How hard will it be to steer...

[JoLin]

If I disable the Power assist?

The boat in my sig has hydraulic steering - it's a Teleflex/Hynautic pressurized system . The boat also has a Merc. power steering system. The two systems are completely separate hydraulically. Each has it's own reservior, fluid, hoses and steering ram. The two rams are linked together at the transom to move the (dual drives) Alpha steering arms. Long story short, the Hynautic system does the steering while the Merc system provides power assist

I've got a bad fluid leak in the Merc system, somewhere back at the transom. It's too tight back there for me to disassemble things, i.e., separate the rams and pull the Merc stuff out for inspection. It's going to be a job for a yard as I think they might have to pull my starboard engine to get at it.

I'm going to remove the belt from the Merc power steering pump and try the boat without assist. If it works I'll leave it disabled for another time. Just thought I'd stop in and ask if anyone knows if the steering will be too stiff, or if prop torque is going to rip the wheel out of my hands.

I'll post back after I've given it a try, but please comment if you know anything about this.

My .02

(PS- I just spoke with my friend who's going to try this with me tomorrow morning. He reminded me that my props are counterrotating and, thinking about it, that might negate the issue of prop torque making it too hard to steer. We'll see.)

 

[joeanna]

my friend just redid his new boats wiring, I asked how it worked, he replied " it worked great until my power steering stopped working, I was pushing 40 thru a blind pass when it went out, I couldn't turn the wheel and went straight into the rocks, no hole but a lot of gouges and the sound of the fiberglass tearing". and hes a big guy. His boat is 24' with a new 300hp Suzuki ob,

 

[JoLin]

I'd like to understand more about his steering setup. Is it really power-assisted steering, or is it the usual hydraulic system, that suffered a failure? Pretty sure the only way to put PS on an outboard is with an electrically-powered assist, as there isn't any way to drive a pump off the engine. My boat isn't dependent on the Merc. power assist for steering- I have a full and separate Hynautic hydraulic steering system. I don't run 40 mph, and I have counterrotating props. In any event, I'll post back after tomorrow's test.

Thanks for posting.

 

[JoLin]

Well, running with the Hynautic system alone worked fine. It works so well, that I kinda wonder why Carver went to the trouble and expense of adding the Merc PS to it in the first place. I stress-tested the steering... hard turns on plane, alternately running one engine at 3000 rpm with the other in neutral, backing the boat down and visiting the fuel dock to take on 40 gallons. The steering is stiffer than it was, but no stiffer than any of the inboards I've driven. It's a little easier to make turns to port than to starboard, but the difference isn't much.

Next steps... First, I want to disconnect the PS fluid lines from the Merc. ram and put them in closed loop to the pump. That way I can retain the PS pulley and still have 2 belts driving the water circulating pump. Second, I'll see if I can disconnect the Merc. ram from its bracket. If I can take that out of the system the steering should be even easier as I won't be pushing that 'dead' ram back and forth as I steer.

My .02