Rusty steering arm - photo

B

bport

New Member
Feb 28, 2009
205
Gloucester, MA
Boat Info
2008 330 DA, Raymarine C80
Engines
8.1 V-drives
The steering arm that connects the rudders on my 330 is rusting. This is way in the back of the bilge and difficult to access. Has anyone else seen this? I have thought about cleaning and painting but it would be a tough chore and the tab where the power steering actuator connects needs to be free from unnecessary friction (so paint seems like a bad plan). Thoughts?

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Do you ever see water on the deck above what makes up the upper and lower portions of the swim platform. As in where the deck and hull mate? If so, re seal the joint.
 
I have no rust on my '01... I would complain to Sea Ray something is wrong that you have that much rust on an '08, unless the boat was under salt water for a month..
 
If that was my boat, I'd take it off and have it powder coated. :thumbsup:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ziekman@cox.net said:
I have the same issue, will get a pic. It has been bad fo a while. B-port, I will ask my yard for an opinion.
Click to expand...

I'd like to revive this thread. Has anyone spoken to Sea Ray about this? I just bought a used 2008 Sea Ray 330, cleanest used boat I've ever seen, and it has the same problem. The bilge looks brand new except for that one rust arm. Clearly they got a bad batch and in my opinion, they should replace them. I pulled it out over the weekend to see about making a new one, buying a new one, or sandblasting and painting this one. Anyone have any insight into this?
 
I would take pictures of the arm as well as your clean bilge and send to Sea Ray asking them for some help. If they don't help either have it sandblasted and powder coated or have a fabricator make one from stainless.
 
It looks like the issue might be two different metals causing one to corrode. There may have been a rubber spacer separating the two metals and it wore out. Had the same proble on a tractor that had stainless fuel tanks and metal strapping with a rubber gasket separating the two and when it wore out the stainless tank corrode and starting leaking
 
Wait a minute..........before the "call Sea Ray to complain and ask for help" train leaves the station, consider the facts.......i.e. this is a 5 year old boat, 4 years out of warranty, and the rusty part doesn't appear to have ever been maintained, i.e. brushed, cleaned, coated with a corrosion blocker, or painted, and the rust isn't a safety or serviceability issue, just cosmetic. The total cost to fix this is roughly 1.0 hour of labor. So do you really want to burn up any good will warranty chip you may need in the future on a $125 cosmetic repair?



Just so you won't think I'm just a grumpy old pro-Sea Ray guy, I think you may have something else going on here that is more important. The photo is a little fuzzy so I can't be sure but it looks like you may have the outer part of the seal on the steering ram beginning to separate an come apart from the packing gland....see the little black looking ring almost to the ball joint on the cylinder rod? If I am right, the packing seal is going to start leaking very soon and you may find yourself without steering because all your steering fluid is in the bilge.

To get an understanding of what is going on, go to the CSR home page, looks 1/2 way down to the 3rd article:

http://clubsearay.com/content.php/3...-Teleflex-Sea-Star-Hydraulic-Steering-Systems


It looks to me, based on the probable steering ram seal failure (caused by corrosion on the cylinder rod) and on the rusty rudder tie bar, that you have a pretty wet bilge that may be contributing to your problem.
 
I have a similar story- 2008 Sundancer 330. Very well kept by prior owner.
Looks the SAME as that original pic starting this post.

I found a replacement at Flounder Pounder Marine- FBMARINE.com, for 40 bucks. Not sure if they still have them, but search around.
Just to protect is some more, I primed it and then used Rustoleum "BBQ grill paint" to protect from the heat.
 
Mine (OP) has been repaired under extended warranty.



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fwebster said:
Wait a minute..........before the "call Sea Ray to complain and ask for help" train leaves the station, consider the facts.......i.e. this is a 5 year old boat, 4 years out of warranty, and the rusty part doesn't appear to have ever been maintained, i.e. brushed, cleaned, coated with a corrosion blocker, or painted, and the rust isn't a safety or serviceability issue, just cosmetic. The total cost to fix this is roughly 1.0 hour of labor. So do you really want to burn up any good will warranty chip you may need in the future on a $125 cosmetic repair?

Just so you won't think I'm just a grumpy old pro-Sea Ray guy, I think you may have something else going on here that is more important. The photo is a little fuzzy so I can't be sure but it looks like you may have the outer part of the seal on the steering ram beginning to separate an come apart from the packing gland....see the little black looking ring almost to the ball joint on the cylinder rod? If I am right, the packing seal is going to start leaking very soon and you may find yourself without steering because all your steering fluid is in the bilge.

To get an understanding of what is going on, go to the CSR home page, looks 1/2 way down to the 3rd article:

http://clubsearay.com/content.php/3...-Teleflex-Sea-Star-Hydraulic-Steering-Systems


It looks to me, based on the probable steering ram seal failure (caused by corrosion on the cylinder rod) and on the rusty rudder tie bar, that you have a pretty wet bilge that may be contributing to your problem.
Click to expand...
Frank, Thanks for the detailed response but that photo is not of my boat. The bilge in my boat is spotless and dry and I have to assume that the arm was spray with a corrosion blocker since everything else in there has been. I removed the arm last weekend and I'm going to try to sandblast it and paint it but if that doesn't work, I'll just make a new one. I've come across 4 different 08 330's with this problem while no other corrosion or rust is found anywhere on the boat. To me, that points towards a defect of some type. I don't intend to pursue this with Sea Ray but if this is a known problem that Sea Ray has been willing to address, then I wanted to jump on the bus. As far as it just being cosmetic, I'm not sure that I agree with you. This is more than just surface rust and this arm is under high stress when executing turns at speed. Not really a great time to lose your rudder control.
 
twomad said:
It looks like the issue might be two different metals causing one to corrode. There may have been a rubber spacer separating the two metals and it wore out. Had the same proble on a tractor that had stainless fuel tanks and metal strapping with a rubber gasket separating the two and when it wore out the stainless tank corrode and starting leaking
Click to expand...

to me that doesn't look like electrolosis from dissimilar metals....just a bad coating or lack of coating
 
I have same situation at my 2008 Searay. A lot of rust in bilge.
Around rudder base , there was water comes out and if goes to mid bilge.
Im going to replace the both rudder grease seal asap, but I need to replace the arm too.
Anyone know, where I can buy the new metal arm at online or off-line ?
Do I have to take out and make new produce ? (Even looks bad to take out already...)
Sorry for not perfect ENG skills.
I need help..
 
Jiweon Kim said:
I have same situation at my 2008 Searay. A lot of rust in bilge.
Around rudder base , there was water comes out and if goes to mid bilge.
Im going to replace the both rudder grease seal asap, but I need to replace the arm too.
Anyone know, where I can buy the new metal arm at online or off-line ?
Do I have to take out and make new produce ? (Even looks bad to take out already...)
Sorry for not perfect ENG skills.
I need help..
Click to expand...
I have the exact same rust issue. I think I will just pull it, sand blast and repaint.
 
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