Greetings and a question

...my guess is that it's steering oil.

I found that with our BayStar unit, any attempt to "top up" the oil would result in fairly significant expansion and/or overflow of steering oil (and it would work its way down the bulkhead and into the helm storage/foot rest where it was absorbed into the carpet.

I don't know if the hydraulic oil used in the unit is subject to heat expansion or expansion when you go to a higher altitude (ie. 7000') but it certainly leaked out.

My recommendation is to remove the small plastic cap, use a CLEAN toothpick as a dipstick and see how much oil is present. If it's right up to the rim, it's too full. If low, add Tiny bits of steering oil while working the steering back and forth a couple times then recheck. I leave the cap screwed-in but quite loose so any leakage will be visible and less likely to leak out through the inards of the steering.

As for the piney smell...hmmm, didn't notice that, but could be I suppose.

Casey
C-Dory Naknek
Lake Montezuma(AZ) and The Villages(FL)
 
Thanks everyone for all the responses and support! The value of these forums is awesome. We have been on the water all day surveying and am now just catching up on e-mails.

After reading a couple of the responses I found the inspection holes beneath the porta-potty area as well as on the port/starboard. There is definately water in the foam beneath the porta potty area. I have not had a chance to get down into the foam to remove the water yet. Both the port and starboard sides are completely dry. I'll have to reread the posts here and tackle the issue one at a time. We are not too concerned about the issue but will do our best to remedy the situation.

As for the questions re: our work we conduct remote sensing surveys/diver investigation for various Federal, State, and local entities. We are currently working for the US Army Corps of Engineers to determine the presence/absence of submerged cultural resources (i.e. shipwrecks) off Port St. Lucie, Florida. The instruments we use include magnetometer, side scan sonar, and sub-bottom profiler (all integrated with DGPS). We work all over the US and abroad which keeps the job exciting. I would go into more detail but dinner bekons!

Jim - It is nice to make your aquaintance and would enjoy talking about the Laurna Jo in more detail at a later time. We promise to keep her in great shape and she is doing a helluva job for us.

Thanks again for all the help!

Michael
 
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