Power steering fluid in bilge?

[Lou C]

That job (actuator replacement) is one of those jobs that is such a pain on some boats, that the only saving grace of it, is that you solved a problem and the skills learned make you a better backyard mechanic.
"you gotta suffer if you want to sing the blues"
On my brother's 2020 Chapparal with the Merc 4.5, changing it, or the starter would require an engine pull. I convinced him to sell it buy the same boat with an outboard!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Quick question if not too far off subject, how do you clean the bilge?

I personally use a bucket of hot water and dawn dish soap and scrub away, then rinse it out when the boat is on the trailer.

 

[Chris1956]

Castrol Super Clean or the generic version, "purple stuff" is an excellent degreaser.

 

[Jeff J]

Purple Power is a good degreaser. I use it straight for tough jobs. Bilge work usually gets diluted. I spray it on with a garden sprayer, let it soak a minute or two then rinse with the hose. Purple Power is available everywhere I have been and I usually but it at Dollar General.

We had a steering actuator spring a leak in a Cobalt last year. I turned down the job and recommended they take it to a shop. I think they parked it in the lot and put “beeper” back on the water. I recommended that one go back to the shop as well because I couldn’t silence the beep. My scanner is kind of limited.

 

[bajaman123]

Quick question if not too far off subject, how do you clean the bilge?

In my case, because it was SUCH a mess, I dumped in two gallons of SUPERCLEAN, about a half-bottle of Dawn, and then blasted in about 30 gallons of water. The chemicals emulsified the oil and essentially held it in suspension. Drained it, got a bunch of towels jammed in wherever I could, whipped those around with a short wooden handle, pulled them out and repeated the first process because...drum roll...I had forgotten that the boat was a little nose-down whilst on the trailer and...some of the oily crap had got into the bottom of the ski locker, which drains to the bilge, and was stuck there. So...raised the boat's nose up high, cleaned the bilge again AND the ski locker. Dawn and SUPERCLEAN...best thing ever for this. Don't fool around with the namby-pamby "environmentally friendly" products, they don't work.

 

[Lpgc]

Sorry to the OP for going off subject.
I just sprayed the bilge with a hose with finger over the end to increase velocity of water, that loosened up most of the cruddy spots that were sticking to the bilge but the bits floated on the water. By controlling the depth of water and rinsing the bits rearward I got most of the bits to flow out of the drain plug. I'm sure I could've shifted more of the crud using hot water, a brush, something to emulsify the crud like soap etc but it's looking a lot better than it was. I'd prefer it to be spotless but it'll do for now hehe.