Re: Steering problems
Actually had this happen to me. I had taken my boat to Florida for a week's vacation and spent a good deal of time in the Gulf. Rinsed everything (or so I thought) before heading back to the house each time after dunking. Drove home and never gave it another thought.
Two weeks later I tow down to the river to do a little catfishing. Back the trailer down, unhook the boat and launch. (I'm normally by myself.) Park the truck and jump in the boat. Fire the engine up and find that not only is the steering stiff, it's frozen completely! Despite my manly efforts to break it loose, I could not. Believe me, loading a boat on a trailer in a river with current is NO fun with no steering. I was wet, hot and PO'd by the time I got her back on dry land.
The saltwater had corroded the steering cable end in the tilt tube so badly in just two weeks that it was not going to move without some attention. And like many other boats out there, I had to take the engine off the transom to remove the cable end from the tube. There was a 1" spot right in the center of the tube where the ebd had welded itself to the inside of the tube. I wound up cutting the end of the cable off, punching it out with drift and hammer and repalcing the whole thing with a hydraulic system.
If you can get the cable end out of the tube, clean the inside thoroughly and grease well. Do the same to the cable end. If the corrosion has gotten into the sheath it's time for a new cable. Once you repair/replace the cable, make sure you keep it greased so it won't happen again.
UFM82
