Installing rebuilt helm pump

[mstrelectricman]

Well I noticed on our last trip offshore that fluid was leaking from my under my steering wheel. We took the wheel off and found that the top seal was the leak. We went ahead and removed the pump and took it to a hydraulic repair shop in Bay City. Just got it back to the house this morning. We will be reinstalling it next week.Ended up replacing all seals and the upper shaft needle bearing. Wish us luck that it functions properly with no leaks. A new helm pump will cost close to $1K! Yikes!

[Torque]

Good luck.

[Swells]

I think you might need a bit o' luck if you have to bleed all the air out of it, not sure what the trick is. You'll be fine if you get some advice on that.

I remember being offshore in some fairly high seas, Bertram 30, and the captain was holding onto the wheel so hard that a little hydraulic oil started leaking down the console. "Capt you need to stop hanging on the wheel so hard, or we ain't makin' it in." Yep, got them grab handles installed by next trip, he did. Cappy had a rather nasty name for them grab handles that I can't repeat on a nice forum like this.

[mstrelectricman]

Oh crap handles? The holding on to the wheel is what wears out the bushings/bearings which allows the shaft to have the lateral movement that allows the leak to start at the upper seal. It only takes a couple thousanths movement for the problem to start. I learned all this in the process of fixin my leak. My boat has the oh shwit handles and I am always holdin on to em b/c as you know, most days on the GOM aint peaceful! All my boys were busy this weekend with mud races and the mud thingy at Lane City so it'll be monday before they put the helm back together. The man at the hydraulic shop told me how to do the air bleedin thing. Just hope it all works out! Peace n Love to ya Bro.

[mstrelectricman]

Well guys, We put it all back together Sunday afternoon and all seems well! I will believe that it's fixed after a couple trips on the water. The first trip will have to be close to shore or maybe a jetty trip. I don't like to venture out to where I can't see land with equipment that may still have a problem. Let's go fishin!