170 Dauntless: Baystar steering is heavy

[floris van den berg]

I have a 2014, 170 Dauntless with Mercury 100, four-blade stainless steel propeller, and Baystar hydraulic steering. I find the steering to [require] heavy [effort]. I have to use quite a bit of force to steer. I need more force to steer one way than the other--which I assume is caused by the propeller rotation.

I have had the Mercury 100 engine and Baystar hydraulic steering serviced by a Mercury dealer. The dealer checked the [hydraulic steering sytem] for air--it was all good- and this is all they can do for me.

They couldn't find anything else [that might be causing the heavy steering forces], other than the cable bundle to the enginewas a bit on the short side: they pulled out the cable bundle a bit. I know they are very good mechanics.

When I trim up the engine a bit during running, the boat the steering is lighter than when trimmed down all the way.

The propeller starts to trap air when I get into the zone that the steering is getting comfortable and light, especially when getting on plane.

Is this normal for this type of boat?

Is there anything that can be done about the heavy steering?

The steering on my other boat with Teleflex steering and Yamaha F70 is much lighter.

[Dutchman]

You should never run with your propeller [ventilating].

The hydraulic steering should be smooth and the same no matter if you are steering port or starboard.

You engine turns on a hinge point which I think must be where you problem lies. See if there is any play in it and make sure it is greased well.

[Acseatsri]

If you adjust the trim tab [on the engine gear case under the anti-ventilation plate] you can probably equalize the steering effort.

If the engine is pulling to the left, move the trim tab to the left.

If you're getting propeller ventilation in turns, the engine could be mounted too high [to allow you] to trim it out enough where it just dances on the surface with no steering effort.

I also have a four-blade propeller on an engine mounted three-hole- holes up (2.25" above the transom), and I don't experience ventilation until trimmed out above 60%.

[floris van den berg]

First, thank you for your replies and thinking with me !
I have the boat on the trailer and have pumped more grease into the grease nipple yesterday, also put some grease with my finger on another rotation point of the steering system.. I pumped until the older grease was coming out and that did look all right. It seems that the steering is a little bit lighter but not a whole lot.
I only have my other boat with a much smaller outboard (yamaha F70) to compare, I have that one on the trailer as well, jumped in and compared, it is much lighter.
At this moment the Dauntless runs very straight when I run it and take my hands off the steering, I am afraid it will be different when I try to adjust the trimtab but maybe I will give that a try too.
I noticed that the engine is mounted one hole up, the engine is the original Mercury 100 hp from the factory. I bought the boat last November with about 80hrs on it, I have somewhere around 100-150 hours on it right now.

[floris van den berg]

By the way, I only experience the prop vetilation when I try to get on plane and the motor is trimmed out quite a bit, this only happens when I am kind of "playing" with the power trim to see where the boundaries are and how the steering reacts. I don't experience the vetilation when I am running the boat in a normal manner.
Also, there is no play in the hinge point

3 holes up, do you also have a 170 dauntless ?

[Acseatsri]

No Dauntless, only similarity is the 4 blade prop and hydraulic steering. My point was that 4 blade props tend to ventilate less than 3 blades and tolerate higher mounting heights.
Moving the trim tab will NOT cause the boat to turn by itself with hydraulic steering. The only effect it will have is to balance the force required to turn in either direction.

[floris van den berg]

Thanks for the clearing it out.
The trim tab on the motor is something I will look into.
The steering actually seems to be loosing up a bit more with the new grease and some more "dry wheeling" !

[Masbama]

Hydraulic steering is not power steering. It is normal to have some resistance in turning one way or another. The good thing about it is you can let go of the steering wheel and maintain your course (not recommended)

[floris van den berg]

I have to re-adjust the trimtab.
It was turned all the way to the left while the boat steering pulls to the right.
I think I can manage this, thanks for the advise !

[Jefecinco]

Have you checked the fluid level in your hydraulic system? I recommend you bleed the system and ensure the system is full of fluid. Your steering is four years old so it's unlikely that the pump is worn though it could have been damaged if any water found it's way in and subsequently was subjected to freezing weather.

[floris van den berg]

Hi jefecinco,

[The mechanic] checked [the fluid level in the hydraulic steering helm pump] when the dealer serviced the engine and boat last time, I specifically asked them to do that, and they gave me the feedback that it is all good.

Also, I took out the boat today and set the engine trim tab from all the way left to eventually all the way right. It is very different now and I am very happy.

I bought the boat last november with very low hours.
Thanks to all your input, guys; it helped me a lot.

[dbeach]

Hi. I just bought a 2018 170 Dauntless with a 115-HP engine and I am experiencing the same [steering behavior].

I had [the steering system] hydraulic lines bled, and this seems to have helped somewhat, but [the effort at the helm required to steer is] still heavy.

I also find that there is strong engine torque, as it is much harder to turn left than to turn right. I have read about adjusting the trim tab, as you have done, but it appears that my Mercury 115-HP has no engine trim tab.

It is normal to have no trim tab?

Is this an easier install, and if so, any recommendations on what to get. Thanks!

[jimh]

...it appears that my Mercury 115-HP has no engine trim tab....It is normal to have no trim tab?

Most outboard engines have a trim tab on the gear case, located under the anti-ventilation plate. With some propellers, particularly propellers that have a very high amount of BLADE RAKE, the trim tab would interfere with the propeller rotation. With a high-rake propeller, the trim tab is sometimes removed, and flat circular plate replaces the trim tab.

If there is no interference between the propeller blades and the trim tab, the trim tab is generally left in place, as intended.

In the instance of DBEACH's boat, perhaps someone installed a high-rake propeller or for some other reason removed the trim tab.

Regarding the steering effort or force to be applied at the wheel, this varies significantly with the engine trim position. With the engine trimmed in close to the transom, the steering force can be quite high. When the boat gets on plane and the engine is trimmed out from the transom, the steering force at the helm will decrease markedly. When a boat is properly set up, the steering force on plane with hydraulic steering should be noticeably lighter than when the engine is trimmed in, and if the engine trim tab is set properly, there should not be a significant difference in force needed to steer left or right.

[jimh]

For advice on how to adjust the TRIM TAB on an outboard engine used with a Boston Whaler boat, see the owner's manual. If you don't have the owner's manual, see my HTML-version of the owner's manual at


http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... ml#trimTab

[GoldenDaze]

I'm looking at the Mercury website, at the 115-150 four strokes, and the photo on the web page does not show a trim tab. So I pulled down the brochure linked from that page, and sure enough, most of the engines in the brochure don't show trim tabs either. Only the 25-60 hp four strokes have a trim tab, at least according to the brochure photos. In fact, most of the engines have a very short anti-ventilation plate that doesn't look like it would permit a trim tab even if you wanted one.

Finally, I went to the Whaler website to look at photos of the 170 Dauntless. They don't show any photos of that boat (or the 170 Montauk or Super Sport) with the lower unit raised, but I did find one of the 180 Dauntless with a 150 four stroke. Sure enough, no trim tab. Here's a cropped, blown-up look:

Look, Ma, no trim tab!

180_Dauntless_lower_unit.jpg (82.28 KiB) Viewed 8369 times

Apparently they're just not a thing for Mercury anymore. Weird.