Yamaha binding pivot shaft

[caldemaxi]

My 1985 Yamaha 200hp has been getting harder to steer .With the steering cable disconnected ,it's still hard to move. I greased the fitting on the pivot shaft but grease only comes out the bottom(the first time I greased it ,water came out) . I tried to temporarily seal the bottom of the shaft where the grease comes out with a rubber sleeve with a hose clamp over it to force the grease up the shaft but no luck. I spoke to a mechanic who suggested heating it with a torch to soften the old hard grease and then use the grease gun again. But if that doesn't work he said it's probably corrosion(salt) that's blocking the grease. In that case it would have to come apart. Has anyone experienced this problem? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

^Bump for caldemaxi

 

[lexkyboater]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

I had this exact same problem that I posted in the 93 Yamaha 115 Hard to Steer post. I greased it five times last night, each time removing the extra grease from the bottom bushing, and finally I saw some fresh grease coming out of the top. Maybe persistence might help? But, my problem may be different than yours - my motor turned easy before I finally got grease to the top bushing. Also, it might help to turn and/or bind the motor by picking up on the lower unit to prevent as much grease from coming out of the bottom bushing. I kept looking for another grease fitting up at the top of the pivot shaft, because it really doesn't make sense to just have one fitting to serve both bushings like that. --Steve

 

[caldemaxi]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

Thanks Steve,
I agree ,there should be another fitting near the top. I'll try your idea about lifting the engine up from the bottom to try to minimize the bottom gap where the grease is coming out.
I tried heating it with a propane torch but no luck. I spoke to the mechanic today . He said propane is not hot enough ,use map gas. I'll try it tomorrow. If I can't free it with heat ,it will have to come apart. Unfortunately ,that requires removing the power head. Hope it doesn't come to that. Thanks for your help....

 

[lexkyboater]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

I ended up having to replace the steering cable on my boat but had to loosen the engine mount bolts to get the new cable on. In the process of lifting the motor, I found that extra grease was pushed out of the lower pivot shaft bushing. If you think about, that makes sense, because the lower unit and all is then pulling down away from the engine, and away from that top pivot shaft bushing. You might find that also will help in clearing the way for some grease to the top bushing.

 

[mikesea]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

an old merc.trick was using a floor jack carefully push the engine up from bottom of guarded skeg,then heat the upper part of the tube hoping to loosed up older grease,you can try the rubber,or rope clamp thing on the bottom again,then shoot grease in there,you can use a hand torch,but buy a can of mapp gas,it gets hotter

 

[caldemaxi]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

Thanks for your replies. I tried lifting from the bottom carefully with jack and heating with mapp gas. Still no luck. Rather than try to disassemble this(which would be a nightmare and many hours) I drilled and tapped a hole near the top of the shaft with a shop vac running ,sucking out any metal shavings. Then I installed a grease fitting. I applied grease and it came out of the top. Now the sqeaking stopped and the engine pivots freely as it should. The only problem is that the grease fitting had to be removed and replaced with a stainless steel plug or it would interfere with the engine pivoting. It's a little inconvenient but it beats disassembly. Thanks again for all of your replies.

 

[magnoman]

Re: Yamaha binding pivot shaft

I am having the same problem for years now.. Tried the map heat, no luck.

Can you tell exactly where you drill the hole for the grease fitting?