Steering problems - 7 turns

[daveyg]

I have Baystar hydraulic steering on a Tornado 5.8 with Mercury 90, I've bled the system so there is no air, but it still takes 7 turns lock to lock

I'd appreciate some guidance if this is normal or how to fix it ?

I got some advice that it should be only a couple of turns L-L, and it could be the spring tension in the helm unit (HH4016) so I took a peek, it all looks ok, the springs have all about the same length and apply some pressure, it took a load of strength to get the unit back together compressing the springs.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Erin]

I didn't think hydraulic had springs. Sure it's not standard push/pull?

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by daveyg

I have Baystar hydraulic steering on a Tornado 5.8 with Mercury 90, I've bled the system so there is no air, but it still takes 7 turns lock to lock

I'd appreciate some guidance if this is normal or how to fix it ?

I got some advice that it should be only a couple of turns L-L,

I doubt it's a "couple of turns". All specs I could find for "normal" (i.e. recommended helm/cylinder combos) Baystar systems all show 5 turns L-L.

Do you know what helm and what cylinder you're using?

Are you sure you've gotten all the air out of the system? Often, you can get a little more out by turning the wheel to full lock in one direction, then whipping it half a turn back and forth several times (air ends up in the fluid reservoir.) Repeat in the other direction. Shouldn't affect the turn ratio, though, I'd think; more for smooth steering, but may be worth a try anyway.

jky

[Turbodiesel]

Standard Bay Star helms are 7 turns lock to lock, the only way around it is to change the helm.
Had this problem with the MoD raider type boats, we fitted Baystar helms but found to many turns lock to lock. We ended up putting Seastar helms on with the bay star ram to get it down to 5 turns.

[Hightower]

A Baystar I had my old RIB was a 1.6 cu inch helm and was 5.5 turns from lock to lock. Your one is a 1.4 cu inch helm so would take more turns of the steering wheel to go from lock to lock and about 7 seems about right.

My Seastar on my present RIB has a 2.4 cu inch helm and is 3 turns from lock to lock.

Hope this information helps.