Re: OMC Tru-Course Steering
Joe, as KaGee said you need to pull the drive for starters. That will eliminate the drive as the culprit. If that does not do it then you need to remove the steering gear and shaft in the intermediate housing and pull out the rear True course drum. There is a grease fitting for the shaft both outside the transom and where the shaft terminates on the inside of the transom. These are often overlooked.<br /><br />Also no one ever tells you to lube the cable itself. Even if the problem turns out not to be the cable I would lube it.<br /><br />The steering had really been stiffining up in my '75. I pulled the rear drum, proped it as high up in the air as it would reach, then began to spray TriFlow down the two cable passages. In your case, being frozen up I would spray as much as it will take, let it sit for a day, then start trying to turn the wheel. <br /><br />If it starts to move, I would have someone slowly turn the wheel while you continued to spray the lube down the track that the cable is retracting into. Once you get to lock, go the opposite way, spraying as the opposing cable retracts into it's housing. Repeat as often as necessary till it free up completly. Then I would do the same thing from the steering wheel end except I did not remove the drum up front. I just stuck the spray nozzle into the cable opening and sprayed while I turned the wheel. It's messy doing the front one in the horizontal position so have rag towels handy.<br /><br />This made night and day difference in the steering effort in my boat.<br /><br />You could actually disassemble the drums, pull out the cable and grease it, but that would be a royal pain in the tushe.
