www.iFourWinns.com

2000 268 5.7L. Coming back from a weekend out cruising up the river all of a sudden the steering changed. The boat pulled hard to port, power assist to starboard was gone. Anchored, belt OK no oil in bilge, no noise, fluid level OK, no leaks. Made it back to the slip and now have the back of the boat taken apart.

1-with engine off you can move drive to port and starboard as usual.
2-engine on hands off wheel, power steering moves wheel quickly to port.
3-engine on, takes great effort to steer to starboard.
4-when holding in 1 place (not easy to do) sounds like the hydraulics in bypass.
5-looking in pump reservoir with engine on I can see fluid circulating.

There are only 3 components
1-steering valve
2-pump
3-steering cylinder

don't really want to just start replacing stuff, how do I diagnose?

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2000 268 Vista "Reely Nauti"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/rivercruiser

I'm not familiar with the volvo penta setup, but generally there's a valve in the steering rack that moves when you turn the wheel to apply the pressure to the correct side to help you turn. Sounds like it's stuck to one side.

The racks are $$$$ from VP but they can be rebuilt at any good ole boy hydraulic shop.

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

I think Ric might be right; there's a hydraulic shuttle valve in there that might be jammed .

Unless you've lost the rear prop and it's severe "prop walk" !

Second hand cylinders/ rams seem to go pretty cheap on Ebay, even in the UK.

Turned out to be the steering ram, $650 for a new ram took it to a hydraulic shop and it's better than new for $105.00. Job wasn't too bad, tight bolts were the worse part.

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2000 268 Vista "Reely Nauti"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/rivercruiser