Twin Engine/sea star question

Westie · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 10:48 am Post subject: Twin Engine/sea star question

I went to my boat yesterday to find the engines both pointing inward (I.e. Pigeon toed). There was no hydraulic oil leakage that I could see. When I store the boat, I always put both engines all the way up and centered.

I'm guessing that the TELEFLEX Hydraulic Tie Bar Alignment Valve basically gave way to the opposing pressure of having the engines slightly inward. I had noticed the stearing felt a little loose the last few times. It's possible a little fluid seeped out of the tie bar valve.

I opened the tie bar valve and repositioned the engines. I then added very little seastar fluid to the helm. Everything checked out fine.

Either I need to replace a valve or change my stow away practice of keeping the engines centered. Any advice?

The boat is in a saltwater berth so they need to be kept out of the water.

SEA3PO · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:04 pm Post subject:

Holy Cow Batman ! This is a mystery... I don't know what you have for a tie bar but I sure would be putting an eye on it.... mine is plenty beefy and for it to give way would be amazing....

I always store my boat with both motors up.... and going down is almost impossible by themselves..... think I would suspect foul play !

Joel
SEA3PO (Delta bound)

Westie · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 12:20 pm Post subject:

My tie bar is basically a valve that controls the dependency of each motor on the single line

Here's a link to the tie bar:
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/teleflex--hydraulic-tie-bar-alignment-valve--6545321

SEA3PO · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:12 pm Post subject:

Thats neat... mine is a solid bar with ball joints on the ends....

I can see a loss of pressure would indeed allow the motors to sag against each other.,.... but what let the motors down ? should be an entirely different thing... not at all connected to the steering..

I had the helm station seal start leaking.... and I didn't see it....leaked down the back of the unit and under the sleeping mattress (my side) made a horrible mess.. I resealed the pump but never felt like I could trust it so I replaced the unit... if you don''t have a leak somewhere you should never have to add fluid...it does not evaporate.

Joel
SEA3PO (out packing the boat right now..)

SEA3PO · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:19 pm Post subject:

I see you have a Tomcat....now I understand why you don't have a solid rod... Duh !

I always check and clean my steering shaft rods and wipe them with silicone.... I think the cylinder seals probably take a pretty good beating from junk that builds up on those shafts.... I always carry spare hydraulic fluid with me as when my old unit failed I was long from home.... and nothing substitutes for SeaStar fluid... I tried silicone hydraulic fluid and it worked poorly...it kills me to pay $27 a quart (on line) for the stuff but ya do what ya gotta do.

Joel
SEA3PO!

thataway · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 8:55 pm Post subject:

This is called the "liquid tie bar" lt is used on many cats, and normally there is no problem with the engines stored up. Generally you do have to check the toe in and out occasionally. Normally there is no problem with the outboards stowed centered. Either someone moved the valve, and allowed the misalignment, or there is a leak in the liquid tie valve. I would watch it closely for a while, before changing it out, or putting new seals in. A cylinder leak could cause this, a leak in the LTB valve could cause the problem, or if the LTB valve was not precisely turned off. Air in the system could also cause this problem...

Westie · Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 9:16 pm Post subject:

Thanks Bob. I'm going to check it out tomorrow.

Wefings · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 10:03 pm Post subject:

Leaky motor cylinder will do it too . Remember its a "push pull" situation and the fluid can move/leak from one side of the seal to the other without a leak or tiebar problem .
Marc

Westie · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 10:21 pm Post subject:

I checked it out today. I saw no leakage at the tie valve and the motors turned fine. I didn't put the engines down...today was all maintenance. I installed a garmin 18xHD radar and it looks awesome!!!

I have a feeling the tie valve will need to be replaced this year. The boat is a 2007 and was not used much. It only had 250 hours on it when I took possession October 2014. Do you think this is an artifact of the engines being used too much?

I fish nearly every weekend and have 70 hours on the engines since taking possession.

Dreamer · Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:45 pm Post subject:

You can download the Sea Star manual if you don't already have one. It outlines the procedure for centering. Raise the engines up a bit and turn the wheel to R or L max. Raise engines completely. open the tie bar valve and you'll hear a clunk as one engine drops to match the other. Weather you do it to the R or L makes a difference in them being toed in or out. It's just something that you have to do now and then. I always raised the engines when moored and let them sit in the max R or L position. I left them lowered when on the trailer.