Morse Controls Hydraulic Steering Repair

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
fishforfun2
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 12:39 pm

Morse Controls Hydraulic Steering Repair

Postby fishforfun2 » Sat Jun 15, 2019 11:48 am

I have a 1978 Outrage 20 that I believe has a Morse Controls hydraulic steering unit that needs new seals or maybe a rebuild on both helm and ram units. I searched for parts but was unable to find.

Help me find a distributor or shop that has parts.

Morse D306900 Japan
012084 and 921120

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: Morse Controls Hydraulic Steering Repair

Postby jimh » Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:47 pm

I believe Morse hydraulic steering was taken over by Teleflex. Teleflex now may be SeaStar. Try contacting those companies.

Since the product you will be asking about is 41-years-old, you will need to talk to some at least 60-years-old in order to have knowledge of those old systems.

Also contact a service shop that’s been in business for more than 50-years. They’ll know something useful about a system that old and that obsolete.

Jefecinco
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Location: Gulf Shores, AL

Re: Morse Controls Hydraulic Steering Repair

Postby Jefecinco » Sun Jun 16, 2019 9:12 am

Replacement hydraulic systems are not cheap but if I had a system as old as yours I would consider replacing the entire system. If you are fortunate enough to find the parts you need you may discover disassembling a pump that has not seen a wrench in four decades will be impossible to deal with.
Butch

jimh
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Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Re: Morse Controls Hydraulic Steering Repair

Postby jimh » Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:57 am

Butch has expressed my sentiments. With a 20-foot boat the engine is probably 150-HP. A new BayStar helm, hoses, and actuator may be a good investment. Reliable steering is a rather important element for safe operation.

Also: some old hydraulic steering systems relied on an air pressure chamber having air compressed to several PSI to be able to work. I saw a c.1985 OUTRAGE 25 with that type hydraulic steering. The air pressure was lost, and all steering was lost. Re-pressurizing the air chamber (with a small hand-operated air pump) restored operation. Those systems were common in the early 1980’s.

fishforfun2
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 12:39 pm

Re: Morse Controls Hydraulic Steering Repair

Postby fishforfun2 » Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:30 am

I bought a new Seastar steering system on sale. Thanks for info.