Bearing on a 1985 Mercury 175 Black Max

[maverick974]

I have been going through a few boats since I moved to Arizona from Oregon two years ago. Last year I bought an 18 foot Skeeter bass boat but I never took it on the water. Shortly after I bought this boat, I found the boat I'm keeping so this boat sat in my yard.
I'm going to sell it so I'm cleaning it up, testing everything and fixing what it needs. Most of it is just clean up and a little electrical work. A problem popped it's ugly head that I've never had before. The pivot on the engine apparently has some kind of bearings? It's the pivot point where the engine turns left and right, not up and down. It is very sloppy so can someone give me an idea of what I need to do to fix this? From what I can tell, there must be some sort of bearings in there and I'm guessing they are wiped out because I can lift the engine an inch or so around that pivot point.
I've worked on outboards before but other than a steering cable, I've never come across anything like this. Is it a relatively easy fix? Can I do it with the motor in place or must it be removed from the mounting bracket?

 

[maverick974]

Re: Bearing on a 1985 Mercury 175 Black Max

Nobody?????

 

[carholme]

Re: Bearing on a 1985 Mercury 175 Black Max

What is your engine s/n?

Here is a link to the swivel bracket which is what I think you are talking about.

Mercury, Mercruiser, Force, etc. - SWIVEL BRKT AND STEERING ARM (SERIAL GROUP # 9) - 175 H.P. V-6 (1976-1988 COMBINED BOOKS)

Items 2/3 are probably beat to nothing if you can move it that much but you have a big job ahead to replace those parts. You may also find severe wear on the bottom splines of the swivel pin, item 33.

Gerry