I am working on a late model 29' Searay with twin 5.7 EFI's. The power steering is not working correctly; very stiff. This is what I have done so far:
Removed nut connecting steering cable to cylinder and tested cable for stiffness (cable moves freely). Checked for free movement of cable end at cylinder (moves freely), Switched out pump with known good one (all pressure OK). Replaced cylinder with a brand new one (merc # 866200A01) the system still worked poorly with the new one. Returned new cylinder to dealer for replacement, replaced and still the same problem. After all this, I looked closer and found the following:
The shuttle valve on the PS cylinder is not moving quite far enough to actuate the drive piston, when I give it a little help by hand, then the power steering works great.
It seems to me that a tight cable would cause this problem (I have tested the cable movement several times and it seems perfectly free to me) It is a rack type helm. There is nothing hindering the free movement of the cable jacket/sleeve. System has been bled properly and no air is present in system. This thing acts like I have gotten a bad cylinder again (very high probability the two new cylinders would both be bad)(Maybe the one I returned was good). Is it possible the cable is stretched to the point that it will not actuate the shuttle valve to the degree necessary? The cylinder is the new style, so no adjustment is possible. Even so, I don't think the balance adjustment would cause this symptom.
Any help from the experts would be appreciated.
Removed nut connecting steering cable to cylinder and tested cable for stiffness (cable moves freely). Checked for free movement of cable end at cylinder (moves freely), Switched out pump with known good one (all pressure OK). Replaced cylinder with a brand new one (merc # 866200A01) the system still worked poorly with the new one. Returned new cylinder to dealer for replacement, replaced and still the same problem. After all this, I looked closer and found the following:
The shuttle valve on the PS cylinder is not moving quite far enough to actuate the drive piston, when I give it a little help by hand, then the power steering works great.
It seems to me that a tight cable would cause this problem (I have tested the cable movement several times and it seems perfectly free to me) It is a rack type helm. There is nothing hindering the free movement of the cable jacket/sleeve. System has been bled properly and no air is present in system. This thing acts like I have gotten a bad cylinder again (very high probability the two new cylinders would both be bad)(Maybe the one I returned was good). Is it possible the cable is stretched to the point that it will not actuate the shuttle valve to the degree necessary? The cylinder is the new style, so no adjustment is possible. Even so, I don't think the balance adjustment would cause this symptom.
Any help from the experts would be appreciated.
