Latham Steering Fittings Split?!!!
 

Got my boat back after the engine rebuild a couple of weeks ago and went out for only 2 hours. Came back and found hydraulic oil all over my bilge. One of the bronze fittings in the steering system on the inside of the transom had split. Marina did a half-baked fix, but it's not leaking. Went out again Saturday and another fitting split. The system worked perfectly before they pulled, rebuilt and reinstalled my motor. Would love some clues about what may be causing this before I go down to "discuss" this with them.

Post a picture of the failed fitting

Sorry, no digital camera. All I can say is they both split parallel to the hose, as if along a seam. It seems to me like there's too much pressure in the system somehow, but I defer to the experts.

hard to tell ...which fittings were they?...hose ends..90's....different fittings in there that can go bad. where are they located?

Jana,
See if you can get someone to take a picture of the fittings. I'd also give Latham a call and ask them. They have great customer service. 954-462-3055 Things wear out and break but it does seam suspicious it's right after the rebuild. Let us know what happens. I have Latham steering also and would like to know what to keep a look out for.
Dan

I'm going to call Latham this morning.
Also, forgot to mention that the first time I went out I found a brass fitting on my cockpit carpet that looks like it's from the steering system. One end is hex outside with internal threads (about 5/8 diameter) and the other end has external threads and a little hole in the end that can't be more than 3/16 diameter. It looks like some sort of nozzle.
The first fitting that split was one of the hose ends at the transom. The second was a hose end that's up under the deck.

Sounds like the restricter that screws into the pump on the high pressure side. I wonder if they had a hard time finding the fitting that should screw into the piece you just described and decided to not use it:rolleyes: :eek:
I am sure someone who understands Hydraulics can explain what would happen without it,if anything:confused:

Possibility #1.

Pulled the drive to be able to remove the motor. They may have left the steering cylinders hanging in a weird position that kinked the line.

Without pictures, though, it is difficult to know whether you are talking about a split in a stainless hose crimp jacket or in an actual machined fitting piece...

Sounds like some split hose ends......if they are the 3 piece reusable type, they may have been installed incorrectly from the begining. Are they from the same line? Also the fitting you described sounds just like what Scott said. The only problem I see here is that there is really no way to put the original pressure line back on the pump without it(unless they got real creative).

No. One each in two lines. I'm probably going down there today, so I'll see what's what at the pump. (After the hose clamps on the split fitting, I wouldn't put it past them to have gotten creative.)
mcollinstn - it's brass fittings inside the boat, and yes, I think it's in the crimped part.
Latham's answer was that it could be many things. They said check to be sure the system was bled properly and also check the filter (may be clogged or collapsed). The piece I found didn't really ring a bell.

I also had most of the brass fittings split on my 96 Fountain's Latham steering system. The Parflex hoses from the helm to the transom are made up and supplied by Fountain, not Latham. Mine split back at the transom (inside the boat) where it loops around, and also at the helm on the high pressure side. Mine were the result of bad swagings on the fittings. There is no good way to "repair" them. You have to have new fittings swaged onto the hoses, and to do that you need to cut off a short section of hose at the fitting. The really bad thing is that the swaging tool needed to replace the fittings won't fit in the space that you have in the boat! Also, there isn't enough extra hose such that you can cut the ends off and still have them fit, especially the hoses that loop to each other at the transom. I had new hoses made - the hose was about $1.50 per foot and the fittings were about $20 - $40 each, if I remember correctly. Complete set of hoses from Fountain was around $3000, if I remember correctly.

Latham told me that yesterday. I'm hoping to have a local hydraulic shop make them for me (and maybe not all of them right now, if any can be salvaged for the moment). My mechanic and I will be discussing how to proceed this afternoon. Personally, I think if Fountain did a bad job making them, they should pay to replace them.
bob_t - Was your Fountain a single or twin? There's quite a bit of room in my engine compartment.

It was a single HP 500 - 27 Fever. When I first noticed that the fittings were cracked, I checked into how those fittings were installed and what they were rated at (pressure). They are Parker ParFlex hose/fittings and are a double barbed fitting and rated up to 3000 psi, if i rememeber correctly ( it was 2 years ago). As a very temporary fix, we put two hose clamps over each fitting - the power steering pump doesn't put out that much pressure, which is a good thing! It is no fun changing out the hoses. You have to fish them down the side of the boat and they are all bundled together with ty-wraps. We cut the ty-wraps to make it easier to fish the lines thru. We also connected the new line to the old line such that it could be pulled thru - but you really need to be careful because all of the wiring for the boat is also in those bundles! You have limited access, thru the side compartments, and we took the compartment doors off so we didn't risk breaking the doors. We put new ty-wraps back on the bundles when we were finished. Back in the motor compartment, the hoses are suspended by ty-wraps that have eyelets on them. They are bolted in place with little machine screws that have a flat washer and nylock nut on the inside of the channel that runs around the inside of the motor compartment. Those are all of the little screw heads you see in that channel when you open the motor hatch. Some were a real pain to get to - especially those in the corner and along the transom. That whole job, and subsequent cleanup was a real pain! Make sure you cap the hose as soon as you disconnect it so the tranny fluid doesn't run everywhere! It took my friend and I a couple of hours to do this job and he had changed out a few of these in the past.

aeroquip hose should be around 7 to 8 bucks a foot...and the reusable hose ends....10 to 12 bucks each. You can do the math. I don 't see how you can spend 3K for just hoses.....call Marine Machine and get a quote for the parts you need.800-426-2628 prolly end up way...... under a grand for everything. I'd only worry about replacing the high pressure lines and not the return(low pressure)

There are 3 high pressure lines that run from the back of the boat to the helm; supply from Latham filter, left, and right turn. There is also one low pressure line which is the return, which we didn't replace. The line from the pump to the Latham filter was Aeroquip on mine and it was fine so we didn't replace that one either. Line from the filter to the helm needed replaced, left and right turn high pressure lines needed replaced and both supply lines from cylinder to cylinder needed replaced, the T fittings at the cylinders were OK so we didn't change those fittings (brass blocks with 3 holes). Each high pressure lines from helm went into a T at one cylinder and then used a "jumpers" to the connect to the opposite direction on the other cylinder. Most had "cracks" on the swages at one or both ends. I don't remember anymore what the exact complete set price was but it was more than $2k and not over $3k but I didn't pay Fountain's retail price for my hoses/fittings. I do remember that there wasn't a "portable" swaging tool that could get into the places to just cut the ends off and put new fittings on. Likewise, the hoses, particularly at the transom, would have been too short!

If you use the Aeroquip at $8 per foot, there were 2-15 foot hoses, 1-13 foot hose, and 2- 5 foot hoses, plus 10 hose end fittings on my 27' boat. That is about $450 for hose and $120 for fittings (that seems too low for the fittings, but ...).