How long out of a steering cable?

[daniel944]

How long do you guys get out of your steering cables???

My Teleflex one is 4 years old and has siezed at the helm end (helm is fine, just the cable). I grease the motor end every 6 months but only greased the helm end when I installed it.

[Nolongeramember]

It should last a lot longer than four years. For the steering end to seize up, it would have to be getting regularly wet and gummed up there.

The engine end is much more likely to be the problem. Are you 100% sure it's the steering end? Actually I wouldn't know how to tell the difference I just assume it would be the engine end as that's what cops all the splashing and gunk from the exposed areas.

I have sealed mine up at the rear as much as possible. Sealed the crimped part and the screw nut area with silicon.

[Rud]

Silicon is a good idea, I bought a mini tube of white yesterday in Bunnings for $3.30 and if you only need it for that and don't have a gun you can push it out with a broom handle, cricket stump, cardboard tube from your empty gladwrap or even the handle end of a screwdriver

[Zacnoel]

I too had trouble with teleflex steering and the culprit was usually the motor end seizing and over stressing the steering end.

The permanent solution was to disconnect the steering arm from the motor then remove the nut that holds the stainless shaft in the sheath. Now you need to find an "o" ring that fits snugly over the steering shaft. Lube the "o" ring with marine grade grease and slide it on over the steering arm and push it hard up against the cable sheath. Replace the locking nut ,reassemble and no more dramas at the engine end.

Eliminate the obvious first and effectively identify the source of your angst

Cheers

Leon

Edited May 5, 2015 by Zacnoel

[Guest 4myson]

Definetly should have lasted longer than that .... Just check that you have no sharp bends in the cable as that will cause early failure .

[daniel944]

The cable was about a metre too long, when I ordered it I gave the dealer the correct length using the formula to calculate it, he then claimed I gave him the length of the boat and he used the formula to arrive at an even longer cable, so the cable did do a loop under the dash.

I am sure its the helm end that siezed as when I removed the old cable from the helm it was coated in what I would call 'rusty grease', i.e. grease that is the same color as rust and has bits of crap through it but the engine end only had clean grease with no signs of corosion at all. Also behind the dash is all the wiring for gauges & switches and there is no corosion on any of that.

Anyway I got a non teleflex one of ebay for a lot less and will give that a try. I'll have to remember to grease it at the helm as well as the motor every 6 months or so.

[Nolongeramember]

If you think its the steering end, you should check the area that it's not getting regularly wet somehow. But you said the other parts in the same area are fine so it still makes me think the rear is the problem. I dunno lol.

The cable having a loop in it is no good for anything so it's good you are getting rid of that feature. Try to mount the new cable as straight as possible with gentle curves where needed.

Try to seal up the rear as best as you can and o-ring the steering tube on the motor as the other guy said. You can o-ring it nice and tight to seal it up good but the trade off is stiffer steering. I have mine fairly loose but I think small amounts of water still get in there.

A nice little trick I have found to help with the steering getting stiff is to store your boat with the steering full lock to the side that keeps the steering rod all the way out.

You shouldn't need to be greasing up the cable at all. Maybe a little on the steering rod if anything. Some people like to leave it dry.

[latindog]

Have you ever thought of investing a bit more and get hydraulic steering, check out this link is cheap enogh and I'm sure they have one to fit you motor, this one fits mine Yamaha 115 straight on and is easy enough to do it yourself , I'm just saying because when I went to change the cable by myself I found out the outboard had to be removed so I took the boat to get it done by a mechanic and ended up costing me over $600 just 200 short of getting a better system and do without cables

[antonywardle]

thank for that link

I'd never have thought of hydrolics

[tuffy]

Hydraulic is the ONLY way to go.

Tuffy.

[Captain Spanner]

The cables should last a lot longer than 4 years. I went through a few cables in a short time span and also broke worm screws and helms as well in that time as well. It turns out the guy that used to service the boat then was a bit sketchy and he was replacing the cable without detaching the motor and on my setup that meant he was bending /kinking the cable and cable setup to install it, in turn putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on the cable and starting with a damaged cable. It also made the steering very heavy. Which if I had more understanding like I do now, it would have been a tell take that something was wrong. I didn't understand any of this at the time and we got towed home on two seperate occasions due to dead stearing. Both nearly ending in being washed up on rocks at some point. I was able to put the boat in idle and hand steer the motor away from danger when the cable snapped but had no steering whatsoever due to seizure when the helm and worm screws died.

Make sure the cable has not been bent on installation, and does not have any form of bend or kink.

I have gone hydraulic for our 15fter with a 90hp and will never look back. If hydraulic is at all within reach of your budget or circumstance I would try to squeeze it. It has lots of other benefits too. If not. Make sure the seizing is not relate to bends/kinks and possibly get a second opinion if you're not sure. Dead or sick steering cables can cause pretty serious situations.