Hydraulic leak from helm

[amf]

Went to the boat on Friday and did my usual checks before our outing to the fireworks at Cowes.

Found a small leak of hydraulic oil from the rear of the steering wheel (only reason I noticed it was the damp patch on the teak cockpit floor).

Took off the inspection panel and sure enough the rear of the steering wheel (hydraulic actuator?) had some oil on it - looked like it had leaked from unit itself as opposed to the hose connections to it. Cleaned it up and turned the engines on to get the power steering pump going and did a few lock-to-lock turns of the wheel. No further oil came out - checked the power steering reservoir and level looked OK.

Did the trip to Cowes and then checked again next day - no further oil leak. Do these things have gaskets that need renewing? Should I ignore?

 

[Questor]

Had a similar experience with our Fairline.

What colour was this fluid? Are you sure it was hydraulic stuff, as in our case it transpired to be some of the grease which is packed into the steering assembly. It oozes a bit on hot days. It's a golden / yellow colour. Been told it's nowt to worry about.

 

[amf]

aha! yes golden/yellow - just assumed it was hydraulic oil! That makes sense as we have had a few hot days in the last couple of weeks. Thanks for putting my mind at rest /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Just hope the Wessex Chemical stuff will get the stain out of the teak.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[Questor]

It also doubles up as a good sealant for around the inspection cover /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif