Another "stuck" steering issue - wanting to cut it out

[WA-Newb]

I just picked up my third boat, that's 3 in a year now...lol (I think I should name it "Yet another Trihull).
They do keep getting a little better or bigger each time though

Anyway this one, like my last has a stuck steering tube / cable but I have no way to get any tools on it since it froze in the inner most position. I also think I cracked the rotary spindle on the helm (steering wheel) end while trying to PB blast, heat, tap and turn the wheel...it stripped out a bit (or cracked) so I figured it was time to get a new cable.

My cable is on the way now (two weeks out though) and in the meantime I will want to get the old cable out.

Is there a standard way of doing this when the tube and cable are froze together?

My "thinking" is that I should go ahead and cut the cable on the cable end about a foot away from the tilt tube and then use a punch and hammer to pound the stuck end through back out through the tube.

I don't want to end up getting it stuck in there though or running into any other problems if possible.

So does it matter how I get the cable separated from the tube? or as Nike says...Just do it?
Also, once the cable is out what should be done to the tilt tube before installing new cable?

Thank you.

 

[daselbee]

Re: Another "stuck" steering issue - wanting to cut it out

I deal with that often. Everybody and their brother brings me the oldest salties they can dig out of the sand....

I just beat the heck out of the end of the cable that is protruding on the port side until it is flush, then use a suitable drift to drive it on out the rest of the way.
When it is out, I rig up a long wooden dowel with a slot cut in it, slide a piece of 36 grit sandpaper in the slot, roll it over making a sort of homemade flapper, and insert the whole rig into the tilt tube. I rotary sand the inside of the tube using the dowel chucked into a drill.
Then when most of the crap is ground away, I change to 80 grit wet or dry. I spray liberally with PB Blaster through the whole process.
I clean the inside of the tube using a rag soaked in kerosene, ramming it through with a suitable pushing tool.

Once clean and shiny, I liberally, very liberally, grease the inside of the tube, and the outside of the new cable, and re-assemble.
Grease gun on the grease zerks too, if you have them.
Then, yearly, as maintenance, I pull it out and re-grease.

On my boat, I have hydraulic steering, but I still pull it apart and regrease the tube so the hyd. steering rod doesn't sieze in there.

They also make tilt tube cleaning brushes, but I feel the sandpaper/dowel way is cheaper.....

It is a messy, unpleasant job.

 

[WA-Newb]

Re: Another "stuck" steering issue - wanting to cut it out

Thank you very much Daslbee...that is great help

Everything seems to be an unpleasant messy job on these older boats to me, the rain may make it seem worse than it is though...lol

You mentioned greasing everything before assembling...I remember reading about certain grease being bad and causing hydraulic locking or vacuum issues which will cause it to stick. Is there any truth to this or am I thinking of something else? What type of grease should I use when I get this far?

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Another "stuck" steering issue - wanting to cut it out

If you use a heavy duty waterproof grease it will get stiffer as the temp goes down. Those greases are normally used on the swivel zerks on a typical outboard. A (white) lithium grease (Mercury 2-4-C 92-802859A 1) is a good alternative for the steering shaft end and is not so affected by low temps. It's got teflon in it and is extremely water-resistant.

 

[WA-Newb]

Re: Another "stuck" steering issue - wanting to cut it out

Just wanted to post an update on this for others to read when they search for stuck steering cable or how to clean out corrosion in tilt tube..hands are still greasy and back is very sore so hopefully this all makes sense...lol

Tonight I finished installing the new steering cable and here are the steps and problems I encountered.
Maybe they will help someone in the future..but please note I am still a newbie to this stuff.

First..the symptoms:
Stuck steering cable in tilt tube (AND bent rack (Teleflex) behind wheel but found that out later).
Steering cable was froze in the most INNER position which made this much more challenging than my last boats stuck steering issue. Also this has a big motor (120 Johnson) and tight area between motor well which made it even much more fun...NOT!

Step 1. LUBE / PBBLASTER
Removed nut on left side of tilt tube to get better access, loosened cable nut on other side and sprayed PB Blaster liberally at tilt tube opening. Repeat spraying for as many times and days as you have the patience for...I did about 6 sprays over two days before attempting step 2.

Step 2. Attempt to free up steering
If it's tuck in most inner position (no cable sticking out the other end of tilt tube)-

If you have someone else to help this makes it easier but you can do it on your own. Be sure the connecting rod is hooked up to the steering cable (many will unhook this right at first to make sure it's the cable itself that is stuck).
Now try to move the motor back and forth by hand, steady hard pressure either way. If you have someone to give you a hand have them keep tight pressure on the wheel while you try turning the motor but be sure you are both turning the same way. It may start to slowly move bit by bit and if so you will be able to get your cable unstuck eventually. I finally saw that my problem was two fold.
I had a stuck steering cable but also had problems at the helm...when I looked under the dash I saw the rack (long black box thing) was bent which meant the gears were probably shot inside so I ordered a new cable instead of trying to free this one up.

Stuck in the outter position-

If you have some of the cable sticking out to where you can get a pipe wrench on it you can carefully use that to twist the cable while someone else is applying pressure to turn the motor...or you can unhook the connecting rod and try to twist it back and forth a bit more. try not to damage the cable though as this will cause more problems down the road...if you are brave and careful you can try using a block of wood and pounding on the cable a bit to see if that frees it. be careful though or you may get it stuck in the most inner position and then it will be much harder to deal with.

Step 3. Remove cable for replacing or cleaning
If you find issues and need to replace the cable then it may be easier for you to cut the old cable off and use a punch and hammer to drive it out of the tilt tube. I read that a brass punch should be used so you don't mushroom the head of the cable but since I didn't have one I bought a brass nut to put between my punch and the cable. I don't know if this is the right thing to do but it worked for me. I also didn't have a punch that long so used an old long drill bit for the punch. If you are replacing the cable then all you need to worry about is not hurting the tilt tube but if you are trying to keep your cable then be sure to use caution and patience on this entire process.

Step 4. Cleaning out gummed up or corroded tilt tube
If you can afford a new tilt tube now is the time to get one but if you are on a limited budget like me then you will want to clean yours out the best you can and expect to do this again yearly if not more.
After I got the cable out I soaked the inside of the tube with brake cleaner, crab cleaner, degreaser..anything I could find to try and clean it out. I went down and bout some round wire handles brush thing that looked like a gun barrel cleaner for only $3, cut the handle off and put the wire end in my drill. kept spaying the cleaners and running that through the tube several times (NOTE..it's messy when you pull the rotating brush out at high speeds..wear work clothes and check your face when done..lol).

I still wasn't happy with the results I was getting and I don't have a bunch of tools so I made something that seemed to work with what I had on hand.
Again I used the long drill bit for this...it was maybe half the dimension of the tilt tube so I used 2 inch masking tape to build up a few layers around the bit and then covered that with self adhesive 2 inch sandpaper (stair tread tape I bought for the boat). I made the finished thickness just tight enough to barely fit into the tube and made three two inch rows...one at the front, middle and rear of the drill bit (leaving room to get the drill on the end). Since I don;t have much room in between the motor well I had to insert this new sand paper bit into the tube, push it in far enough to get the drill in there and then tighten the drill chock.
I ran this sandpaper bit from both sides multiple times and would swap out the sand paper pretty easy when it was toast.

Then I sprayed more cleaners and used the brush for a final clean. It came out pretty good but had some pitting...no high spots though and that's what I was trying to accomplish.

Step 5. Lube and put in new cable
This will be pretty easy for most since it's just the reverse of taking it out...mine was held in with 4 bolts at the helm and stuck behind the vinyl sides zip tied to the rest of the wires.

BUT I said pretty easy for most...in my case the previous owner had recently raised the motor about an inch or so..just enough to make this a much bigger pain. The cable needs to have room to go into the tube completely straight and perpendicular...since he had raised the motor a bit my 3 inch wire / cable access hole was no longer allowing the cable to go in straight through the motor well. It looked like it should be just fine but no matter what I tried I just couldn't line it up..finally I saw the issue and had to cut the hole out in the fiberglass about a half inch wider at the top and front. All the cables and wires were still in the hole so I protected them with a block of wood and used a sawzall with a short blade to carefully cut the access hole enough to get the steering cable lined up properly. I sprayed white lightweight Teflon grease into the tilt tube and on the steering cable before inserting it and tightening down the nuts, there may be a better grease for this, not sure.
Now I will need to buy the 4 1/2 inch diameter boot instead of the 3" boot to seal it up.

Thanks for everyone's help..now it's time to get this thing running right.

 

[trbarret]

Re: Another "stuck" steering issue - wanting to cut it out

I have a stuck steering cable, i haven't got it out of the tube yet but after talking with the local evinrude dealer, he said he would not run the nut where the ram comes out due to the problem with stuck steering ram. he leaves the left nut with the plastic inner seal off and keeps the tube greased well , several times a year.
The dealer said that the left nut with the plastic insert actually wipes off the grease and he advises to go without the nut.

Makes sense to me. i just have to pound out the steering ram at this point. remove the nut and keep it grease.

hope this helps. never thought to go without he wiper nut.

Tb