Hydraulic steering problem

[TCATTC]

I'm currently putting a boat back in service (24' TCraft Cuddy) that has been stored for about ten yrs. It has 2 Hynautic steering helms, when I started to bleed the system I noticed the top station leaking around the shaft. Should I try to replace the seal in this myself or do I need to send it back to Hynautic for repair? I think we sent them out back in the day but I'm not sure.

 

[TCATTC]

No opinions? Anybody?

 

[JoLin]

There is a place that rebuilds them (Southern Charm), and kits available to do the job yourself. When mine started leaking I looked over both options. Read some dire warnings about the pump being a tough rebuild job (the innards are complicated and lining everything up can be hard). Since I didn't want the boat potentially sidelined for awhile, I opted to replace mine with a Seastar helm. It was a direct bolt-in replacement, though if I remember correctly I had to redrill a few mounting holes. The hose end fittings from the old Hynautic screw right into the new pump. Here's a good reference to find the right size replacement pump...

http://www.boaterscatalog.com/item--...eries--charmen

Hope this helps.

 

[TCATTC]

Thanks, that is the info I needed. After looking at their web site, this is the same place we used to send them.