Frozen midsection steering bracket?

[Dave Abrahamson]

Hi Guys,
I have an issue with my 1997 Johnson 115SPL model#J115hxeua.
The motor will barely turn when disconnected from the steering cable. Cable and helm are fine. I've already replace one helm due to stiff steering and I want to avoid that again. I'm trying to pump grease into the steering bracket to no avail. It squeezes out the bottom of the shaft, but won't come up and out through the top by the steering arm. I have pics if needed. I also tapped and put a bolt in the bleed hole that the grease was coming out of in order to try and force it up, but no go.
Anyone had any luck freeing a steering bracket or am I better off finding a donor midsection?
Sorry for the long story, but I wanted to make sure I gave you all the info.
Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions, this is my 1st go to when I have issues. Thankfully not very often.
Happy Thanksgiving all!!

Dave

 

[interalian]

In both my units, there's a bit of up/down play in the swivel. Maybe a bit of upward pressure on the LU would free it up? And/or spray some penetrant down the neck of the tiller yoke to re-activate the old grease.

 

[racerone]

Salt water motor ?

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Yes Saltwater motor.
I've tried heat with mapp gas and soaking with PB Blaster....still stuck. Not completely stuck, but the steering wheel will spin on the helm shaft before the motor turns stuck

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

No Title

 

[Tim Frank]

If you have the patience, try some L/U oil....working the whole engine from side-to-side while doing it..
If you can get the whole assembly freed up, it should then take grease.

 

[w2much]

Patience and lubricant .. If you really think you may need to replace the midsection and have run out of patience and lubricants and penitrants you can wrap a rope or attach a cable around the midsection or other strong point and winch it back and forth. Slowly, side to side just a bit one way then the other adding grease during the process. Should make it or break it.. I have done it before in desperation and it worked out. .

 

[interalian]

You could also remove the tiller arm link from the tiller yoke and put a big snipe (pipe) on it and work it back and forth that way.

 

[F_R]

You can mess with it, and you can fight with it, and you can cuss up a blue streak with it. After you have tried all that, you can do it the right way. There are two plastic bushings in the steering bracket, top and bottom. Rust and corrosion builds up around the bushings, putting a tight squeeze on them. When they have gotten that tight, they act like an effective seal, preventing any grease from flowing through.

You can do the shade tree method and heat it very hot, top and bottom. Hot enough to melt the plastic. That will free it up, but remember you just destroyed the bushings. How long will it last? I dunno, hows your luck going?

Of course, the right way is to take it apart and clean the rust and corrosion out, then lube and put it back together. That is a job that outboard mechanics dread.

 

[Buickmike]

I also have this exact problem with my 1988 60horse.....(no rust like in your pics though) .grease out the bottom and nothing on top...i can move mine ok by hand, but its tight...i have also tried the greasing/ penetrating oils/ heat/ back and forth, back and forth, cursing and swearing...lol. I've come to the conclusion that like F_R said....its time to pull it apart and replace and clean. Which really, really sucks

 

[racerone]

It should not be that hard to find used freshwater assemblies.-----In some parts of the land they throw salt on the road to get rid of snow.---Means we have to replace cars and trucks.----Replacing outboard midsections should be easy.

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Thank you guys for the suggestions.
Tim Frank, when you say L/U oil, where are you talking about applying it?
Through the zerk fitting?
And F_R, when and if all else fails, I'll try the heat method again.
I DO at least have the Factory manual, so I got that going for me.

 

[interalian]

so I got that going for me.

...which is nice.
Carl Spackler

 

[oldboat1]

Try soaking the corroded area with some Coca-Cola, then use a small wire brush to clean it up. Unhook the steering ram, and try to loosen it by hand.

 

[Tim Frank]

Thank you guys for the suggestions.
Tim Frank, when you say L/U oil, where are you talking about applying it?
Through the zerk fitting?

Yes. I've done it with an old grease cartridge and a grease gun. A bit fiddly and messy, but maybe worth a try. If you could get some kerosene or diesel in under a bit of pressure, that would start the process.

And F_R, when and if all else fails, I'll try the heat method again.
I DO at least have the Factory manual, so I got that going for me.

You can usually count on FR showing up and raining on your parade by suggesting the proper way to do things; what makes that more annoying sometimes is that he is almost always right.....
If you do manage one of the suggested shortcuts, especially with a saltie, be assured that you will be doing the shortcut process again and again with increasing frequency.
In the long run, doing it right will save you time.

 

[Fed]

I have freed up a couple of old Mercurys (3 Cyl 65HP)and once they were free I kept the grease up to them and had no further problems.
I used grease, brute force on the motors with the steering disconnected, Penetrene in a grease gun, bound the bottom with cotton tape to limit the grease coming out and a bit of heat but not too hot.
I think if you can get any movement at all then you will get there in the end.
A couple of big strong mates & a carton of beer should do it easy.

 

[Dave Abrahamson]

Thanks again everyone. It does move under force, just not by the helm.
Ill keep at it and update you on my progress

 

[rothfm]

Been there...Doubt even getting some lube in there will help much. My old salty-same issue. I decided to tackle it. Since the large nut underneath the swivel assm was rusted so bad, I cut slots in the nut, and broke it off. BUT, since the splines in the steering arm were also corroded into the lower mount block...I had to cut and chip away that lower mounting block piece by piece.

This was ALOT of work, but doable if one is so inclined.

Once I had the lower mount block off the splines of the steering arm, it was still stuck in the swivel body. It took some pounding to get the arm out, But it did come out.

It was then, you could see what was described by someone above...The upper plastic bushing had expanded, cracked and was binding up the steering shaft badly. Take this all apart, clean up everything well, replace the bushings and seals.

Put it all back together, with new grease, new replacement lower mount block and nut and you are good to go.

NOTE: Dont worry about mushrooming or messing up the threads on the end of the steering arm. Protect them if you can. I did, but was able to shave down the rest of the threads, and then welded on a new nut to the shaft no problem

Its been as good as new