Hydraulic steering

[GNOVA]

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

[jd75760]

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).

[GNOVA]

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.

[jd75760]

I think it depends on your setup and prop etc.