Dometic SeaStar Baystar Hydraulic Steering Kit, HK4200A-3

This kit had everything I needed and the instructions it came with plus looking at some youtube videos from people made easy to install. It's definitely a two person job to bleed the air out.The neck of the steering wheel is probably good 4 inches so it was sticking out a lot for my helm so I bought a bracket adapter that enables you to mount the neck coming out from inside the helm instead of going on top of the helm and that made it shorter like by an inch and a half (that's the square thing at the bottom of the neck in my picture), still sticks out some but not as much and it only bothers me when I'm standing steering the boat.I definitely noticed the change from going from cable steering and I don't get any feedback and it doesn't get as hard to steer when going fast as the cable one used to do, I have a 17ft Key West 1720 boat with a 90HP engine, I had to cut the old cable steering cable out of the engine since in this boat model you have to unmount the engine to get it out since the motor end of the cable steering is solid metal that doesn't bend at all and there is no room to pull it out straight.Overall very happy with it, one recommendation I have is download the PDF of the install and print the mounting holes diagram to check in your boat's helm, my friend found out he had too many holes from the old steering and there was no good fiberglass spots left and he had to fix the whole area first before mounting the new hydraulic steering.

This took me about 2 hours to install. It was the first time I ever tackled a project like this. My old steering cable was locked up from dried grease. I called boating places and the cost to replace the cable because they had to take the motor off to do it was over the $500.00 So I decided I should upgrade to hydraulic steering and do it myself for around the same price of replacing the cable. After I ordered this I download the instruction manual and read it twice. By time it arrived I was ready to install. I dropped the old helm down from the console and cut the cable with a cut off wheel then taped a rope to it so When I pulled it out I had something to pull the new lines back through. Then I went to the back of the boat and cut the cable next to the engine. The old cable pulled out very easy, I then rigged up the hydraulics on the motor and put all bolts finger tight for now. I taped my new hoses on the rope and pulled it back through with one shot. Connected all the fittings for the helm and then bolted it down. Went to the back connected the fittings and tightened all bolts. Filled with fluid and bled the lines. It works absolutely perfect. I can not be happier with the outcome. Note I did have to cut off the dog ears on the motor so it would tilt all the way up. I missed that during the install but was able to take it off and cut them out in about 5 minutes or so. Now it tilts all the way up like it is suppose to.

Easy install, just was cramped behind the dash on my boat. Stripped the bronze nut to attach hose to steering wheel back and was easy to replace nut from hardware store. The stainless fitting on their equipment was undamaged.

Seen many reviews on here and other sites stating easily installed in just a couple hours. That's a load of bologna unless your installing it in a new boat, a dingy or are a mechanic by trade. On my 1997 kenner 18 that had mechanical steering it took half a day getting that out and then another half getting this in but I will say it was easier getting this in than removing the mechanical. I'm just an average joe so if your mechanic skills are above that you will be fine.I also read about one finger steering in other reviews. That is misleading as well, at least for a 130hp. More like three finger steering but still waaaaaay better than mechanical.Directions are ok but could be better if they had pictures for the technical names on things... but if your a boat captain or boat mechanic you might know what some of the stuff they are talking about. Youtube saved the day more than the paper instructions did. Dumb it down some please, put more pictures in it.One and only real complaint though is the helm fill cap.... this is the nut you unscrew and remove to fill your system with hydraulic fluid. Seriously I just spent $600 bucks and the integrity of my system is dependent on a POS screw in plastic fill cap? Hope I can find something else to replace that POS before I maul it with a pair of pliers checking fluid levels later on.Overall it's a solid buy but that fill cap is atrocious. C'mon baystar even aluminum or pig iron would be better.

As others have said I wish I could have known about this years ago. I was facing my third teleflex cable replacement including needing to replace the tilt tube when I found out from my son about this product. The tilt tube was having corrosion problems that cause original teleflex cable systems to fail prematurely. I decided to try this hydraulic upgrade and stay with the old tilt tube after cleaning it out and lubricating it. Installation was on an old Scout 172 Sportfish that was a challenge due to the limited space through the under decking tube. I actually found it easier to push the second hydraulic line, rather than pull, after rounding the tip up a bit with tape. The first cable pulled though from the helm fine using a nylon line pulled through the same route the teleflex cable was removed from. The second hydraulic line had to be pushed through a slightly different route than the original teleflex cable due to throttle and electrical wiring routed through the same space. Everything else went without a problem. The steering works very smoothly and I actually have a wider steering range now.