Water spraying everywhere

allang

Hello all I am in need of help. I just picked up my new 2014 hurricane 188 with yamaha f150. I love the boat but am a little concerned on the performance and the way it handles. The first problem is that I get a lot of spray off of the lower part of the engine. It is so bad that you get wet sitting in the back seat on a flat calm day. When I got home I looked to see what hole the motor is mounted in and it was in the top hole so the motor was as low as it could go down. I put a straight edge on the keel of the boat and it was 2 and a half inches above the cavitation plat. The second concern I have is it seems hard to steer mostly to stbd. I have a hydrolic steering system installed. I have been boating for over twenty five years but have never owned a hurricane. We looked at other hurricanes in the river today and they didn't have the spray behind them. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance Allan

nquirk

@allang

The steering problem is most likely a result of there being air in the hydraulics making it extremely difficult to turn.  Your first step would be to bleed (or return to the dealer) and ask them to bleed the air from the hydraulic system.

If you do it yourself, you'll need a bottle of hydraulic fluid and a bleed hose.  You'll notice a bleed valve near the helm of your boat that screws off.  Attach the hose and a bottle of fluid held up (you'll need to puncture the bottom the bottle to allow the air to escape)

Then, turn the steering from full port to starboard slowly repeatedly until there is no further air in the system (evident with absence of air bubbles in the bleed hose itself)

Your spray situation, does that happen when trimmed all the way down?

allang

I think or hope you are right on the steering system. I am bringing the boat to our local Yamaha dealer. He said the engine was mounted to low. He is going to raise it up and look ate the steering as well. Unfortunately I do not have to much faith in the hurricane dealer that I got the boat from so I prefer not to bring it back there if I can help it. Besides they claim they took it for a test ride and all was good. If they think getting wet while sitting in the back seat is good then I don't need them working on my boat. We also had trailer issues with them I ended up returning the trailer that came with the boat when I realized it was only rated for 3100 lbs.

nquirk

@allang, sorry to hear of your problems.   Hopefully the new dealer can assist you in the problems.

 

I had a similar issue with the steering on mine and have seen it on a few others and the bleeding helped.

Note that with a larger engine, at lower speeds (ie, not on plane) the steering tends to be stiff, but underway and on plane its stays true and is soft to the touch.  You shouldn't have to fight it other than if their is air in the system.

allang

Thanks for the information. I will let you know how I make out. It's going to be windy but as soon as I can get out I will try it. Allan

Capt_Steve

@allang... glad to hear you have a Yamaha dealer close by. They should be able to make the adjustments you need. Keep us posted.

allang

Ok all I have an update.  I had the egine raised up and the spray problem is solved. However the new shop pointed out my steering problem to me.  It appears that I have a Sea Star helm unit and a Bay Star hydraulic unit on the engine. They explained to me that they are both Teleflex units but not the same series so they have a different working pressures.  After a little back and forth the dealer is going to change the Bay Star out to a Sea Star.  Hopefully that will make things right on the boat.  Not a big deal but all things that could have been a voided in my opinion.

cjjjdeck

Really glad they fixed the spray problem and are going to make the steering system right. You have a great boat and it would be a shame if you couldn't appreciate it for what it should be.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop though the process.