How to bleed hyd. steering w/resevoir?

the small line is the return line.on my commercial boat the tank is buy the helm and the bleederblock is by the ram.it allows you to circulate the fluid though the return line under pressure.On the eliminator it is at the stern with the tank plumbed into twin latham rams and I haven't really bleed it out yet.You turn hard one direction untill the ram stops open the respective valve and turn the wheel in the same direction slowly about 40 turns,close valve and turn the other way repeat process.Might take several attempts.I use dextron II or III,28-30 #'s.:cool:

We bled system at helm, bleeder block, and ram tubes. I don't know why (angle that the boat was sitting?) but it seemed to work best at ram tubes. Any way you do it... it seems the more spins, the smoother it gets. ...its a bitch.

I just can't wait!

Mike, I have the same basic system on my 24' skater. Loosen the 2 nuts on top of the uni valve [little square block] then turn lock to lock many times, tighten uni valve nuts than finely have a friend turn wheel to lock and hold then you crack the pressure line. Repeat other direction until no air bubbles expelled. 25 psi. is recommended at the reservoir.

Where is the uni valve?

Also I called everybody I could including Castrol labs and found teleflex hydrolic oil to be the best for Me. Atf is a little thicker causing harder steering. By desighn its already hard.

The uni valve is the small square block with 2 brass nuts on top that your lines come off of before going to the ram.

The valve is accually called a hynautic relief valve.They list for $98.67 and they offer 2 of them.one has a 500# relief setting and the other has a 950psi setting.They are intended to protect the system and assist in purging the air.You should get one.If you have one it should be near the ram or at the stern of the boat as close to the ram as possible.part# MSV-19/500psi or MSV-21/950 psi.they are both the same price.:cool:

The boat came with two k-12 Rams. I have installed a single IMCO ram. I removed the K-12 setup from the resevoir back and got new hoses for the IMCO.

I do need a mirror to see better but I think the hoses from the ram just connect right to the bottom of the resevoir.

You must not.It is about 3"X3"X1"thick.The steering lines go into each side and the return line comes out the front.You can get by without it but it's recomended.I don't know if it wll show up in this pic it's such a birds nest,if so it is on the center knee on the tank side.:cool:

I'm not sure I see what you mean, I don't see a tank unless you mean that aluminum box on the right?

Anyway, it's a separate junction for the lines, separate from the resevoir right? In that case, I don't have it, my 3 lines from the helm go to one side of the resevoir, and the two come out the other side directly to the ram.

The Model is RV 60 or 67 as you can see on the lable.

The two hoses on the left go out to the ram. There are two large hoses coming from the right and one smaller one from the bottom. These three hoses all come directly from the helm. There is a picture of the helm posted above, and an overhead photo of the resevoir above.

I'm sure you dont by what you discribe.The tank is on the left with the gauge on it and the line that comes from the tank is the bleed line that goes into the block on the knee close to floor level.They had no idea about routing lines when they rigged this boat for sure.The other tank is a slosh tank with the 7 lines going to it.They didn't have a clue about that installation either.:rolleyes: :cool:

THATS IT !!!!!! I haven't ever seen a small tank used,allways the tall tank but on the bottom of you tank is the relief valve with the brass nuts. You back them out to bleed air.They wont come out,they stop when backed out all the way.:cool:

I was wondering what those nuts were for. Now when I loosen them and turn lock to lock like 'mercury' said, will air and fluid bleed out from those nuts?