Hydraulic steering

Looking into buying a boat with Seastar hydraulic steering that was on the boat when new.It's a 1998 Hydra-sport LS205 with a 225 Johnson. Took it for a ride and I noticed when I was doing 65, the steering seemed hard to turn. When I shut it down to idle around, the steering was fine. 4 days later I asked the owner to check the fluid level and he said it was about 1/4 inch from the top. He did say when he took the cap off he heard air come out. Is this normal. It sounds like I need to bleed the system. Any feedback would help. Thanks

Don't know about the sound,but mine gets stiff when running top end and you can turn it with one finger when idiling around.Hope this helps.Hope you like the Hydra sport I love mine(96 Ls 185). http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

Thanks for the reply jd75760. I'll let ya know if I find out anything. Guy in my club installed a hydraulic system on his boat and said his isn't much harder to turn at wot.

I think it depends on your setup and prop etc.