mercruiser 3.0 steering binding on occasion

[kthkollar]

I have a 1987 sea ray with a 3.0 mercruiser that runs great and steers and handles great, just on occasion, the steering will bind taking some force to turn, then it works fine again. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Dont want to waste money on changing good parts. Hopefully just a cable? Thanks for any help.

 

[Grub54891]

Disconnect the cable at the transom. Then grab the outdrive and swing it back and forth and see if there is any binding. Then take the wheel and run it stop to stop, it should feel smooth and good also. Any binding or rough spots will tell you where the issue is.

 

[kthkollar]

Thank you for your response. I was wondering what some common problems for this sticking would be other than the cable. Thanks

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... It could be the drive bindin' on it's pivot points,....

It could be the cable, or the helm unit,....

It could be corrosion inside the aluminum tube on the transom,....