Leaking Steering Ram, Rudder Glands, Stabilisers 61MY 1985

[scottinsydney]

Hi,

STEERING RAM:

The port steering ram has a leak with oil appearing to come out near the ram rod. I presume a new seal kit is required. I do not fit into the hole behind the bed in the main cabin. If I did fit I may not get out! What instructions do I give the thin young man to remove the ram and replace it? I presume I will vent the steering reservoir tank prior to work?. Will the rams hoses leak a lot of oil? Bucket, cloths, tools required etc? How to repressurise the steering system after seal is replaced?

RUDDER GLAND REPLACEMENT:

In looking at the leaking steering ram, I could not work out how the rudder glands could be serviced or repacked from inside the boat (as per my previous boat) as there is a board over them upon which the steering rams sit. Is the rudder packing replaced by dropping the rudder and doing all the work from the outside?

STABILISERS:

When the boat was purchased last November the stabiliser fins and all internal bearings etc fittings had been removed. there are no bearings, no wiring, only the rams and hoses remain. Lots of rust. Its not a pretty sight. The fins are stored but we will have a major exercise to repair/replace the internal components and fins next year.

In the meantime, I can not work out how to turn on the "system" to check the hydraulics/pumps etc. The previous owner never used them and when they leaked badly and the boat nearly sank, simply performed radical surgery, removed the guts and blocked up the holes.

Its a 32 volt system, the port engine room DC panel is not marked with a Naiad circuit breaker, there is no Naiad circuit breaker on the DC panel in the wheel house, the Naiad control on the dashboard does not turn the system on. I have tried all combinations with the Starboard engine running. Any spare CBs were turned on.

The Naiad hydraulic pump/reservoir unit has two wires going to it.... one to a solenoid and the other to above the reservoir. Neither seem heavy cable. I am thinking one controls the solenoid and the other is the oil level alarm.

BUT I just cant seem to get the system to fire up! With the starboard engine running the dials on the hydraulics read zero. The indicators on the Naiad control on the dash don't move. Is the entire system hydraulic requiring an oil pump on the starboard engine to operate? Might there be a couple of oil valves turned off on the oil pump hose from the engine to the hydraulics that are turned off? I can see a water cooling hose going to the hydraulics tank. What don't I understand? What am I missing?

Any help appreciated.


What don't I understand? What am I missing?

Any help appreciated.

Kind regards,

Scott.

 

[dsharp]

There should be a schrader valve on top of the resevoir to bleed off the air. I would buy a couple of flare caps to plug the lines after disconnecting or buy a union and just hook the hoses together. The ram should be thru-bolted to the rudder board. You don't have to drop the rudders to re-pack the gland. You will need a packing puller to remove the old packing. I can't help you with the stabs.

 

[scottinsydney]

Thanks. Does that mean that you simply undo the nut at the top of the rudder arm and the packing is underneath this? You do not remove (obviously) the board that the steering rams sit on??

 

[kelpy]

The Naiad oil reservoir, the unit with the pressure gauge in it, should have a large diameter suction hose coming from the bottom of it over to the pressure pump mounted on the back of one or both of the main engines. Seeing that the oil level window shows low or no oil though, the pump most likely has been removed or disconnected from the accessory drive and a block-off plate installed in its place. The pump will quickly destroy itself if not supplied with oil.

What is plugging up the hole thru the bottom of the boat? It looks like there are some parts missing.

 

[scottinsydney]

Thank you. I will check for pump and hoses when next on the boat. The fins' holes in the hull was plugged up with a plate that uses screws to hold it in position. I think they are screwed into the original bolt holes. Its got sikaflex coming out the sides and has been in place for about 5 years. I've only seen the plates once when boat was out of the water and decided not to touch them until we could repair everything properly. At least they are watertight. In about 2012 the water level rose 18 inches in the hull before it was realised the boat was possibly sinking via the Naiad seals. In what was probably an emergency and 1000 miles from the local Naiad agent they ripped the guts out of the stabilisers internal compnents and blocked up the holes. I only have the fins left and nothing else. It appears that nothing mechanical was serviced between 2011 to 2016 when I bought the boat. But Glands were all done and it was slipped every 18 months for antifouling. Over 6 years to 2016 the boat logged only 90 hours. To illustrate Genset No.1 a Kohler 20kw has not run since it was last serviced in 2011. I have a diesel mechanic coming soon to start it. The watermaker has not run since 2010 and now does not turn on. None of the bilge float switches worked and two bilge pumps were inoperative. None of the sumps worked. I have slowly been going through other maintenance issues but the big ticket item now is the stabilisers and I'd like to get them working. The engines are perfect having had top end overhauls by the last fastidious American owner in about 2003 and have only done about 300 hours since then. TTwin Disc 514 ransmissions are fine. Mechanically the boat is pretty good, just looking tired inside and out. It needs 50 man hours to clean it properly inside. This will be carried out as soon as I can find a team of 4 commercial cleaners who can work 2 days. Having said all this last owner poured a lot of money into the boat in so many ways, he rewired it for 240 volts and redid most of the soft furnishings..... and loved the boat. Still its amazing how a concourse boat can run down over only 7 years in the sun. Scott.

 

[kelpy]

The fin seals must have been neglected for a long time to leak that bad. There are two seals per shaft.

You do need to clean the fin box areas up and get the existing hardware painted. Once everything is pristine, install new seals and lower bearings, mount up the fin shafts and insert the centering pins. Then mount the fins on the shaft tapers. After that is done in the yard, you can use the boat and get the hydraulics working later while in the water.

Do you have the upper bearing plates and bellcrank assemblies for each side?

 

[Finalee]

Looks like the stab oil reservoir is,empty. Mine ran off a pump on the stbd motor. I agree with rebuilding the bearing pack first then worry about hydraulics. Not sure about yours, but the niaad system I had was composed of jeep differential bearings,races,and seals. If you are fortunate enough to still have the old shaft and bearing retainers this may be doable. Buying new from niaad is costly. Excuse my spelling.

 

[scottinsydney]

Thanks. There are no parts left except the fins with the shafts in them. Photo of a fin with shaft inserted and rusted PORT side internal fittings below. I do not have much to work with. I realise this project is going to cost a fortune.

Boat is not coming out of the water until April 2017. In 2016 I plan to get the hydraulics pump/reservoir working all bearing parts obtained, rust taken care of and shaft / fins separated . Can the bearings and other internals be done with boat in the water? Shaft and fins can go on in 2017.

 

[Finalee]

Its out of the water work.

 

[kelpy]

Don't throw any money at the system until you locate the upper bearing plates and bellcranks.
Get in touch with Naiad in Connecticut and see if they can get you some diagrams and leads on missing parts based on the serial number.

 

[scottinsydney]

Thanks Kelpy, What exactly are the upper bearing plates and bellcranks you refer to? Regards, Scott.

 

[kelpy]

I holds the upper bearings for the shaft and the upper fin centering hole for the pin. The bellcrank fits over the top splines of the shaft and the hydraulic cylinders connect to it to move the fins.
Ill see if I can get some pictures of my Naiad actuators up today so you can see what I'm referring to.

 

[dottieshusband]

The folks at NIAD are quite helpful.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

What size are those fins? If they are the 6 sq ft fins, I know someone looking for a set. He will buy them if you decide to scrap the entire system.

 

[scottinsydney]

Thanks... I am not sure as they are in storage. I'm located in Sydney so it would be quite an exciser to get them back to the USA.