Loose steering, play in the drive...

[Steve91T]

1995 Mariah Z202 Merc 350/260 hp EFI Alpha 1

Hello guys. I just picked up this boat and took her out yesterday. I'm concerned about the steering. The wheel is off by 90 degrees, and has 1/8 turn of play in it. I also noticed the drive has about 1.5" of play side to side.

I've been doing a lot of reading and searching and the more I read, the more nervous I get. I'll try to torque those two bolts at the top back to 55 ft/lb and see if that helps. But it seems like once it gets this much slop, the gimbal ring is shot.

I know it can be rebuilt for a few hundred $. But I'm worried about the cost of labor. I'd prefer to work on this boat myself. I do all my own maintenance on my cars. What makes replacing this ring so difficult?

I've read some recommend to remove the engine?

Just wanted to get some opinions.
Thanks,
Steve

 

[Steve91T]

Re: Loose steering, play in the drive...

I just checked the two bolts at the top of the gimbal ring. Very loose. I tried to tighten them, but it seems the nuts on the other side are turning. I hope these aren't too hard to get to. I don't have any idea how I'm going to torque the bolts from the outside, while holding the nut on the inside, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

I read that someone on here tightened them up and all his slop went away for 2 seasons now. I hope I get that lucky.

Any tips for tightening these bolts by yourself?

I just read where someone had a worn out gimbal ring and made copper shims to take up the extra space in the square steering area. He said it's completely tight. Any reason why this would be a bad idea as a "temporary" fix?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Brentathon]

Re: Loose steering, play in the drive...

I just torqued my gimbal ring bolts......was fairly easyl, but that was possibly due to the fact that my Bell Housing wasn't re-installed, yet.
Maybe others have more tips.

 

[Steve91T]

Re: Loose steering, play in the drive...

OK, just torqued down the bolds, which were nearly hand tight they were so loose. I torqued them to 62 ft/lbs instead of 55. Now there's only about 1/8" play in the outdrive.

I sure hope this fixes my problem, at least for a while. I still have the 1/8 turn play in the steering wheel. Not sure what that's about.

I'll probably have to wait until my wife gets home and make her turn the wheel for me while I check things. Can anyone point out the places for me to look? I don't know how many times my wife will be willing to climb into the boat and help me

Time to start looking for water leaks now...

 

[Steve91T]

Re: Loose steering, play in the drive...

One thing I forgot to mention. It's easier to turn the wheel to the right, than it is to the left. I felt this yesterday while playing around on the water, and I also felt it today while running it on the muffs. The power steering is still pretty heavy, even on the muffs.

With engine off, I can manually push the drive to the right, but I can't to the left.

Power steering pump going bad possibly?

 

[mikehiler]

Re: Loose steering, play in the drive...

Just went through replacing the gimbal ring on my boat. Its not too bad of a job, aside from fighting the bell housing back in. You should have an alpha 1 gen II drive, in which case, JR marine makes an awesome kit (they market it for Bravos, but the Alpha's use the same ring) that will help you out.