Please do not place the order for this service until your unit is ready to ship.  Your unit must look EXACTLY like the picture in this listing.

This is a Remanufacture service for your current actuator.  This listing is NOT for a new or rebuilt actuator that we would send when you "buy" this listing,.. you must send us your actuator so it can be remanufactured.  Our typical turnaround in 1-2 days after we receive your unit.  We will remanufacture YOUR unit, we will not be sending you someone else's beat up/ potentially older unit.

Retail for a brand new Volvo Penta steering actuator is $1181.75.   So it makes sense to take care of the one you have with a proper service and rebuild.  We replace all the seals at the shaft and the outer to inner cylinder with high quality American made Viton seals, we are NOT sourcing these from China.   The other O-rings and other seals used in this remanufacture are also made in the USA from the proper durometer (hardness) material to give years of performance.  We also replace the plastic piston with our Aluminum piston if your plastic piston shows any signs of cracking.

We have been remanufacturing hydraulic cylinders for over 20 years so these actuators are right in our wheelhouse .    We can do any of the Volvo Penta actuators similar to the picture in the listing,.. part #'s vary and can be 21910902, 3812269, 3860883 or even something different.   The pictures that are posted with this listing are of the actual seals that are used in remanufacturing these actuators. Every seal will be replaced with brand new seals and even the problematic cracked plastic piston can be replaced using our proprietary process.   Your remanufactured actuator will be better than new due to the choice of seal materials we implemented and it will come back to you with a 2 year warrantee.  Read more below for further information.

Volvo Penta steering actuators have 3 well know failure modes:

  • Mode 1 is failure of the rod seal at the shaft which moves in and out of the cylinder.   When this happens you have oil leaking out at the shaft seal and when you lose enough oil or the seal fails badly enough, you lose all hydraulic assist pressure and it becomes almost impossible to turn the boats steering wheel.

  • Mode 2 is failure of the 2 large seals that seal the outer housing to the inner housing.   When these seals fail you have the same problem as mode 1 listed above however if you let these leak too long and the seals becomes damaged enough. the 2 Aluminum cylinders can start to rub each other (the seals keep the parts separated) and the pieces fail beyond repair.  So when you see this starting to leak, time is of the essence.  Get the unit out of service and to us for repair before it is too late.
Please note that if your actuator is an older unit, and there is not a retaining clip visible near the threads on the small tube that the steering cable goes through, then we will not be able to replace the two large seals that seal the outer cylinder to the inner cylinder.  We can replace all other seals and the piston.
  • Mode 3 is failure of the internal plastic piston shaft(see pictures).  If your steering is stiffer than it used to be, you probably have a cracked piston.  When the piston cracks and fails, hydraulic steering assist pressure flows from one side of the piston, under the seal through the cracks, to the other side of the piston and steering assist pressure is reduced, sometimes substantially.   Until now this was not repairable but we now have a proprietary solution .   We remove the old cracked plastic piston and replace it with a new machined Aluminum piston onto which we fit the original style Teflon and O-ring seal, which is an excellent high pressure and long life solution.   The picture of the AL piston on the rod is our replacement unit that has been installed on the original rod.  In one of these pictures, the energizer seal has been installed but not the outer Teflon deal) and the other picture shows it with the Teflon installed.  If you have been told by others in the past that your unit could not be rebuilt due to a cracked piston, then today is your lucky day.


Please ship your unit to:   Rocky Top Yachting Services,    3267 Northpark Blvd.  Suite F    Alcoa TN   37701.    8658625262
Please make sure to put a neatly written or typed note in the box with all your contact and shipment information.