Twin Alpha Steering tight - diagnosing

[Strecker25]

I have twin Alpha I Gen II's coupled to 5.7EFI's with power assist steering. Steering has become very tight, and I need some help diagnosing it.

I thought for sure it would be the cable, but at btdoc's recommendation on another forum I pulled the clevis pin so the cable was free of the drive and it is very smooth.

The only change to anything related over the offseason was torquing down the gimbal ring bolts to the 55lb spec. They were about 10lbs short, but I believe those just clamp the steering pin so it shouldn't have bound anything up.

The PS pump does whine when pressure is applied at the wheel. I was thinking of just swapping the pump from the other side since I have twins. It seems like the swap is pretty straight forward, a couple hoses and some bolts holding it on. Thoughts?

 

[Scott Danforth]

what is the condition of the oil?

 

[Strecker25]

I topped it off with merc PS/trim fluid at launch. Today I shined. Flashlight in the res and it looked “normal”, not milky, etc. It’s at least 4 years old though (engines were out of the boat right before I bought it)

are you thinking I should drain and refill?

 

[Scott Danforth]

no, was thinking you should sample it first. I use a medicine syringe to sample fluid from PS reservoirs.

 

[Strecker25]

I’ll pull some off today and take a look in a clear container. Thanks

 

[Strecker25]

No water, but very dark and syrupy.


Flushing seems easy enough, drain the res of old, take low pressure return off, and turn wheel?

mechanic said it is still likely the cable, that they can run free with no pressure but bind when installed and have the load on them. Replacing it in this boat is going to be a nightmare, but doable.

 

[Strecker25]

[No message]

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,...... Most likely bindin' point is the aft end of the outer casin' is stuck inside the aluminum tube that holds the cable to the transom assembly,.....

Ya disconncected the tiller arm,.....
Now pull the big nut, 'n try to pull the cable outa the aluminum tube,.....

It's Supposed to be greasy, slippery,....

 

[Strecker25]

Thanks bondo. I did take the nut off and began pulling the shaft out of the tube. It comes out easily but was not greased much. I put a glob of 2-4-c on the shaft and reinstalled but it didn’t help.

I have a new cable, I may just run it along side the old and see how it works. The gunwales are tight, but I think I can get it through.