CONTINUOUSWAVE

West Marine not three months ago started carrying their own brand of hydraulic steering fluid for $19.99-per-quart versus $27.99 for Seastar brand. WM insists it's fully compatible. They also sold out of it very quickly, with no known restock date. The store manager speculated that the supplier or manufacturer might have other obligations to fulfill before they can fill another order for West Marine.

Keep a used water bottle with lid. Your typical 350 to 750-ml will do. Get a foot or two of clear plastic tubing, the right ID to fit your bleed fittings. Drill or cut a hole in the water bottle lid so the tubing fits tightly. Drill or poke a small vent hole in the lid. This will be your "catch can" when you put it on the bleed nipple and turn the wheel, watching for air bubbles. Assuming you have rigged a way to hang the helm-side bottle to keep the helm full, this will allow you to do most of the bleeding solo, until the very last, when you get your helper to crank the wheel while you tighten the bleeder, and you're done.

Also, it's worth repeating that you can reuse your "bled" fluid, as long as you filter it back into the bottle. This allowed me to fill my system on a single quart bottle--a savings of $20 to $30. Filtering before reuse is approved by Seastar.

-Peter

Peter--Thanks for the drinking bottle suggestion. They're cheap and found almost anywhere.

For those needing to perform the procedure, some very useful videos demonstrating it can be found on YouTube.

I did the same trick when I installed a new Uflex Hydraulic System--worked like a charm. I do it every season to make sure there are no air bubbles and to keep fluid topped up.

Hydraulic fluid does not evaporate. If an hydraulic steering system needs to be continually "topped up" there must be a leak somewhere.

No leaks anywhere. By topped up I meant to say 'make sure it's still topped up'.