stiff steering

[bexi]

hey guys i've got an old late 70's mercury 115 and the steering has been seized.
i've pump some fresh grease in and now can steer it if someone is pushing the engine while i tug the steering wheel. it is a cable setup and cables are in good enough condition.
how can i free this up more and how good will/should it get being a cable steer?

 

[Bondo]

Re: stiff steering

Ayuh,.......

IF everything is in top notch condition,.....
The steering should be Effortless.....

A few places to look for your Problems are,......
The motor's Swivel Tube/ housing......
The Tilt Tube, if the cable passes thru it.....
And,....
The Cable itself if it's a cable w/ Housing type......

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: stiff steering

disconnect the link at the motor. determine if it is the motor or cable. both should turn easily. if cable remove it from the tilt tube where it goes thru the motor. clean rust out of tube, and retry. if still stiff. replace cable.

 

[bexi]

Re: stiff steering

hi it is just the stainless cable on it's own with no outer tube. it wraps up behind the steering wheel and then just goes to each side of the motor through pulleys. the cable/steering is not stiff. it's the engine that is stiff. i have tried disconnecting the cables but the engine is still stiff.
do i have to pull the whole motor off.
any advice?

 

[wavrider]

Re: stiff steering

Try some PB blaster on it and soak it good, wipe it off your transom so no damage to the finish will occur.

After soaking it for a while try moving the engine on the swivel to see if it free's it up. the more you move it the easier it should become.

If this free's it up then use some good quality grease to lube it up.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: stiff steering

that motor should have grease fittings on the swivel section, probably never been greased. tilt motor all the way up and look under there.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: stiff steering

Bexi, There is a grease fitting on the swivel part of the transom clamp. I recommend you remove the zerc fitting with a wrench and spray a liberal amount of penetrating oil into the hole. usually the lower swivel bushing gets corroded and to fix it right, you need to pull the powerhead, lower unit and then pray you can get the midsection to come apart, without breaking anything.


You need to hope that the penetrating oil will clean up the lower swivel bushing (give it lots of "exercize") well enough. Now you can install the zerk fitting and grease it with marine grease.

 

[bexi]

Re: stiff steering

thanks heaps for your suggestions guys
i will be working on the boat tomorrow after noon and will let you all know how i go
bexi

 

[oops!]

Re: stiff steering

hey bexi welcom to i boats

i used to have that...... &$#$#@$#%$&*(*&^(&%$.....wonderful pully cable sterring system....i spent many beauteful afternoons on the lake tring to fix it...
if its just the motor your ok

id suggest to replace it.....garbage can the whole shabang...

if you cant do that...do what every one else says here.....then grease every pully...make sure that the lines arent twisted.....a tight pully system is just uasually too tightly strung.....problem is that when you loosen it just a tad it comes off.....

good luck......ill stop to help ya on the lake this summer....sorry i hate that system........

(i beleive the mod td has worked on many o that system...knows far more on it than i do....he might like them and can tell you exactally what to do with the whole system.)

oops

 

[Chris1956]

Re: stiff steering

oops, Bexi has isolated the problem to the motor swivel section. Unfortunately, that repair is difficult because you need to take the entire motor apart to get at the bushing in the upper or more likely lower swivel bushing.

BTW - I never had an once of trouble with my old cable/pulley system. I did need to replace the cable one time, but that was all.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: stiff steering

i'm still running a 1956 cable steering system, only thing that it has needed a new cable. there are direction, for changing the cable in the faq forum. the trick is keeping the correct tension of the cable.

 

[bexi]

Re: stiff steering

hey guys.
i worked on the boat last night and got a big oxy torch onto the swivel section. the steering has come good.
i had the steering on hooked while heating so i couls move the motor around easier.
before i started work on the steering last night, you couldn't use the steering wheel to get from full lock one side to the other. it would get stuck
now after heating it up and pumping grease in, you can steer from full lock one way to the other way with one hand on the steering wheel.
very happy.
also changed water pump last night and unblocked a blocked hose.
so now the boats ready for it's first run tomorrow!
very excited.
only down side is one out of 6 cylinders is down on pressure

 

[oops!]

Re: stiff steering

good for you bexi..!!!

let us know how the water trials go.....im jelous your out boating.....

in canada...(british columbia...above seattle)...were in a deep freeze...a foot of snow on the ground and -16 at night....buuurrrrr.....

i hated my pully system...as td said its all about getting the tension right...mabe if i would have known about i baots back then...

enjoy your day on the water my friend

oops

 

[bexi]

maiden run not so good

maiden run not so good

hey guys well we took the boat out on it's first run.
ran it at home to make sure it was pumping plenty of water.
took it down to the ramp and put it in and it was going great for about 10 minutes until it stalled while i was driving along at about half throttle. an instant stall (not petrol related) i mean like a sudden stall.
anyway thank goodness it started straight back up but i only got another 50 metres up the river when it did it again and then wouldn't stall. i was thinking the motor had seized as the battery was ok and would still trim up and down at normal speed.
anyway, tried to turn the key and the motor really really slowly turns over as id the battery is dead but it's not.
Sounds like it's seized up doesn't it?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: maiden run not so good

Re: maiden run not so good

remove the plugs, try turning the flywheel by hand, you can post the motor troubles here: http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=25