Slack in Steering

[181Mariah]

It seems that there is slack in the steering. The lower unit will move back and forth about 5 inches from side to side before the steering wheel turns. Does this seem normal or is there away to adjust it. Its a 93 4.3LX 18 foot Mariah with MC Alpha 1 gen two.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Slack in Steering

It seems that there is slack in the steering. The lower unit will move back and forth about 5 inches from side to side before the steering wheel turns. Does this seem normal or is there away to adjust it. Its a 93 4.3LX 18 foot Mariah with MC Alpha 1 gen two.

No! Yes, well maybe. The first thing to do is retorque the gimbal clamping screws to 55 ft. lb. These are the two bolts at the top of the gimbal ring. They have nuts on the backside so you will have to turn the outdrive to one side then the other to get a wrench on them. That should help, let us know.
BTW there should be NO side to side movement of the outdrive.

 

[181Mariah]

Re: Slack in Steering

Cool, thanks. yep it looks it is loose at the two bolts that pivet (sp) the outdrive. The shaft is loose and it looks like it needs to be tighten. I will you know how it goes.