Augoose
Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2010
- Messages
- 1,223
So today we went out on the boat for a bit - everything was great until the wife noticed (I'm so proud of her
) that the steering felt like a car does when it has a flat -she was dragging me around on the wakeboard at the time. I jumped in the boat and tested it myself. After circling a few times, I decided that it certainly felt different than it did when I was driving it across the lake earlier. When I turned it seemed to pulse with resistance then lighten up and turn smooth. No noise, no vibration, just a change in resistance.
I checked the power steering fluid- bone dry with a whisp of barely translucent whitish grey vapor coming out when I opened the cap- no burn smell though. I then found a section of power steering hose line which had a 180 degree bend (apparently from the factory) and the hose was all dry rotted and dripping with fluid. I then noticed at least a quart of power steering fluid mixed with water in the bilge.
So my question is did I kill the power steering pump or are they fairly resilient?
I suppose at worst we drove it for about 10 - 15 minutes as it was loosing fluid and then a quick 1 min run to the nearest marina to dock it after seeing it was bone dry. I had no auto trans fluid, no hydraulic fluid, nothing at all I could have put in there to limp the boat to the dock. I wanted to pull the belt which turns the power steering pump but that same belt fed the water pump too.....
For what its worth, it's a 1999 Volvo Penta 5.0
) that the steering felt like a car does when it has a flat -she was dragging me around on the wakeboard at the time. I jumped in the boat and tested it myself. After circling a few times, I decided that it certainly felt different than it did when I was driving it across the lake earlier. When I turned it seemed to pulse with resistance then lighten up and turn smooth. No noise, no vibration, just a change in resistance. I checked the power steering fluid- bone dry with a whisp of barely translucent whitish grey vapor coming out when I opened the cap- no burn smell though. I then found a section of power steering hose line which had a 180 degree bend (apparently from the factory) and the hose was all dry rotted and dripping with fluid. I then noticed at least a quart of power steering fluid mixed with water in the bilge.
So my question is did I kill the power steering pump or are they fairly resilient?
I suppose at worst we drove it for about 10 - 15 minutes as it was loosing fluid and then a quick 1 min run to the nearest marina to dock it after seeing it was bone dry. I had no auto trans fluid, no hydraulic fluid, nothing at all I could have put in there to limp the boat to the dock. I wanted to pull the belt which turns the power steering pump but that same belt fed the water pump too.....
For what its worth, it's a 1999 Volvo Penta 5.0
