Seeing small amounts of hydraulic fluid below the steering wheel and having to top levels up hinted at a maintenance job for the winter. However, it wasn’t until we were entering Lymington behind the Isle of Wight ferry that we realised the severity of the hydraulic oil leak. We had to use the bow thruster to coax the Nauticat 331 out of the line-up so we could anchor and top up the fluid level.
I was sailing with John, a former work colleague, and we returned to our Brixham base. The near-miss motivated us to change the seals on the upper Capilano helm pump and Capilano steering cylinder, which was also showing some seepage. The Nauticat is a dual helm boat, and even though the lower helm was free from leaks, we decided to change the seals on the lower helm at the same time.
For someone with little mechanical experience, pulling apart a helm pump and the steering cylinder can seem like a daunting job. However, if approached carefully, with the occasional image to aid recall, it’s doable and definitely cheaper than contracting the work out. There are online videos that demonstrate similar jobs being carried out.
Disassembly, inspection, clean
This was probably the first time the pump had been pulled apart since the boat was launched in 2003. There was afluid. The recommended fluid is either Dextron 2 or Dextron 3.
