I have a 18.5' Rinker with a '97 model 4.3L Merc with an Alpha Outdrive. This wekend while pulling a skier I made a sharp turn to pick the person up and I noticed that while attempting to straighten back out there was new resistance in the steering. I picked up the skier and waited for them to say go ... as the boat accelerated the boat pulled hard to one direction and I had to overcome the tendency to pull. Keeping the boat straight while moving was no problem. Turning was no problem, it just seemed that from a dead stop, if the outdive was not perfectly straight, the unit wanted to pull to one side or the other. My first thought was power steering. We cut the outing short and brought the boat home. I opened up the engine compartment and saw some leakage around the P/S resevoir, but nothing was leaking around the pulley. I also looked in the reservoir and could not see any fluid while it was cold. (should I?) Next I looked at the P/S cylinder on the back of the engine. It looked extremely oily all around it. I had also noticed small amounts of oily residue coming out of the boats drain plug under the outdrive. Not really knowing what to do, I tried to check for a leak by using the steering wheel to cycle the cylinder. I couldn't see any additional fluid coming out near the wiper on the piston rod. (Maybe the fluid is all gone, or maybe that is not a valid test since nothing is under presure) Interestingly enough, I could also move the outdrive unit from left to right just by pushing on it. That has never been the case before. I feel as if the cylinder is damaged in such a manner that it is allowing fluid to flow freely in both directions.<br /><br />How can I determine if this is a P/S pump problem, or a cylinder problem? <br /><br />If the cylinder is bad, are the internals replaceable or does the assembly get replaced entirely? How dificult of a job is either option?<br /><br />Any help would be appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks and I apologize for the length of this post.
