I have a 2019 ZX225 with a SeaStar tilt steering wheel. It was secure with no play or looseness initially and now has about 3/16" play up and down at the tilt pivot point. Can't find any of the external mounting hardware loose. Is this going to need to be disassembled and tightened internally or possibly replaced with warranty?

I can purge your steering to all air out of system.

It's not a hydraulic issue its a hardware issue. Somewhere within the tilt mechanism there is one or more loose bolts. After consulting with SeaStar Tech Support, I have decided to disassemble the steering wheel to locate suspected loose bolts.

There are no adjustments. It’s a simple cam,lock, and spring. If the lock pin or cam gets play, it only gets worse.

About $250 for a new tilt mechanism. I broke mine by using the steering wheel to get up outta the seat. Learned a $250 lesson. Not a hard fix. Pretty quick and easy.

UPDATE: Disassembled, removed steering wheel (used two jaw wheel puller), removed blinker trim under steering wheel, removed plastic bezel (plastic piece covering tilt mechanism). This exposes the bottom two Phillips head (#4 Phillips) screws that secure the tilt mechanism to the pump. These two bolts were excessively loose despite having star washers under the head. I removed each screw one at a time and applied adhesive to the threads and reinstalled torquing them down securely. I reassembled everything and all is tight with no looseness. This boat was bought new in May last year and should not have had this issue. No I didn't take it in for warranty because I didn't want to leave it at a dealer for an undetermined amount of time, I fish a lot year round. If these two screws had continued to migrate loose it would have been a total loss of steering so if you have a SeaStar hydraulic tilt steering wheel that has any looseness, bring it to a dealer or inspect it yourself for loose hardware.

I have been guilty of doing the same thing. Luckily mine was only loose bolts, possibly from me using it as a hand hold. Upon disassembling the mechanism I see now it is not built sturdy enough to bare any load except steering. I will never use it as a hand hold again.

Good to know if mine starts showing the same problem.

Great info guys. Thanks.