Hyrdraulic steering problem?

[tigermullet]

Have just returned from helping a friend establish himself on a Riviera 30ft equipped with 200hp Volvo Penta duo prop and twin station hydraulic steering.

The boat was almost uncontrollable at any speed and frightened the living daylights out of us on three occasions. The steering feels soft at mid ships helm but tightens up very much at under one turn of the wheel.

Any thoughts? Neither of us have any experience with hydraulic steering systems and are guessing that air in the system might be causing the problem.

He will have someone look at the system but I am wondering if a 'lead' can be given by anyone reading this.

Apart from the steering problem it was an interesting four days - we dragged anchor just three times; bounced off the marina finger twice; he fell overboard once; and I caused us to veer off course by attempting to alter the trim. I think that the steering problem was more at fault than my decision to alter the trim but the result was a windscreen full of mangroves racing towards us at a high rate of speed.

Worse still, we were bitten by things that have not yet made it on to the known species list.;D

[bay_firey]

Tiger,
Have not got much experience with hyd steering, but it sounds to me that air could be an issue.
Is this a new rig ?? If so back to Riviera. If not I would be looking at bleeding the system.
Are the linkage points at the legs secured properly ??

[tigermullet]

Thanks Mark. No, the boat is not new. The cost of a new Riviera is way beyond our resources. It is an older boat but the motor is almost new and runs very sweetly.

We didn't think to check the linkage points at the leg - that could be a big part of the problem.

After further discussion with this friend late last night, he has decided to get the experts in to have a look.

When I get back to my boat I am going to kneel down and kiss the deck. It has never had a problem with its simple cable and pulley steering system.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

TM

[Noelm]

air in the system does not NORMALLY cause your symtoms, and bleeding the system is pretty simple, (but anything is possible) if it tightens up, the I guess as a first off "non invasive" surgery, have a good look at the rams and make sure they are not bent, also does it get tight without the engine running?

[gofishin]

Tigermullett

Hopefully just air in the system from what you describe, but could be a combination of air & mechanical problems. Don’t know what else would make it so uncontrollable. Also check non return valves between stations.

Boat will probably be wet-berthed, so bleed first (if he doesn’t, get a mechanic to do it). Otherwise he will need to slip it for the following check.

You say it is an almost new motor, but if it’s the 6cyl AQAD41DP 200hp diesel it will be at least 16 years old as I believed they were fazed out around 2001. That model Riv will be older. Otherwise if it’s a near new 4cyl VP then the following won’t help as I haven’t done anything with these for longer than that – and the memory is a little scratchy at best.

A simple check you can do is to disconnect the steering helmet from the leg yoke and make sure the leg swings freely between stops. Remove two allen bolts (M10 I think) in helmet pin, use M6(?) bolts in two smaller holes to wind/drive helmet pin out.

Check the legs swings free. Check movement of steering helmet while someone is turning the wheel at a constant speed, which should also be constant.

Be careful when re-installing to match the notched trim wheel tooth to the forward (closest to bow) slot in the rack (plastic, curved, fixed to top of helmet). Otherwise trim position will not be accurate on the trim guage.

A single 200DP in a 30 Riv FB would be a quite underpowered in my book, but otherwise they are a great donk.

Cheers Brendon, hope you sort out the problems.

[tigermullet]

Thanks Noelm, thanks Brendon. From your responses I am now sure that he will need an expert. There is no sense in either or both of us attempting to solve the problem - it is well outside our competence. The Riveria is old, an 82 model I think and the diesel was fitted in 1997 but has only 510 hours on it. It was a mistake to term it as 'new'. It looks pristine and is as clean as a whistle. Seems to run and perform very well although I am no judge of what the performance of these boats should be.

This will be my last experience with a boat of this size. They are just too complex for me. From now on I will be happy with my old, slow clunker. It might look ugly but is easy to use and work on.

I am grateful for the responses. There is a wealth of knowledge on Ausfish.