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Hydraulic Steering Won't Turn Lowers?

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Old 03-14-2012 | 09:40 PM
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Default Hydraulic Steering Won't Turn Lowers?

Just put new 90* elbows and hoses on my Latham Steering (inner rams), as I was trying to bleed per instructions I had no movement in my lowers. Anyone know what the problem could be? This was total PM, hoses had superficial cracks so I replaced them and shiny new elbows. Had NO PROBLEMS prior to my PM.
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Old 03-14-2012 | 09:46 PM
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Simple stuff first.....Did you remove one hose at a time and put them back in the same spot? Out of the 2 port bulkhead fitting one should go to the front of one cylinder and one to the back of the other cylinder. Same with the other bulkhead fitting.

Are the lowers locked in one place or do they move freely if you manually try to move them?
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Old 03-16-2012 | 10:57 AM
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Yes the hoses were placed correctly. The drives move freely when pushed or pulled manually.
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Old 03-16-2012 | 10:33 PM
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TTT- Anyone? Freely moving mean more or less money?
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Old 03-16-2012 | 10:47 PM
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Loosen fitting slightly on steering rams , push side on one pull side on the other , turn steering wheel sslowly the direction that will feed fluid to the loose fittings . With the wheel turned all the way and held there , tighten the fittings . Now repeat in the opposite direction . Repeat as necessary . Hope this helps . Don't let your fluid reservoirs run low during this process .

Last edited by the deep; 03-16-2012 at 11:22 PM.
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Old 03-17-2012 | 11:00 AM
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Thanks for the info. I assume the engine must be running while I do this or can I get most of the air out then finish with the engine running?
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Old 03-17-2012 | 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by sleek1
Thanks for the info. I assume the engine must be running while I do this or can I get most of the air out then finish with the engine running?
I don't know what your instructions entail, but the engine should be running all the time to deliver the fluid. I know it is also a displacement pump when not running but it is a lot easier when running.
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Old 03-17-2012 | 12:48 PM
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I don't know what your instructions entail, but the engine should be running all the time to deliver the fluid. I know it is also a displacement pump when not running but it is a lot easier when running.
True dat .
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Old 03-17-2012 | 04:35 PM
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Is it a full hydraulic system or hydraulic assist? If you can move the drives side to side by hand I am guessing it's hydraulic assist. If it's full hydro you shouldn't be able to move the drives without using the wheel. Even if there is air in the system...they will move a little bit but not much.

Sounds like a plumbing issue. You sure you didn't swap hoses on one of the rams? The pressure circuit that feeds the extend on one ram has to feed the retract on the other, same for the other ram.

If you have full hydraulic to the helm, reference the 'Dual Bravo Dual Ram' diagram here for plumbing. It's not the Latham system but they are all plumbed the same outside of the boat, and those are the only hoses you changed.

http://www.cpperformance.com/Instruc...n-137-9204.pdf
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Old 03-18-2012 | 01:16 PM
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It's a Latham system (full hydraulic I'm believe). I haven't had time to trouble shoot it yet. Probably get to it in the next couple days. I appreciate all the help.
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