the back of the helm. Measure the OD of the rudder cylinder, it should be 1.25, 1.5 or 1.75", maybe 2". Call Sea Star and ask for the closest 1:1 replacement in current model. That's the replacement solution.

The cylinder size will help you determine the volume helm pump you want to replace with. The Cylinders all travel 7". They have different helms and knowing the cylinder size you will have options for how many turns lock to lock you want.

 

[nobles9596]

Thank you so much

 

[nobles9596]

Thanks everyone. I found out these helms were not rebuildable so I purchased brand new ones. Found out you save a lot if you open up a PRO account at west marine.

 

[SIBERNUT]

I've got a Teleflex leak at lower helm. Looks like at back, but not a line. Love to buy a kit, but the prices are all over the place. How can I tell what I need? Haven't opened it up yet, soon.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Ok, mine says Teleflex, 4 lines off the back (2 helms). Lines are not leaking. Simple o ring kit fix or the $70 ones? Does not look like the pic, no sculped shape on top. Just a round bowl mounted w shaft horizontal.

 

[Comodave]

Try boatsteer.com. They rebuild SeaStar components. I had a steering cylinder rebuilt by them. Fast turnaround and good work.

 

[PM]

I have the same issue with my upper helm station. I have been avoiding the job but want to get to it this Spring. Is it a big job?

Any hints?

Pete

 

[Comodave]

Taking the helm off isn’t too bad. But the bleeding is where a lot of people struggle. There are directions on how to bleed, just follow them. If the helm itself is suspect then send it in for a rebuild, website is above.

 

[SIBERNUT]

Contacted them they asked for pics to identify my helm. If i can get a kit, ill tell all here. If not, ill try to source whats needed locally

 

[nobles9596]

It was a lot bigger job than it should have been. When we removed upper helm found out when the factory drilled the hole through the fiberglass/plywood to install helm, they did not seal the hole with epoxy.

For 40 years water was dripping in behind the helm and rotting the plywood that was sealed in fiberglass. Had to cut all the plywood out under the dashboard, replace the 3/4 marine plywood and then fiberglass over the entire plywood, drill new hole and epoxy the hole before installing new helm.