Mercury 7.5 HP Steering Swivel Repair

[tpenfield]

The steering swivel on my 1969 Mercury 7.5 HP outboard has been stiff for quite a few years. I have done the greasing thing . . . heated up the area to try to loosen the grease up and get it to flow, etc. but it still stiffens back up after a short while.

This year the steering won't even move . . . so I think I may have to dis-assemble, clean/repair, re-assemble the steering pivot assembly (or what ever it is called). I have looked online for the various part illustrations, videos, etc, and it looks like getting to the steering pivot can be quite involved.

How do you get to the pivot for dis-assembly purposes?

Does it require substantial dis-assembly of the engine/housing? or is there an easier way?

Serial number = 2634XXX (1969)

I tried to grease the pivot yesterday, but the grease gun had so much back pressure (from the seized pivot) that it could not force any more grease into the housing. I was thinking of removing the grease zerk and trying to work a solvent into the pivot assembly/housing to loosen things up :noidea:

 

[tpenfield]

Just giving this thread a bump . . . and an update.

As per the picture below, I took off the lower cowling skirt to reveal more of the steering assembly. It looks like the engine has to be substantially dis-assembled as there is the shift shaft that runs through the pivot tube (which looks to be about a 3/4" tube).

So rather than dis-assemble, I am trying some heat and solvent at this time to see if I can loosen the grease/crud that is inside the steering pivot housing. Here is my setup. the tube makes a good seal the whole from where I removed the grease fitting. There is about 2 feet of solvent in the tube that rises up, creating some pressure. so far no flow of solvent, but I will give it some more time. The heat gun will hopefully help soften whatever is inside the grease housing.

 

[tpenfield]

FIXED IT !!!

After a day of trying to soak solvent into the pivot, I took some more drastic measures. I injected some pressurized air (with my 100 psi compressor) into the grease fitting hole and it was holding the pressure . . . almost air tight.

So, I drilled into the lower portion of the pivot housing in order to get some solvent and oil into that area, which is furthest away from the grease fitting. Then I hit the area with a torch to heat it up more than the heat gun was doing. Those two things seemed to loosen things up enough that I was able to work the pivot assembly loose.

I replace the grease fitting and pumped until I got clean grease coming out of the upper and lower ends of the housing. The thing is now quite loose, I may actually have to use the friction pads to stiffen the steering up a bit.

 

[tpenfield]

Update:

The Merc 7.5 is now back in operation :thumb: I had removed the friction plate some time ago, and fortunately had it in my tool bag. So, I put the plate back on and now the steering is as it should be.

It seems that with salt water use, the lower part of the swivel pin/housing gets salt in it and binds it up over time. . . just something I will have to keep an eye on.

 

[James R]

I am sure that your approach will be of help to others. Of course a shot of grease into each fitting at the end of each season would certainly help. Sadly we are perhaps all remiss on our simple maintenance.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[60sboater]

interesting

 

[tpenfield]

I am sure that your approach will be of help to others. Of course a shot of grease into each fitting at the end of each season would certainly help. Sadly we are perhaps all remiss on our simple maintenance.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

I think part of the problem is that the single grease fitting for the swivel is towards the top of the housing, So, grease has a longer way to go to get to the bottom area, and that is where the salt water would be prevalent. My thoughts are to add a second grease fitting in the lower portion of the housing using the hole that I drilled.