To much play in steering?

[Anthonym2]

Hi All
I've got about, what I estimate to be, a quarter turn on the steering wheel or maybe a little less play in my steering. It's been like this for about 2 years, my local shop says it's probably not worth the money for the age of the boat to try and fix it and suggested I ride it out until it gets worse. It will jiggle back and forth a bit while steering (you can feel it in the wheel) until you get it to about 17 or 18 on the tachometer and it's got some real power behind it. It's a 1980 baretta with a 140 mercruiser. I know it's old but it's pretty clean and runs well, I'd like to try and hold on to it for another couple years. Looking for recommendations on what might be the fix and thoughts on how bad you think this is. My shop said they'd need to replace the steering all the way to the wheel and that might not even fix all of it.
Thanks !

 

[ahicks]

You can visually check the linkage at the rear for play and do what you can there, but my bet is most will be found in the steering head. They can be replaced of course, but the work to do that, and the price of the parts, need to be balanced against just dealing with it as is. Your boat, your call!

 

[Anthonym2]

I think I can deal with it, I guess my question is then is this any kind of saftey issue?... When the steering goes totally could it happen when I'm going 20 and pulling my kids in the tube?... And when it goes will it be sudden or just gradually get worse over time?

 

[MTboatguy]

Unless it has major wear at one of the joints in the system or the cable joint is failing at the helm, it is not going to just instantly fail, it will just get worse over time, be sure and inspect and lubricate freely, which can take some of the slack out, but most of them more than a couple of years old have enough wear to feel in certain situations.

 

[Chris1956]

i presume the steering is cable, vs hydraulic? Cable steering does fail instantly. Steering cables can snap, without warning. If it happens when you are at cruise speed, bad things can happen.

It helps if the steering doesn't normally pull, and you can adjust this to some extent. However, always be prepared to cut the throttle if the steering goes limp.

I do not know what causes steering cables to fail, but they have failed w/o warning. A new low end cable steering system is $150 or so.

 

[ahicks]

I've never seen or heard of one suddenly failing. They just get so sloppy you can't stand it - or they seize up after sitting too long (years).

 

[xltier]

If its a mercruiser you could have play in the gimbal ring.Sometimes you can tighten them a bit in the back with the 2 pinch bolts. Don't overdo it cause you could snap the ring. there is a torque spec for safety.You could probably find a u-tube on gimbal ring loose.

 

[Anthonym2]

i presume the steering is cable, vs hydraulic? Cable steering does fail instantly. Steering cables can snap, without warning. If it happens when you are at cruise speed, bad things can happen.

It helps if the steering doesn't normally pull, and you can adjust this to some extent. However, always be prepared to cut the throttle if the steering goes limp.

I do not know what causes steering cables to fail, but they have failed w/o warning. A new low end cable steering system is $150 or so.

My shop indicated that it would most likely not fail instantly and just get worse over time, as did a couple other folks on this post. If the parts are only 150 then I'd just say replace it but they quoted me almost 800 to do the job. My main concern is safety so if anyone else thinks this could just suddenly go let me know.....thanks again!

P.S.
I'm not a mechanic but I am very handy and have remodeled a coupe houses...maybe I can do this myself?

 

[Anthonym2]

And yes, it's cable steering not hydraulic

 

[ahicks]

I would say replacing the steering head would make a great DIY project. The hardest part I can think of is often removing the steering wheel. Would likely be a good place to start.

 

[Chris1956]

Installation of a new steering system is a PIA, as you need to feed the cable from helm, under gunwale (or deck)to engine compartment on an I/O. Sometimes reaching the cable attachment behind the engine is difficult.

Installing the steering head can be a problem for salt water boats due to corrosion.

If you never had a steering cable fail at cruise speed, you are missing out on some thrills (not).

 

[Mechmagcn]

I've never seen or heard of one suddenly failing. They just get so sloppy you can't stand it - or they seize up after sitting too long (years).

I personally can say that they will fail without warning. On my small cab boat I had a Teleflex cable fail just as I was powering down to pull up to my dock. Luckily I wasn't at full power or a long way from home. This cable was less that two years old and had never given any trouble, no slop or drag.