Whether to Replace Safe-T Rotary Helm?

[StuBone278]

My steering has gotten pretty difficult, so I cleaned out the tilt tube and it's still problematic. I believe when the steering was installed it was bent, or has bent during operation (the hole for the cable was pressed against a hole to travel to the helm, the motor has to be removed to remove the cable) so its only easy to turn the motor while it's in the centered position. It binds up a good bit at each "hard over" position while connected to the motor. I also cannot slide the steering tube back and forth easily like the Teleflex guy does on the maintenance video.

After I EASILY backed out the cable from the helm, the helm was very smooth. The only thing is that at every 3-4 wheel turns, there is a slight "pop" noise that doesn't sound too good. Is this normal for a Safe-T system? I figure that I'll definitely be replacing the cable, but should I replace the helm too? Thanks

 

[GA_Boater]

Assuming you have a outboard, you can disconnect the end of the cable to the steering link. Then see if the motor moves side to side easily. That eliminates the motor swivel. You can also see if the cable moves freely with the motor out of the picture.

But I have to say the popping doesn't sound good, but with the cable removed, the wheel would be free to turn past the normal limits - Possibly causing the pop.. Here's a pic of guts of a couple of rotary helms.

 

[StuBone278]

The motor moves easily with nothing connected. There may be a broken tooth in there, as it looks like I should be able to freely spin the wheel with no click. I guess I'll take it down and see if I can see anything. I just figured it may have had something to do with limiting the lock-to-lock motion.