1973 chrysler sport sattelite 70 hp steering

[christo555]

steering wheel won't turn. disconnected motor universal bolt from steering cable and motor turns freely. unscrewed big nut on cable at steering wheel rack and pinion and rack moved freely. so, i guess the steering cable is frozen inside its sheath. to replace the cable, i have to get the the spring held universal bolt holder off the end of the cable rod so i can pull it through the transom mounted steering tube. but i don't know how to remove it. it is too big to go through the steering tube. what am i not seeing? the frozen cable says "13" on it. means 13 feet long cable needed. the rack part looks like a 1 1/2 inch pipe with a pipe end cap on one end and the steering cable comes out the other end.
any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Frank Acampora]

First off, that is a very old piece of equipment. I don't think it is available any more. Your best hope would be to go to The Chrysler Crew and see if someone there has one for sale. However, in all probability you will need to buy a complete helm/cable assembly.

I am not sure what your engine end is. It may just screw onto the cable. However, a photo would certainly not hurt. From your description I suspect that you have a tube bolted or screwed to the inside of the transom This carries the steering cable. If all else fails, you can unbolt the transom tube and remove the whole assembly from the boat

 

[christo555]

frank, again your endless effort to help us ignorant and desperate beginners is amazing and so appreciated by me and i'm sure endless others.
i will take pictures and post today. it's not as easy as i would like but i can do it.
the chrysler has a swivel type steering tube mounted on the inside of the transom. the end of the cable goes through it and slides smoothly in it. the problem is that the cable end has spring holder on the end that holds the ball of a bolt that is going into the nose of the motor. this spring holder is what is stopping me from pulling the cable out of the steering tube. i assume that after i do this i can then pull the rack out of the pipe at the steering wheel.
again thank you.

 

[Maclin]

Can you include some pics of the boat? That model was my first boat, kind of interested in seeing it

I had to replace the steering cable on mine as the rod at the motor end that slides in the tube guide was bent due to a previous owner motor changeout and mis-alignment, I re-aligned it but the damage had been done, but I made it one season before it got stuck in the guide tube out on the water, pretty weird feeling. We had to unhook it from the motor end and I steered by holding the motor while someone else drove slowly. I was lucky as the helm assembly was still in great shape and the cable was still available, but this was back in 1985.

Good luck with this one. And Frank is the guy for sure, kudos to Mr Acampora :eagerness:

 

[christo555]

1973 chrysler sport satellite steering cable

the steering cable is rusted solid, can't push/pull it. motor and rack move freely(rack cable end disconnected). teleflex tech says doesn't know how spring holder on engine end of cable is attached to cable rod end or if it can be removed and used on a new cable i'd like to get from anyone. the engine bolt has a ball end that
has anyone seen this type of connection and knows how to repair/replace steering cable?
thank you

 

[christo555]

No Title

here are the photos of the cable end with the spring holder of the engine nose bolt. also the rack unit. look familiar to anyone? i want to order a new cable and track, but i don't know how to get engine end of cable out of cable tube without removing the spring holder.

 

[Frank Acampora]

I have seen that steering system and in fact I had a similar one on my 1971 Glastron. If you spin around the ball coupling can you see a set screw?

However, if all else fails you should be able to remove the end cap from the ram. inside the steering cable should go all the way through the ram and be secured by a nut--possibly two. Remove that nut and the cable should slide out of the ram. Then, unbolt the transom mount/swivel and remove the whole smash.

A new helm and cable will cost only a little more than the cable alone. A complete helm and cable will cost around 150. Way back when, it cost me 80 bucks for a cable. If money is not an object and if you want to go a little higher end, you can spend a few bucks more you can get a helm from Teleflex that is all bronze, chrome plated. I salvaged a boat with one of these and installed it into my Glastron. Never looked back and never regretted it.

 

[christo555]

i can't see a set screw or a bolt that would hold the ball coupling(thanks for the correct terminology) to the cable end, which i think you call the ram? the pictures i see of the cable seem to show the ram?chrome rod? on one end of cable and the rack on the other end of the cable and i don't know how they attach these ends because on my cable there are no nuts/pins i can see.
i want to install a steering kit #ss141xx and a clevis kit #sa27314p from iboats. my problem is how to remove the ball coupling without damaging the steering tube on the transom cable mount. i guess i could cut the ram?chrome rod behind the ball coupling but it is going to be really hard to cut i think.
i was hoping somebody would know how to just remove the ball coupling, then slide out the cable ram?chrome rod?
thanks again frank. i have to admit i really enjoy doing this figuring out problems on stuff with people.

 

[Frank Acampora]

If you do go to cut it, the cable is piano wire--fully hardened. A hacksaw just will not do it. A big bolt cutter might but a grinding wheel is best. I still thing the couple is threaded onto the cable end. Try grabbing the cable ram with a vise -grip pliers--hard-. Then put another on the ball couple or use a small pipe wrench and try to turn it off.

 

[christo555]

well i ended up cutting off the push rod that holds the swivel bolt for the engine. this allowed me to pull the push rod out of the steering tube mounted to the transom. however i could not pull the cable out of the boat sidewall chase. i had to cut the cable itself and boy was that hard. two blades in my sawzall later i did it and was then able to pull the cable out from both sides. i bought a complete steering helm, cable, and clevis kit from Iboats for $170 and that went in pretty easily except i mounted the helm on the wrong side of the rack which caused the boat to go left when i turned the steering wheel to go right. it was not hard to remount properly. iboats parts cost about 10% more than some other web sites i found for the same parts, but when i had a problem with the clevis kit parts, they sent me different parts that worked great. it was worth the few extra dollars to get the great service and help, at no extra charge. i will buy from iboats for 10% more happily.