85 Force 125 Steering Problem

[ccrawford]

85 Force 125 outboard on 85 Bayliner 1900 body very, very hard to steer. Disconnected steering cable from motor and it turns freely. Pushed motor back and forth and it was very difficult to move from side to side. Greased all fittings and no grease pushes out of top of king pin housing, plenty pushes out of bottom. Also, it looks like there is a spot for another grease nipple in the housing, but that there was never a nipple put in. Have sprayed WD-40 on washer? that is between king pin housing and bottom of motor housing, which frees it up a bit, but still leaves a lot to be desired. Is there a flaw with this motor that a grease nipple was missed, and if so, can it be drilled in? Or is there another way to get in there without removing the entire power head? I have about 4 hours in this to no real avail.<br /><br />thanks,<br />CC

 

[roscoe]

Re: 85 Force 125 Steering Problem

Heating it and trying to get the old hardened grease out, and pumping more grease in.<br />This will take a while, but know of no other way besides total disassembly.<br /><br />Not sure if you are missing a zerc or not.<br />You may find another zerc if you tilt the motor all the way up.<br /><br />And PB Blaster, AeroKroil, Liquid Wrench, etc, will work better than wd-40.

 

[ccrawford]

Re: 85 Force 125 Steering Problem

Thanks Roscoe, I'll get out the heat gun and give it a shot. Not really sure how the old grease will leach out, especially if it is blocked up, but we'll try. No other zerc anywhere in sight that would work for the king pin, and disassembly seems like a really bad option. It just seems like the grease hits a wall going up from the zerc, and flows really well going down from it.<br /><br />Do you know of any way to close up the bottom of that housing so that the pressure of the grease would only go up, and not be relieved by leaching out the bottom?<br /><br />CC

 

[ccrawford]

Re: 85 Force 125 Steering Problem

Turns out the '85 version of this motor does not have a Zerc fitting for the upper part of the king pin because it has a "no grease needed" (yeah, right) plastic bearing around the king pin. Since that is likely broken down after 20 years, we drilled into the place where it looked like the zerc should go and tapped one in. It has taken very little grease, but progressively gets better once the motor is worked back and forth. I am going to continue to use the Liquid Wrench at the top of the housing, and hopefully we will continue to see progress. The only other option seems to be to remove the powerhead and replace that bearing with a brass one that will easily take grease.

 

[roscoe]

Re: 85 Force 125 Steering Problem

Sounds like an adventure.

 

[ccrawford]

Re: 85 Force 125 Steering Problem

Adventure is my middle name...<br /><br />And it certainly is one.

 

[clanton]

Re: 85 Force 125 Steering Problem

Use an acetylene torch, it will cook the old grease out as you pump the new in. Heat between the upper and lower bushing. Careful the acetyline will melt the housing.