Help on steering meandering Sealine 240

[JBL930]

Hi all
I have a 1994 Sealine 240, had it for a year or so now and it's only used on the Thames, don't flame me. I know it's got a planning hull or whatever but the thing simply doesn't go in a straight line. It seams there is quite a bit of play in the steering, not excessive but there is play. If i set the wheel to center and take my hands off the wheel it will go a few degrees one way and then a few seconds later it will pull back the other way, past center to a few degrees the opposite way, and continue meandering back and forth. Sometimes it will go one way and stay going off course without coming back. It's driving me nuts!
Trying to think about it logically it seams the outdirve is swaying from side to side and that it is doing it because of the play in the steering? I know nothing about the steering mechanism so some advise would be great. It's fitted with a 4.2ltr V6 Mercruiser engine with whatever out drive they have. Is there adjustment in the cable or is it a hydraulic issue (i'm assuming the outdrive isn't simply moved by the cables, if there are indeed any bloody cables?)
The boat has only just gone back in the water and I asked the marine specialists to sort it out when they recommisioned the engine but they didn't get round to it, I can't go the whole season with the thing meandering left and right all the time, they tell me that all of them do it but surely it can't be this bad? Please help, cheers
JBL

[mateus]

Hi it will be hydraulic in some form, it may be fully hydraulic or partially cable with hydraulic ram.
Look at the steering boss there is a filling bung on top. fill this up with steering fluid seastar/hypro/.

If you have a morse head it's cable to the engine room and hydraulic from there. there shoud be a hydraulic fluid top up check where it should be.

Sometimes problems are:
leaking ram seals,
poorly set up autopilot wandering but if your river I doubt your using this if it's fitted.
low hydraulic oil / air in the system.
Make sure the right oil has been used in the past or you may be having viscosity problems.

Check the ol manual for info.

Best O luck.

[JBL930]

Cheers for the help, i was hoping to get down there this weekend and have a look but the weather was crap, why is it always stty weather on the weekend and then bright and beautiful on a Monday morning? I will have a good look over what you mentioned soon and let you know how i get on, thanks again

JBL

[MattYorke]

Assuming it's an alpha outdrive, it will likely be cable with hydraulic assist. I'm most familiar with the bravo drive, but assuming they're basically the same
Causes for excessive wandering are:
a) Slack between the tiller arm that the cable connects to and the drive bellhousing.
b) Worn cable (though more usually they seize up with worn/old)
c) Worn helm.

If it's a, next time it's out of the water, try and move the drive side to side. If the drive moves, but the tiller on the inside of the transom doesn't, then this is what it'll be. I guess you could also check it in the water but might get a bit soggy!

a & b can be checked by moving the wheel and seeing how much the wheel turns before the cable in the engine bay moves. The cable will be right at the back of the boat where the drive comes through the transom.

M

[JBL930]

Had a good look at it yesterday, it's a Morse head and there is quite a bit of play in the wheel itself. Also where the cable connects to the hydraulics there is a ball joint which has a lot of play so not sure if it's that? The steering fluid is full but that isn't to say there is no air in the system, is it easy to bleed? I couldn't see any obvious bleed nipples either so i assumed that it may self bleed, or is that wishful thinking?

I was out on it on Saturday and the thing was all over the place, it has about 650 hours on it (is that a lot?), would that amount of use make the helm so worn or does it not necessarily matter about the amount of hours? TIA

JBL

[WTFWT?!]

I have a stern drive Sea Ray and it does exactly the same thing. Has done for 25 years. I suppose I'm just used to it - the boat meanders from left to right, but I now sub consciously am correcting before the swing even starts.

I had always assumed that it was due to the gyro / slipstream effects of the prop and the eddies in the water.

Of course, as soon as you are on the plane it disappears hence I am only dealing with it for the first and last 5 minutes of any outing...

[Huntsman]

At what speed does the boat do this?

Does it go away if your going faster?

[JBL930]

Huntsman said:

At what speed does the boat do this?

Does it go away if your going faster?

You are only allowed 4.3 Knots on the river, however, when i've "accidentally" gone above this it does improve. At speed at/below 4.3 Knots is painfully bad

[XJSJohn]

Huntsman said:

At what speed does the boat do this?

Does it go away if your going faster?

Would suggest Huntsman may have hit nail on head,

This is a plaining hull boat where when up on the plane you need some damping in your steering, when at low speeds pootling about this then becomes very apparent.


Solution 1 - buy a river cruiser
Soluton 2 - take the Sealine to the big salty stuff, open her up and have some fun!!

:thumbsup:

[Huntsman]

XJSJohn said:

Huntsman said:

At what speed does the boat do this?

Does it go away if your going faster?

Would suggest Huntsman may have hit nail on head,

This is a plaining hull boat where when up on the plane you need some damping in your steering, when at low speeds pootling about this then becomes very apparent.


Solution 1 - buy a river cruiser
Soluton 2 - take the Sealine to the big salty stuff, open her up and have some fun!!

:thumbsup:

Yep, its the wrong boat for the purpose, simple as that I'm afraid.

1. Take it to the sea and open it up.

2. Sell it and buy a cruiser.

3. Stick a big keel under it (dont actually do that).

[JBL930]

Thought that might end up being the case, shame really as i like the old tub.

A different question, lets say i kept it and wanted to do some sea work now and again, how easy is it to trailer a boat like this, i have visions of it ending up on a roundabout. A friend has a large new trailer for the job, is it something that anyone with a bit of common sense can handle or would it really require someone with experience. I have a 540 BMW that should handle the pulling end, what else would i need, lots of large ratchet straps i assume, are there any major things i need to take into account thet a newbie towing a medium sized boat should bear in mind?

Here are a couple of pics for reference

[Huntsman]

JBL930 said:

Thought that might end up being the case, shame really as i like the old tub.

A different question, lets say i kept it and wanted to do some sea work now and again, how easy is it to trailer a boat like this, i have visions of it ending up on a roundabout. A friend has a large new trailer for the job, is it something that anyone with a bit of common sense can handle or would it really require someone with experience. I have a 540 BMW that should handle the pulling end, what else would i need, lots of large ratchet straps i assume, are there any major things i need to take into account thet a newbie towing a medium sized boat should bear in mind?

Here are a couple of pics for reference

What does she weigh with trailer? Think you might be pushing it with the 540 (nice car BTW)

[JBL930]

The displacement is given at 2100kgs, not sure about the trailer but it's a big bugger which must be at least 400-500kgs. The 540 is just an old automatic work horse, i have a 2.9ltr turbo (312D) long wheel base sprinter van, would that be better for towing?

Cheers for the help BTW

[FUBAR]

I used to tow a Maxim SC2300 around the south coast, so its definitely doable. I was using a Range Rover though. Remember the slipways will get wet so careful in and out using a 'normal' tow vehicle.

Width is normally the issue. Well, it was with the Maxim as, if my memory serves (it was a while ago) the (USA) trailer was 8'6" and I think the 'legal' UK maximum is 8'? Gets interesting down the lanes that lead to marinas if you meet something sizeable coming the other way

Edited by FUBAR on Tuesday 29th April 13:06

[Huntsman]

JBL930 said:

The displacement is given at 2100kgs, not sure about the trailer but it's a big bugger which must be at least 400-500kgs. The 540 is just an old automatic work horse, i have a 2.9ltr turbo (312D) long wheel base sprinter van, would that be better for towing?

Cheers for the help BTW

Check out the max towing weights for the vehicles.

Log onto the mobo chat forum at YBW.com and ask on there, looks like a F great big thing to drag around to me!

[JBL930]

Huntsman said:

JBL930 said:

The displacement is given at 2100kgs, not sure about the trailer but it's a big bugger which must be at least 400-500kgs. The 540 is just an old automatic work horse, i have a 2.9ltr turbo (312D) long wheel base sprinter van, would that be better for towing?

Cheers for the help BTW

Check out the max towing weights for the vehicles.

Log onto the mobo chat forum at YBW.com and ask on there, looks like a F great big thing to drag around to me!

That's what i was thinking, it's not exactly a big boat but it's a bit of a lump to drag around, especially when the coast is about 85miles away, i'll look into what's possible.
The other thing is would this boat be any good on the ocean with only a 215hp single engine pushing its fat arse around? It doesn't seam quick to get on the plain and the top speed when new is only around 20 - 25 knots (I was told 30 by the previous owner but i doubt it has enough grunt), can i fit a better (more efficient) propeller to raise the top speed?


Fubar, would you have towed the Maxim 85 miles across country for a day on the sea or do you think it'd be more hassle than it's worth?

[GreatGranny]

The only thing that can tow it would be a big 4x4.

The boat and trailer will be nudging 3 tonnes so no way the Beemer could tow it, way too dangerous ditto the Sprinter.

The big 4x4s have max tow limits of 3500kgs.

[FUBAR]

JBL930 said:

Fubar, would you have towed the Maxim 85 miles across country for a day on the sea or do you think it'd be more hassle than it's worth?

Probably not for the day, but youve got a cabin, so you could go Friday(night)-Sunday?

[FUBAR]

GreatGranny said:

The only thing that can tow it would be a big 4x4.
.

Jon, sell that ole Porsche, then buy a cheap Discovery and an old TVR

[JBL930]

FUBAR said:

JBL930 said:

Fubar, would you have towed the Maxim 85 miles across country for a day on the sea or do you think it'd be more hassle than it's worth?

Probably not for the day, but youve got a cabin, so you could go Friday(night)-Sunday?

I've stayed in it over night once, was a bit cramped to be honest, it supposedly can handle 6, double "cassette" bed under the helm, double "V" berth in the front and the deck area converts to a double also, we were climbing all over each other with just 2! Come out of the shower and knock your frikin breakfast all over the floor whilst she's cooking etc, you get the picture.

I guess it's a case of living with it meandering all over the place (i'm usually ball-bagged when i'm on it so it's all over the place anyway) or buy something better suited for river cruising.

Fubar, selling my old Porker would cause me too much distress, the money i've poured into that car is quite simply horrendous, it's here to stay i'm afraid. I might however play with the idea of getting a Range-rover and dumping the 540, it only gets me about 16mpg surely the Rangey wouldn't be that much worse would it? All i need then is a large hairy pair of testicles to attempt towing it!