Sea Star hydraulic steering repair issue

For the second time in three years, the seals failed in my steering and at this time of year, trying to get into a marine dealer for service gets my boat back somewhere around the fourth of July, so I’m doing it myself. Only problem is, the actual seals themselves were designed by words I cannot post here. They have four tiny holes in them that only a tool of theirs can fit inside, but they are, too, small to gain you any leverage. I have talked to several parts guys and all of them shudder and tell me that they are buggers to get out and that’s what I’m finding.

The best advice I’ve gotten so far is to whack the tool with a hammer, and so far, all that has done is ding the gelcoat and waste a lot of energy. Oh, and the tiny holes seem to be getting larger, which won’t help the cause. I’m hoping someone out there has gone through this and has an idea or three. I know the company doesn’t. They haven’t returned a call yet.

I think I see a business idea. The kits sell for $125 for two seals and a couple of O rings. I could design a far superior seal and compete with these Bozos.

Danke

I have had all sea star systems leak after time,more than 3 boats , I had the dealer replace seals in a 2 only lasted for a season??? Drip is not that bad wrap a rag around the leaker when parked.

Not much help here but following… Have to replace mine as well. In the research stage and will let you know if I find anything.

No help here either, but when they go out is the steering really loose? Took the boat out sunday and the steering was loose, didnt notice it last year.

They aren’t that hard to do. Takes a little bit of time. Probably less if you know what you are doing. I did mine two years ago after it leaked down over the winter. I started by checking out a couple dealers before opener. Knowing that the seals themselves should only cost a few bucks I was shocked when they quoted me $200 for parts alone. At that point I knew this was a home repair job.

Off to Amazon where I got the parts, including the spanner wrench, for about $100. They don’t just sell the seals. The end caps come with the seals already installed. All you need to do is unscrew the end caps using the included spanner wrench. Hopefully they weren’t over tightened by some backyard mechanic. Based on your description, your mechanic over tightened them. Sorry.

To anyone else thinking of doing this, make sure you buy the kit with the spanner wrench, if you don’t all ready have one. The kits are sold either with or without the wrench.

Work one side at a time. Watch Youtube videos on how to replace them yourself. I sat in the boat watching the video first. You can do it in a couple hours. Just make sure to bleed them and refill the reservoir as you are bleeding it.

Edit, looking at the spanner wrench online, there is a square in it where you can connect a breaker bar or ratchet to gain leverage on the caps. I don’t recommend using the breaker bar or ratchet to re-tighten them.

My Amazon order was 4/2016, $95 shipped.

Yes, when you lose fluid, the steering goes to pot. I was turning the wheel about ten times to get the outboard to turn and then back again. High speed running was not possible.

@Khyl. Exactly. It’s the seals that are impossible to remove. I have a neighbor who is an auto mechanic and he is stumped. The spanner wrench is, too, small to get any leverage and the holes are way, too, small to put a lot of pressure on it. A horrible design. All they had to do was weld a hexagonal plate on the end so you can get a wrench on it, but this way, you are forced to buy their crappy $25 spanner.

Bleeding the lines isn’t hard and I’ve managed to loosen all the bolts involved, but we cannot for the life of us get those end seals to budge. And if you nick the rod running through the cylinder, you have to replace the whole shebang for about $500! One really bad design. I was hoping someone had a brilliant idea but I’m getting a queasy feeling about this. I just might fill the tank with fluid and be stuck refilling it during the season.

I agree, and the square hole in the wrench would be better served if it was further down the handle.

My guess is that whoever did the job last time over tightened the caps. They don’t need much. Luckily mine came off easily with the supplied wrench. When I tightened it down I backed them off again just to check the tightness, then lightly re-tightened. The seals should seal the caps. The caps shouldn’t have been torqued on like a lug nut to hold. I’d be angry with the mechanic that did the previous work more than the design.

An option could be to have the neighbor check his tool supplier for a different spanner wrench that might work better for your situation.

Also, the replacement should have more holes for the wrench to use. I think the original only had four holes which didn’t give you many options to start breaking it lose. The replacement should have six or eight holes for the wrench to get in at different easier angles.

The new seals do have more options, but that doesn’t help get the old ones off. I’ve tried pounding the spanner with a hammer and used a pipe to get leverage, but the tiny teeth don’t hold into the holes very well and even with two guys working, one trying to hold the top end in and the other applying force, the wrench ends up popping out before we get anywhere.

I had one guy suggest taking the cylinder off completely and putting it into a vice to get a good grip, but I don’t know it it’s strong enough to take the force necessary to get those seals off. If I damage that bit, I’m cooked and spending another $500 or more for a new unit.

Gordon, Adding to comments above which I agree with. I’m not too mechanical and was able to do the job myself and my wife’s assistance to bleed the steering system. I picked one of these up (has 3 pins instead of two) ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017KT4F4A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) and used my 1/2″ ratchet with extensions to get in there (may need a breaker bar and a trusting friend to hold the spanner in the holes). IMO, the spanner that comes in the kit may not be the right tool if your original installation if the caps over tightened. This tool then allows you to buy the kit with the caps, seals and O rings only (about $80). I bought this particular spanner because it’s identical the the spanner needed to replace my power tilt seals which go out frequently as well (maybe this spanner could be dual purpose for you) from what I understand (Yamaha) and much more torque was needed to remove those (did this job the same day as the steering). To me, this was worth every penny because like you I was told my repair shop is scheduling at the end of May which is not good for using a boat for fishing. Please feel free to message me, I just did this over the weekend. BTW. the new caps have multiple holes in them, not just the 4 so you can get in there from multiple angles and the new style has orange seals, old style is white. I believe SeaStar knew there may have been deficiencies and upgraded their seals.

Just a quick question. Do you have the nuts on the rod loosened as well as on the main brackets in the back? If so, consider attaching all of that. I saw or read a tip stating the first thing to do is loosen the caps before loosening anything else. Don’t know if this helps or not, just a thought.

@socoeyechaser That tool might help, but the way these seals are stuck, I’m not sure. I am going to hit the hardware store and see if I can pick something up that might be stronger, but I really think I’m screwed, (just like my seals!).

All the nuts are tight, otherwise there is so much play that the cylinder just wobbles. I took off one of the hydraulic lines to get more room and that didn’t help. So far, two men, a hammer and a pipe for extra torque haven’t helped, so my last ditch effort might be to try and use a chisel to get the thing turning. Kind of scary since if I scratch the rod, I’m doomed.

I’d even settle for taking it in to the dealer as all I’m asking for is for them to loosen the seals, but nobody here in the Twin Cities wants to do it. They want the whole job and they want to hold my boat hostage for the next month. Not going to happen.

Success!!! I now have a boat that goes in different directions.

The good news is that I’m not a total whack job. Partial, yes, just not total. The guy that put the seals in the last time got them in but good. I took the cylinder off and brought it to my normal car guy, Bonded Transmission. I cannot say enough about the level of service there. They do way more than transmissions. The guy cranked on it so hard he broke the vice!

It’s amazing to see a big, strong guys whole body shaking from the strain of combat, but by Yimminie he got em loose.

I will say, though, that no matter how many videos guys put out there saying you can refill the lines by yourself, it’s way better with two. The next time, I’ll sucker, er, con a friend into helping. Bottom line, though, thanks for the support and help.

The key to getting stuck seals off was a giant vice, a giant vice grip and lots of sweat. Good luck.

What an ordeal. I’m happy you were able to get them done.

I have to do mine this weekend. I have watched several videos and it looks fairly straightforward accept getting the caps off. Can you give a little detail on how you bleeded the system after the install. If anyone else has some tips for bleeding the system that would much appreciated.

I’ve helped do one before. I would wrap the shaft in electrical tape to help prevent the spanner from gouging if it slips.

Despite what the videos say, I think it might be easier to get the seals off if you disconnect the hydraulic hoses to give you room to get some leverage. Several of the videos talked about how tough it was getting the support brackets off, but mine came off pretty easily. I agree about being careful with the shaft. Mess that up and you are buying a new one. Also, the nuts on the ends of the shaft may not come off together. We had to use a vice grip and some vinyl strapping to hold onto the shaft and get the second one off. Otherwise, the whole shaft spins.

Bleeding was sort of easy, but not really. You need two clear hoses, which are cheap enough and a clear, flat container to catch the fluid in. I found a shallow one let the micro bubbles escape quicker. Once the fluid is clear I then poured that into an catsup squirter I picked up at the dollar store to refill the quart container. I grabbed a cheap funnel there, too. It really is easier with two people, but I did it myself. You’ll need some kind of device to hold the pouring container up and stable. Mine shifted and I lost about a pint of fluid onto the carpet. At $25 a quart, that sucks.

Also, watch how quickly the fluid drops in your pouring container. If you let it all run out, you get more air back into the system and you have to start mostly over. It happened very fast. I turned to look at the bleed hoses and when I turned back, the one from the pour container was empty. Aargh! Just turn to the right until the motor is all the way over, open the bleed valve and keep on turning the wheel a while until the stream is mostly clear, close the bleed valve and then turn the motor the other way and open the valve on that side. Repeat until the line is clear of bubbles. Then, take an hour or two and try again to let those tiny bubbles come together again. I’ll probably rebleed my system in a week or two to make sure it’s holding together, but for now, it’s working well enough to get on the water.

Great news Gordon! Your suggestions are spot on. I too had to disconnect the hydraulic hose on the port side and disconnect my kicker connected to the main motor to get in there with the spanner. My wife was nice enough to hold the fluid and steer the wheel at the helm. I worked the bleeders and held the cylinder by hand against the pressure which seemed to push a lot more air. Agree, two people is best. I simply cut the bottom off a quart container and used that as my funnel for refilling at the helm when the fluid was getting low. I haven’t priced the other fluid options besides SeaStar’s brand; yes, its pricey. Bummer about your spill, I did the same thing at the end of the process after keeping everything clean until that point. I used oil absorbing sheets everywhere.

Did mine today. Wasn’t to bad. I took the wrench they give you and cut the handle off just above the square hole. Then used a socket wrench with an extension and stuck that in the square hole of the wrench and used that as my pressure lever to get them loose. They should really just sell it like that with no handle. Fits perfectly on a socket wrench. Didn’t have to disconnect the hydraulic lines. I would have had to if I didn’t cut the handle off.
Thanks for all the tips they helped.