Leaking steering piston

Riptide III

Riptide III

3D
Dec 8, 2007
1,139
Dartmouth MA
Boat Info
1997 Sea Ray 400DA
Cat 3116 TA
1994 Sea Ray Laguna CC 250 Tohatsu
Engines
:
Have had some issues with the steering ram leaking. Has anyone ever rebuilt the piston? Is there a kit available? Mine has developed a very slow weep at what appears to be the stainless rod. I would rather rebuild than buy new but will do what I must. Thanks.
 
I wrote an article a couple of years ago about this, but I cannot find it in the new software. I'll find it in my files and repost it in the tutorials section.

But to get you going, there are kits available from Teleflex/SeaStar for the ram, but this is usually less then a satisfactory approach. The ram is nothing but a small diameter double acting hydraulic cylinder where the ram moves in and out of the cylinder body and is sealed by a seal around the cylinder rod. If the rod is perfect, you can rebuild successfully, but what usually happens is the rod get pitted from just exixting in the environment it is mounted in. Most boats have rudder packing gland that seep a bit of water which keeps t he rudder hardware in a corrosive environment. Even if t he rod is stainless steel, it will still corrode over time. Sooner or later the rod pits and the continued steering action, moving the rod and the rough pitted area in and out will soon cut the new seal and you are right back where you are today.

There are some things you can safely "cheap out" on, but this isn't one, if you want a permanent fix.
 
Thank you frank. Im looking forward to reading that article. I would also like to pull it apart and inspect for pitting. However I don't want to eat a lot of down time. It would be nice to have a kit and a ram source available.
 
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