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Have had the Seastar hydraulic system for 6 seasons now, 5 of which have been flawless. At the start of this season, wheel turned once with no response from the ram at the engine. Went away but came back last week, but only once, and then went away again. Plenty of fluid in the system, and after some reading, issue seems to be due to a sticking check valve in the helm that's fairly easily cleaned.
There were numerous opinions that the Seastar steering fluid may be somewhat hygroscopic and Dextron III ATF may be a better alternative. Wondering if anyone has heard or tried this as I'm going to flush my system and am considering using it?
Hi Dave, just re-sealed my cylinder and flushed it with the sea star fluid. As I recall from the manual it states that you could use :Texaco HO15, Aero Shell Fluid #41, Esso Univis N15, Chevron Aviation Fluid A, Mobil Aero HFA, Fluids meeting Mil H5606 spec, OR Atf Dextron 2 may be used in an emergency. Nothing about Dextron 3. In flushing and refilling I only used a little over a quart of Sea star fluid.
6 seasons on the same hydraulic steering system fluid is outstanding, for ANY fluid, in my opinion. I would never go more than 3 on ANY fluid I have ever used. I change mine out with the recommended Seastar fluid every three years, unless I have already done a fluid change due to a leak repair earlier. I would never use ATF because it can leave stains on fiberglass boats if it leaks.
There is never any reason to "change" the fluid in a Teleflex SeaStar steering system unless there is a contamination problem.
Do NOT use ATF fluid in your SeaStar steering system. It will work, but not as well. Seawater will work too but that is not recommended either, except in an emergency.
Teleflex is very specific about what fluids can be substituted for their fluid. I believe Thom covered them all, but Teleflex has that info in the owner's manual of your system and on their web site if you want to check.
I hope you have better luck than I did - had a Seastar with similar symptoms, similar age of unit. I ended up needing a new helm pump and to have the cylinder rebuilt.
