Hydraulic steering repair

[sailormanbigd]

Hi, "free boat" Patrick here. Just went and checked on the 33 Morgan outisland. Its been rainning tons down here. Pumped out about 3 gallons and replaced the bat with fresh charged one. While i was there i decided to try and remove the leaking hydraulic cylinder and ram. It is bronze all except the shaft and appears in fine condition but alittle dirty/discolored. I cleaned it up alittle and can't find any identification numbers on it. I did find a k15 stamped on one end cap-probably a machinists number or something.
Does anyone know what brand/size ram that Morgan used in 1974 on the outisland? Also, does anyone have idea/suggestions regarding how to repair it. I would like to do it myself (read no money). It is a little over a foot long and the main dia of the housing around 1-1/2 with square bronze end caps held on by some long bronze studs at the four corners. The po said he knew someone that rebuilds them for $275. Seams a bit high if all that needs doing is replacing some packing and some orings? Patrick

 

[sailaway78]

Hydraulic Rams

Hydraulic rams are a very, very simple piece of equipment. As long as the shaft is not bent or scored, and nothing else has a problem, all you really do is replace the seals. May have a regular seal or possibly O rings. Do not try to purchase seals from the ram mfg. or a marine store. Get them out and take them to a bearing supply near you. If they can match the numbers, which is very, very likely, it will be the proper seal. There just isn't much else there to go wrong. Just make sure everything is squeaky clean, and there are no rough spots or burrs on the shaft.

 

[sailormanbigd]

thanks Nice, thats what I was thinking. Does'nt look too complicated? Just a piston with seals/vee packing inside? Probably o-rings for the end cap seals? will find out soon enough. I will remove the encaps-one at a time and start looking inside the ram to see what's in there. That is how i have had to learn for most everything in the past, too poor to pay someone, so neccessity is the teacher.

 

[sailaway78]

There should be

In addition to the end cap and seals, there will also be an "O" ring inside on the part of the ram that seals against the cylinder. Once upon a time I worked in a place that made a bunch of these things from scratch, instead of buying them. Very simple piece of equipment.

 

[bobtigar]

The system was manufactured by Hynautic. While they are no longer in business, cylinder rebuild kits are avail. Lewis Marine is the Distributor is S Fla that stocks the kits. You can order thru any parts retailer. You'll need to know the model # (there are 4 similar to your ram) to get the right rebuild kit.

The kits cost under $30. The rebuid job is tedious, but not difficult. Bob

 

[sailormanbigd]

Hynautics K15

Thanks for the replies. I did some searches and indeed it is a hynautics k15. So, the kit might be avail for ok money, the job is not difficult but tedious, hmm, i what way? I cam4e across a web site that sells/repairs steering rams and they had a pic of the internals of a ram on a table top and said it is not a doit yourself kind of a rebiuld, how do you "time it" when you are finished? Don't know nuttin about it, need more input. Patrick

 

[Snotter]

I just went through this fire drill with my Morgan 41 OI. I bought a rebuild kit from some outfit in Canada. The kit was the wrong one. It was just as well because I took the piston to an outfit in Decatur, AL who rebuilt it as good as new. However, it took a little over a week because they shipped it off to their shop in Birmingham. It was a tad expensive though--over 300$. The outfit who did the piston rebuild said that that they will be happy to do my rotary vane pump when the time comes.

 

[bobtigar]

Re: Hynautics K15

Its not a bad job, takes maybe 1 hour. But pull the ram from the boat, take it home and lay it out on a table to disassemble. Take the ends off, and lay the parts out as you disassemble in order to reassemble in the same manner. As I remember, the rebuild kit was $25.00. It is a bunch of o-rings, seals and gaskets. dont know what yo mean by "timing it". you will have to blead the system after reconnecting the ram in order to remove any air in the line. The OI 33 manual has a page on how to. Bob

 

[sailormanbigd]

thanks all. Bob, i have the ram on my car port. I want to say how happy i am about your optimism regarding me being able to rebuild it myself. Actually hearing that someone else has done it and "not too bad" makes it a GO as soon as i get the kit. The "timing it" comment was from a website that rebuilds them and I'm sure that its a conflict of interest for them to inform the public that its a rather doable diy project. It is very surprising how little info/directions that the net has regairding rebuilding one. Instructions regarding bleeding would be valuable as well. I have the bomar auto pilot plumbed in with the steering as well. Thanks again everybody, much appreciated. pat

 

[bobtigar]

Bleeding the hyralic system...
I was going to type it in but the inst are 3 pages long. Send e your address and I'll mail copies. Bob

 

[sailormanbigd]

Email

Hi Bobtiga, i checked your registry and no email address, so mine is :
sailormanbigd@aol.com I would be very grateful for the instructions on how to bleed the steering system on my OI33. The po told me all i had to do was to turn the wheel counterclockwise? Patrick