Stiff Steering

[pegz]

Hi

My steering has gone very stiff (hard to turn) it is cable push/pull system. Disconnected from motor and it swings freely. Is it easy to pull out cable from tube to lube ? 

[noelm]

Far better to just replace it, they are not that expensive, just get the right length, it's usually stamped on the outer case at the end. There is stories about pulling them to bits and messing around, but it's only temporary.

[frankS]

Unless the steering is locked up tight, it is pretty simple to free it up. Best done with 2 people , while cable is disconnected from motor, one on steering wheel and one at end of cable, fully extend tube out and wipe down excess gunk and spray with WD40 then the guy on the steer wheel moves wheel slightly back and forward while guy at end of cable keeps wiping shaft and applying the WD40, keep doing this till full turns of the steering wheel is easy. Don't use excessive force to turn the wheel just small bits at a time.

Best way to prevent steering from tightening up is use the boat.

If steer is fully locked do as NoelM suggests.

Frank

[pegz]

Ok thanks for that

[pegz]

ok it is good for building muscles at the moment

[noelm]

Just be careful using it if it's binding up, too much effort can break the inner cable, or the helm, leaving you with no steering, which is not a whole lot of fun. 

Edited October 10, 2020 by noelm
Typo

[Rebel]

How old is the cable ? IF it is old it is better to repalce it.

Cheers.

[dunc333]

if replacing, to make it a quick removal we cut it in a few places. just be careful not to cut any other wires in the process cheers dunc333

[noelm]

Depending on how it's been run, sometimes you can use the old cable as a "pull through" but often there's a thousand cable ties holding stuff to the cable.

[dmck]

You could try undoing the wheel end and pouring some diesel down the tube. This acts as a lubricant and will do a bit of rust removal. Once it's free lubricate it bi-annually with a light machine oil or auto transmission fluid.

 I mad up a jig to force oil through under air pressure (compressor).

I did the same for my throttle/gear cables.

Never had another problem with cables.

 

( first time my steering froze was at the end of a long drive and we were determined to get on the water... used tuna oil and brute force...)

[noelm]

While I agree it probably can be freed up (I have done it myself) but at best it's a band aid, steering is kind of important on a boat, remove the cable, toss it away and replace it.

[jeffb5.8]

17 hours ago, pegz said:

Disconnected from motor and it swings freely.

Does the motor swing freely or does the cable move freely when disconnected.

if the motor swings freely I would just replace the cable as it’s a pain to free up the cable and they go stiff again in 6mths if not done right.

[pegz]

I am looking into hydraulic steering (if i can get the money past the misses)