Power steering from both engines ???

Ok I have come on the forum today and seen a post to a thread that was about a year old asking about "y 2 power steering pumps.

read through the thead and saw the below posted by chris

"Not sure about the VP setup, but Merc do it with a steering pump on each engine feeding to a 'priority valve'. That way you still have power assisted steering if an engine is shutdown, and it doesn't matter which engine....

Chris......."

Now I own a year 2000 twin merc boat and if my port engine is not running I have no power steering. Is it that there may be something wrong in my system. or is this a newer mod done by Mercruiser that I may be able to upgrade to.

Someone please advise.

I was of the opinion that I only hade one working at a time and if i did have an emergency I would have to reconnect the hoses to make it work.
and I believe that i got that info reading on here.

Thanks and Happy New Year to all

No Fuss

Re: Power steering from both engines ???

Are both pumps hooked up? Many times both engines come equiped with PS pumps and cooler, but not hooked up to a steering cylinder. The pressure and return hoses are just hooked together.
If you aren't sure, post some pictures of the area behind the engine where the steering hooks up. Then we can figure out what you have.

Re: Power steering from both engines ???

on my boat only one pump is hooked up, the other just makes a hydraylic loop. I was wondering if there is a system to make it possible to have them both functional. so that if I have the starboard engine fail I could still have steering.

Re: Power steering from both engines ???

Merc used to have a priority valve system, not sure if they have it anymore. Short of checking with a certified Mecruiser dealer in your location, not sure what you could do, except to remove the power steering from both engines and going to a hydraulic steering system to replace the cable system.

Re: Power steering from both engines ???

Ayuh,... Not that I've ever tried it,..
but,...
I can't think of any reasons it couldn't be built with standard off the shelf Hydrualic parts....

These guys probably have the valving necessary....