andrew399 Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 Put the boat in last night for a jewie session and pushed away fom the pontoon at tunks only to then find that my steering had seized within the last 3 weeks! So after a fun paddle against the wind and putting the boat back on the trailer im now in the process of getting it working again. My understanding is that i need to pull out the entire steering tube yeah? I have already disconnected the swing arm and tried loosening it up with wd40 and pushing the rod back through but it is not budging. In the pic below which nut do i undo to pull the whole tube out, or do i undo both? In the pic does it look like the corrossion is too bad for a fix? It was all under plastic tubing so I had never noticed it before.. Thansks for any help!
chrisg Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) Put the boat in last night for a jewie session and pushed away fom the pontoon at tunks only to then find that my steering had seized within the last 3 weeks! So after a fun paddle against the wind and putting the boat back on the trailer im now in the process of getting it working again. My understanding is that i need to pull out the entire steering tube yeah? I have already disconnected the swing arm and tried loosening it up with wd40 and pushing the rod back through but it is not budging. In the pic below which nut do i undo to pull the whole tube out, or do i undo both? In the pic does it look like the corrossion is too bad for a fix? It was all under plastic tubing so I had never noticed it before.. Thansks for any help! Don't undo the grey bolt (circled in yellow). You want to be undoing the white encrusted fitting...see it has a hex end. The smaller fitting in red I think is a corroded lubrication port. Undo it anyway. I have feeling it all going to twist and break anyway when you try and undo that fitting but bottom line...replace the whole thing. With that much corrosion its destined to cause you problems in the future. C. Edited February 3, 2011 by chrisg
andrew399 Posted February 3, 2011 Author Posted February 3, 2011 The red circle is another nut not a lube port, it pulls that white thing together i think.. Struggling to turn that corroded piece by itself, it turns the bolt circled in red also so I have to go buy a wrench that will fit it to hold it in place. Il let you know how I go. How much does a new steering cable cost roughly? Is it an easy job to do?
Catchin Jack Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 Give our sponsor at Huett Marine a call, he'll be able to supply that part and at a raider price. If you can't do it i'm sure he can fix it for you.
chrisg Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 The red circle is another nut not a lube port, it pulls that white thing together i think.. Struggling to turn that corroded piece by itself, it turns the bolt circled in red also so I have to go buy a wrench that will fit it to hold it in place. Il let you know how I go. How much does a new steering cable cost roughly? Is it an easy job to do? The grey bolt is the tilt tube lock nut. Its turning because the white bit is seized onto the tilt tube. This could be a heat job. Steering cable is about $150 and can involve having to take the motor off if the splashwell is small. As Fez suggest could be one to pass on.... C.
roosterman Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 The grey bolt is the tilt tube lock nut. Its turning because the white bit is seized onto the tilt tube. This could be a heat job. Steering cable is about $150 and can involve having to take the motor off if the splashwell is small. As Fez suggest could be one to pass on.... C. teleflex push/pull cable is roughly $120-$130 but need to make sure its right one as connection may be wrong if its pretty old if its old style then another $90 will see new helm(bit steering wheel is on) which is prob good idea if existing one is very old.. bashing on end of steering cable at motor can damage helm so be careful,prob best to remove cable from helm first.... looks like a bit of a job but not impossible to do... that little nut is prob a grease nipple. all that corrosion is a worry... has the isolator switch been kept off to stop stray currents killing the boat with corrosion ????? give me a ring after 5pm and i will see what i can do. cheers...steve......
NickF Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Looks like some preventative maintenance could have avoided all that. Looks pretty buggered, something I wouldn't do. Looks like a job for Huey.
andrew399 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Posted February 4, 2011 Looks like some preventative maintenance could have avoided all that. This is my first boat so I didnt really know what to look for, and all that corrossion was covered by plastic tubing so its not like I was just looking at it! Anyways, I managed to get that white nut thing undone pic below. That metal rod inside was a little rusty, but not really any gunky grease etc. I can slide the metal rod out easy but I cant turn the steering wheel still so Im guessing that is because it seized on the inside yeah? Only problem now is I cant slide the rod the entire way out because the engine well (or whatever its called) is in the way. Whats my options now? Do I need to cut a hole in the engine well? Would be cheaper than getting the engine lifted off to remove it yeah?
andrew399 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Posted February 4, 2011 teleflex push/pull cable is roughly $120-$130 but need to make sure its right one as connection may be wrong if its pretty old if its old style then another $90 will see new helm(bit steering wheel is on) which is prob good idea if existing one is very old.. bashing on end of steering cable at motor can damage helm so be careful,prob best to remove cable from helm first.... looks like a bit of a job but not impossible to do... that little nut is prob a grease nipple. all that corrosion is a worry... has the isolator switch been kept off to stop stray currents killing the boat with corrosion ????? give me a ring after 5pm and i will see what i can do. cheers...steve...... I dont have an isolator switch so no, its always had current through it as far as I know. Guess I should look at putting one in! Il have to give you a call tomo mate, Im just about to head out. Ideally, I just want to repair the current unit rather than fit a new one but I guess il do what I have to...
Fester Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Hi, how big is motor? not hard to unbolt and borrow either engine hoist or block and tackle to lift up, or if not a huge motor then a couple of mates can help lift, just undo cable from helm, hold up high so cable hanging full length, spray full of inox etc down cable, leave hanging to soak and repeat as needed, then start working cable back and forth till comes free, then pull outer right out, fllush gunk from outer sheath, re grease cable and refit, im all for supporting site sponsors, but it is worth a go on your own, something like this is common.
roosterman Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) This is my first boat so I didnt really know what to look for, and all that corrossion was covered by plastic tubing so its not like I was just looking at it! Anyways, I managed to get that white nut thing undone pic below. That metal rod inside was a little rusty, but not really any gunky grease etc. I can slide the metal rod out easy but I cant turn the steering wheel still so Im guessing that is because it seized on the inside yeah? Only problem now is I cant slide the rod the entire way out because the engine well (or whatever its called) is in the way. Whats my options now? Do I need to cut a hole in the engine well? Would be cheaper than getting the engine lifted off to remove it yeah? good stuff mate...thats a good start.. now to get the ram outa the tilt tube.. you can do motor without a hoist... i will explain tomorrow. for the hassle doing all this is i would reccomend replacing the cable as its cheap compared to doing all this again.. very important to ream out that tilt tube proper.. there will be hardened grease on the walls you have to remove and hopefully no corrosion.. bugger of a job to do and this is so common, im sure huey would agree that he has done hundreds of em over the yrs ,especially spring time when alot of boaties get the boat out after a long spell to find steering seized. another thing i would reccomend is a steering ram nut,not sure of correct name but basically a big nut with seal that goes on end of ram then screws onto tilt tube where it comes out.. this helps to seal the end and stop crap getting in the grease in tilt tube... think i payed about 30 - 40 bux last boat... def get an isolator to help stop battery drain and also galvanic corrosion etc.. should not cost more than 150 bux and a few beers to do and satisfaction of doing it yourself.. good luck.... buzz me if ya need to... cheers...steve...... Edited February 4, 2011 by roosterman
roosterman Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 heres that nut i was talking about... you must not put too much grease as hydraulic lock can happen..
andrew399 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks Steve, I will give you a call this afternoon to help get me started. I was also just told by another raider that if the steering rod was at its full outer limit then the steering cable may have gone to far at the steering wheel, hence the seized feeling... The rod was at its full limit so could this be the case? How do I go about seeing if this was the cause?
roosterman Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 looks like you were able to swivel the ram..was it easy,also did you clean grease off before pics... the age of it ??? big chance of the cable stuffed as grease can get in it and harden etc and cheaper to buy new one than stuff around trying to resurrect a bad one . also the helm can go if once siezed its been forced.... on back of helm you dissconnect the cable.. the 2 types i have done were just pins locking them into helm unit then it slides out. if you go to teleflex site they had good instructions from memory but yrs may differ if old type.. will help to show how easy it is to replace yourself if needed. cheers....steve.......
adkel53 Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 That nut is called a Steersman nut. I got one from SA after doing an internet search. Have not had any trouble since fitting it. Kel
andrew399 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Posted February 5, 2011 looks like you were able to swivel the ram..was it easy,also did you clean grease off before pics... the age of it ??? big chance of the cable stuffed as grease can get in it and harden etc and cheaper to buy new one than stuff around trying to resurrect a bad one . also the helm can go if once siezed its been forced.... on back of helm you dissconnect the cable.. the 2 types i have done were just pins locking them into helm unit then it slides out. if you go to teleflex site they had good instructions from memory but yrs may differ if old type.. will help to show how easy it is to replace yourself if needed. cheers....steve....... Yeah I can swivel the ram easy enough now that the hex nut on the other side is undone, however when I swivel it it swivels the entire cable if you know what I mean, it does not swivel independently of itself. I did give it a quick wipe down but there was no chunky hard bits of grease at all... Not sure of the age, its 2002 engine so Im guessing its been on there since then. If the cable is stuffed I wil just buy another one rather than fix it. I have not forced the steering wheel so hopefully the helm is OK. Sorry I didnt get around to calling you today, hopefully tomorrow I will get around to it! Ps- Is it possible its just stuck at the steering wheel from being over extended?
Fester Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Yeah I can swivel the ram easy enough now that the hex nut on the other side is undone, however when I swivel it it swivels the entire cable if you know what I mean, it does not swivel independently of itself. I did give it a quick wipe down but there was no chunky hard bits of grease at all... Not sure of the age, its 2002 engine so Im guessing its been on there since then. If the cable is stuffed I wil just buy another one rather than fix it. I have not forced the steering wheel so hopefully the helm is OK. Sorry I didnt get around to calling you today, hopefully tomorrow I will get around to it! Ps- Is it possible its just stuck at the steering wheel from being over extended? pull cable out and turn the wheel, if it moves helm is fine, if doesnt move, then its stuck!
andrew399 Posted February 6, 2011 Author Posted February 6, 2011 Ok - quick update! I have finally managed to get the cable out, in the end I just cut a small hole in the engine well rather than taking the engine off. Off to the shops tomo to get a new cable and will hopefully have it all done by tuesday-ish. Pretty stoked that its ended up being a $150 job doing it myself rather than the $400+ it was going to cost taking it in to a shop! For anyone else that has something go wrong and you want to give it a crack yourself Il tell yo that youtube is your best friend! So many vids on there showing you how to do everything! Thanks everyone for your help and Il let you know when the job is done!
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