[jamesa]

Sea Pro DC 180 with c-90 Yamaha, both 99s. Steering wheel will not turn. Motor when manhandled will not budge. I even hammered on the end of the linkage. It had gotten real stiff once in 2001 and last fall once or twice but spray oil and working it back and forth always did the trick....I
am so mixed up right now I am trying to remember if reinstalling the boat battery will make any difference?!
I re-greased the 2 xerkes fittings on that piston like thing, sprayed WD-40
around the linkage...loosened the two nuts at either end of the piston-like thing.
The steering box makes a cracking noise when I get over-ambitious trying to turn the wheel... I am obviously not that handy, but I am just so shocked that after goofing around I could not get it to finally budge, allowing me to hit it with the oil and grease again. Before I tow it to Pearl Grey in Amityville, just wondered if I am missing something.

 

[623628]

These things happen. Heres waht u should do take out the little couder pin out that conects your sterring rod to the motor its self. Get a good amount of gresse in ther. %Take a stock car jack and put between gunwale and sterring rod. Work it slowly it will frrw. Make sure to take out the couder pin!!

 

[thefishingfreak]

dude you need a steering cable!

lack of maintenence, and lack of a grease fitting has finaly taken its toll on the cable itself.get a new cable-rack system . they have them on the shelf at boat-us. and west marine.

where the stainless steel rod slides through the aluminum shaft at the end of the cable its probably all gummed up and frozen ,and, forcing the steering wheel hard over probably stripped a tooth or two at the rack itself{behind the steering wheel}
new cable time!

 

[Tiderunner]

Steering Cable

The Fishing Freak is correct. It certainly sounds like a frozen steering cable. The same thing happened to me on my boat. These cables will fail from time to time even with periodic maintenance. It maybe be time to replace them. Whatever you do not force the steering wheel.

 

[jamesa]

thanks everyone,
if I can not get lucky again (freeing the cable myself, is this the sort of job a mobile mechanic can do? (Like brakes on a car, I don't think I want to tackle this myself- its not exactly an oil or gear lube change.)

 

[seaslug44]

Jamesa,

I spent some time this week helping a friend with the exact same problem. According to Teleflex we are all supposed to remove the steering rod to degrease then regrease the cylinder annually. I'm not sure I know anyone who actually performs such a task each year.

You probably have the same problem that my friend has; the shaft is frozen inside the cylinder. This can be caused by saltwater mixing with the grease. Together they can literally form a chemical weld over the winter. Another cause can be using either the wrong kind of grease or mixing two different kinds of greases.

The clicking noise you hear is not good. It's the teeth of the gears in the helm losing grip on the steering cable because you were putting too much strain on the whole system (stop pushing when you hear that sound).

Captbush has an interesting idea with the car jack. However, you risk damaging the gel coat and even the structure of the fiberglass itself. Then again, it still might work without causing any damage. It depends on the boat and how severe the freeze actually is.

This is the sort of repair you might want to consider bringing the boat to a marine mechanic to tackle. Many times it requires to have the entire engine removed from the boat so that the frozen shaft can be safely banged out with the proper tools. On some rigs the engine has to be removed from its mounts anyway to allow enough clearance for the proper angle for the new steering shaft to be installed.

The parts are a killer when it comes to cost. Last year I had to buy a 20 foot cable. It cost me around $119. My friend's Boston Whaler only needs a 10 foot cable and it's $100!! With about two hours or more of labor charges you are looking at no less than $250 to $300 to get the job done right. If you damaged the helm when you tried to force it you could be looking at another $150 or more.

My friend has his appointment with the local marina set for Saturday. I might visit him to attempt Captbush's car jack idea. If it works then it'll save him a few hundred dollars. I'll let you know how it goes.

(This post edited by DoctorFish on 03/16/2003)

 

[STRIKERTHREE]

sounds like what happened to my steering a few years back i replaced it it was a pain in the neck to do on my mercury i had to hammer it through the other side on the housing it sits in not fun

 

[leakyrivot]

Troubleshooting -

First of all - a site that will help you fix anything marine engine related:
www.marineengine.com/discus - great discussion board w/ very knowledgeable people around willing to help.

As far as steering - when it's stuck there are 3 possibilities of decreasing probability:

1. cable
2. engine bracket
3. helm

First thing to do is disconnect the linkage to the steering bar on the engine. Once it's off, try and turn the engine manually. If the engine is free -it's now between your cable & helm - if not, it's your bracket that is frozen & it will require grease, bangining, possible dissassembly etc..

If it's not the engine, completely loosen the nut the that holds the cable to the tilt tube. Try and slide the cable out. If it's stuck, try and turn the wheel, if the piston pushes the rest of the cable back, but stays in the tube, it's pretty obvious that the ram has siezed to the tilt tube.

If the ram & tube are seized: there is a great fitting on the tilt tube, squirt something slippery in there - try and squirt something slippery wherever you can get it. Put a screw-driver into the hole of the ram ("piston") and this is important - try and TWIST IT back and forth.. this will usually help free it partially. Don't twist it too far, just 1/2 revolutions etc.. Using a combination of tapping (some banging if neccesary) it in with a hammer & twisting it out, it should free up. If it won't free up - you will have to actually take the tilt tube out & bring it all inside to free or replace the cable and/or tube etc..

If the cable came right out when you tugged on it, disconnect the cable from the helm. Try and slide the cable in and out - if it is loose, the helm is shot, else the cable is shot. When replacing a cable, you may as well replace the helm (I'm speaking of standard non-hydraulic systems) - it only costs $50 more to get the whole package.

Jon

 

[seaslug44]

quote:
Put a screw-driver into the hole of the ram ("piston") and this is important - try and TWIST IT back and forth..
There's one problem with that part of your instructions: on all Teleflex steering there is a PIVOT HEAD at the end of the rod that allows it to turn free of the rest of the "piston".

 

[leakyrivot]

DoctorFish & twisting

When you said that it really confused me - I fixed one last season - and they all, just about, are teleflex. I looked at bothe of my steering cables - bothe teleflex & yes there is a something there that looks like a swivel head, but no - it does not turn independently on mine.

Bothe of these cables are 1-3 years old & teleflex, so things shouldn't be seized. Mabye under extreme pressure they will spin.. not sure. If they spin, then you'll probably have to use a monkey wrench. The downside is a monkey wrench does more damage to the ram - but, with no other choice a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.

Jon

 

[618942]

i had this problem a few years ago and freed it up using heat but you have to be careful or you warp the tube it worked for me but i made sure i turned the steering end to end regulsrly the whole season good luck

 

[jamesa]

using some of everyone's timely advice, I had a little luck after work tonite. I didn't get to the hydraulic jack part, but I (well,actually my better half) did hit the tube with a hair dryer for 10 minutes, while I rapped the **** rod with a hand sledge held sideways, and even twisted the rod (?) by putting a round iron through the bolt hole. It doesn't appear that I can not remove anything without dismounting the OB. Thinking it didn't work, I went to empty out some of the stuff I had put back into the cabinets, figuring it won't be needed in the boat very soon. Crawling back out from under the boat cover, I figured, what the hey, and grabbed the wheel. Of course, it moved, albeit with some (as in MUCH) difficulty but no sound effects! I intend to oil and grease and exercise it daily up thru next weekend. I have an appointment with a local and respected boatyard and want to allow them time to get another hapless eunuch like me if I indeed got lucky.

Since I can not dissassemble the thing much more, any ideas how I get new grease in and old grease out ??

Once again, thanks to all who have posted, I continue to be amazed at the wealth of knowledge and helpfulness of all here. I guess the boating community was like this in the late 70s thru mid 80s when I had my first boat, but then George didn't have this fine medium at the time.

 

[jamesa]

Have yet to decide whether I should just bite the bullet and replace the steering or continue to work on it.
Will loosening the nuts and squeezing in new grease push out the old?

Should one, when not using the boat for more than a week, keep the outboard and wheel turned to keep the rod all the way into the tilt tube, or turned the other way to keep the rod as far out as possible (from the tilt tube?)

 

[leakyrivot]

From what you have said, it's hard to tell exactly what was freed up. If the ram was simply stuck inside of the tilt tube, and it now is unstuck, there's not much sense replacing anything.. I think that is what you are describing. The tilt tube is probably fine, the cable is probably fine etc.. Grease the **** out of everything and work it in real well. Keep an eye on it. I'd store it straight incase it sticks again - will be easier to free that way.

Jon

 

[seaslug44]

The only way to effectively remove the old grease/salt/moisture from the tilt tube is to completely remove the steering ram. Pumping more grease into the cylinder is just going to add to your worries.

You also need to purchase one of these. It's a Teleflex Cable GardTM Tilt Tube Seal Nut designed by Teleflex to keep the good grease in and the salt/moisture out.

 

[jamesa]

Thanks all, once again. Unfortunately I do not believe there is enough room for me to remove the g d cable without lifting out the g d Yamaha, thus the query of somehow getting the old lube out. I think I will tend to leave the steering rod and ram inside the tilt tube by turning the wheel all the way over. It will give me 6 more inches to swing the hand sledge next time !! (-:

 

[pequa1]

spent a few hundred getting new steering installed last spring and HERE WE GO AGAIN, even though I exercised the wheel every single Saturday or Sunday all winter long, its gotten worse, especially when the rod is almost all the way into the tube.
Would installing hydraulic steering eliminate this from happening ?
Can it be put on a small boat with just this 90 Yamaha ?
Ballpark cost ?

 

[MakoFever]

My steering froze after one winter and I had to replace the entire system. Now I spray some Corrosion Block on the linkage and work it in when winterizing the boat. The stuff works.

 

[MakoMike]

One way to fix it for good is to install a Zerk fitting (or two)on the tube amd lubing it with corrosion block grease at the beginning and end of each season.

 

[unkleJ]

old post on this subject

see this thread for more advice on how to fix your steering.

http://www.noreast.com/discussion/ViewTopic.cfm?topic_ID=84460&page=1

I replied to it too, on the 2nd page.

Disconnecting the cable from the engine and then twisting the cable end is the best way to free it. Use lots of penetrating oil.

Eventually, once you get it twisting back + forth, you'll be able to pull/push it out.

Then make sure you clean up the outside of the end of the cable (the part that slides in + out), and clean out the tube (part of your engine bracket) that the cable passes thru. See my old post for how I did it.

Then grease it all up real good and you should be good to go. Maybe do the same thing each winter, instead of waiting for it to get stuck again.

Mine's been good for 3 seasons now using the original steering cable (I didn't buy ANY new parts, just cleaned it up + lubed it), since I originially fixed it. Good luck.

This post edited by unkleJ 01:50 PM 04/21/2008