A neighbor asked me to look at his wet slipped boat . . . a mid eighties 28' cruiser with upper & lower helm, single 7.4 Mercruiser I/O. Steering is very tight, feels bound up. A separate cable runs from each helm to the power assisted tiller arm. I disconnected both cables at the end pins and both steering wheels turn freely, cables slide beautifully thru the tubes. With the cables off I can slowly pivot the outdrive manually by hand so not much problem there it would seem. With just one cable connected (either one) to the tiller and the engine running the steering is marginally OK at that helm but with both cables hooked up everything is very stiff again at both helms. The point at which the steering tubes attach to the power assist cylinder assy seems kind of loose and I was wondering if this looseness is causing a bind in the system. There is a small rubber seal at that connection point that seems pretty greasy - is that a sign of some type of failure? It also doesn't seem like the power assist is very powerful. All knowledgeable reponses appreciated!
