Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.


Here is what I use to lift engines. It looks crappy because I just got done scrapping an I/O. Used it to pull a complete 3.8 liter omc out. That's lying under the black tarp next to the 4 cylinder Force on the chain..


It will cost more than the engine is worth to have someone remove it then free or remove the tilt tube. Best if you do it yourself. Re-read reply #4

With tilt/trim, the engine only weighs about 325 pounds so the come-along you can borrow will be sufficient to lift it. A 2 X 8 bolted across several floor joists should also be sufficient. I have a hanger through bolted on ONE 2 X 10 floor joist and it does not sag under load. However, Remember that floors are designed to support a live load of only 125 lbs per square foot. Better to buy a couple of 2 X 4 and build an A frame with the 2 X 8. Nail it to set the size and shape then BOLT it together.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Ok guys, then off it shall come! Still not 100% clear on the lifting eye idea, but I'll search and find it. Frank, yours looks like there was welding involved, no? I'd like to able to do this on my own, for motor swaps, etc. I'll call a couple shops today and see if anybody has an eye laying around.

Can a guy use lifting straps in a pinch, or is that a "no-no"?

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Rent/borrow a cherry picker/engine hoist. When the engine is hanging, it won't take too many whacks to get it out,with the right sized drift. Top of flywheel are three bolt holes, I think 1/4 20. A plate of scrap metal drilled to accept these bolts. A center hole drilled to accept an eye bolt. Bolt the three down thru the plate, have the eye up, nut on bottom of plate . That's the lifting rig. Use right sized brass fitting and whack the Bgeesus out of it. Ain't no braindead object can outwit a functioning want to.

I'm getting it now I think. How thick should th scrap piece be and thoughts on where to find it?

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.




This is all you need.
Any hardware store.
If you take it off you will loose the pivot point and have no place to push pull???

But if you take it off you will open a new can of worms.
It's been in salt water it's whole life and the brackets and stuff ain't gonna come apart easy!!!
Does it turn when you remove the steering link?
If not then there is a whole lot more work comming.J

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

I'm getting it now I think. How thick should th scrap piece be and thoughts on where to find it?

1/4" or so. Thicker=safer. You could borrow Jerry's broken jaw puller's center piece or visit any metal scrapyard.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

View attachment 160436


This is all you need.
Any hardware store.
If you take it off you will loose the pivot point and have no place to push pull???

But if you take it off you will open a new can of worms.
It's been in salt water it's whole life and the brackets and stuff ain't gonna come apart easy!!!
Does it turn when you remove the steering link?
If not then there is a whole lot more work comming.J

Y'up, it turns nice and easy without the steering cable attached. I've also twisted the tube nuts to make sure that the steering tube itself with turn inside the bracket and it does. My thoughts were, if I can get it suspended on its own weight from above, I can turn it sideways and take the whole tube/cable out together. I figure I'll have to get a bolt cutter to cut the steering cable itself just to the right of the silver nut? That way there will be enough clearance to get it out. The boat was run in saltwater but dry-drocked from the looks of it. According to owner the steering was "perfect" last month (snicker). People and their lack of maintenance never cease to amaze me. I guess more folks than I first believed really do have money trees in their backyards. I sure do need some seeds I know that much.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

1/4" or so. Thicker=safer. You could borrow Jerry's broken jaw puller's center piece or visit any metal scrapyard.

Thanks, FF. Somehow, I've got this feeling I'm going to get a broken jaw out of this process, lol. That don't call me "Mr. Graceful...NOT"
for nothing, you know.

 

[aladin_sane]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Before I knew better, I lifted my 85HP force with a chain hoist and a lifting strap. I was installing an after market tilt and trim system. I didn't damage anything, but I would not recommend following my example on this one. Go with a lifting plate from the flywheel.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

On advice, I've gone an picked up probably a lot more stuff than I need, but I should be secure at the very least. I'll post some pics later when I get everything set up, but I'm using an eyebolt in the flywheel, a 4000lb pulling hoist into a 3000lb eye plate bolted to two 2x8's that will be "L"-bracketed to the floor (ceiling from the garage of course0 joists above. I'm actually going to try and use a tie down strap as an "insurance policy" if you will. The lightest load piece in the entire process says 1600lbs so if they haven't lied to me in the packaging, I should be able to lift the stern of the boat AND the motor, lol. I don't even need to lift it but about an inch, but when you're OCD like me, you tend to "over-engineer" things. Wish me luck.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

1st things 1st, my flywheel

That center nut isn't threaded, btw. So I bought this;

to do this;

That's a 1/4" steel square washer with a 1/2" center hole that I threaded a 1/2" eye hook through and attached it to the flywheel with 3/16" bolts that I know, need to be longer. Will that work you think?

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Perfect as long as the three bolts are positioned equally. No undue stress on one or two. The engine is in the 300# range, so 1600# will cover it.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.


This is the broken jaw(puller) he was talking about.
Broke it trying to remove a flywheel.

That outfit will lift a cat diesel!!!!
A 4x4 is plenty strong.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

For the record, and for anybody happening along that needs to do the same thing, the "motor hook" there cost a total of less than $5.00 from Home Depot. Those 4" square washers that are 1/4" thick are in the same aisle as the nuts & bolts, but they're separate and with what I call the railroad spikes. Don't be like me, however. Get longer bolts to screw into the flywheel (like I have to go back and get) because the bottom nut on your 'puller' will be right above the flywheel nut and there's not much room unless you use longer bolts, to thread the nut on. For my 1995 120hp, it uses 5/16" bolts and so you know, the guy at Home Depot says that stainless steel bolts are technically weaker than galvanized. I wouldn't have thought that.

Last question before I actually start pulling this thing off: Is the tilt tube the only thing holding the motor on or do I need to look somewhere else? From this layman's point of view, it looks to be, but I want to make sure. You guys have been awesome, so thanks. I'll post pics of the motor actually off when I get to that point.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

The tilt tube is not the only thing holding the engine to the transom clamps. The power tilt cylinder is also connected at the top of the yoke and bottom of the transom clamps. However, in your case, since you don't want to remove the transom clamps, it doesn't matter. Simply support the engine, unbolt it from the transom, move it for room, and remove the tilt tube and stuck steering cable.

If you drive in a piece of black iron pipe to push out the tilt tube--I think 1/2 inch pipe is actually 7/8 O.D.-- the transom clamps will not move out of position on the yoke and it will be easier to install the new tilt tube. You won't need to fish around and line up the holes. Then, simply use the new tube to drive out the black iron pipe. Just be careful not to ****-up the threads on the new tilt tube.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Thanks for that, Frank. I'll pick up a length of pipe on the way home. I was hoping that I could use the stuck portion of the steering cable to pull it out, port side, but the pipe will definitely do the job. That would've been another "HELP" moment had you not posted, lol.

The tube should be at the house when I get home but the cable may not get here until Monday. I guess I'll just finish building my overhead lift and be ready, but I'll wait until everything is in place to actually take it off. So, basically, I just need to get the old tube out and new one in and there's nothing to disconnect at the motor, taking the bolts out of the transom? Then, replace them with marine silicone inside the bolt hole?

Another thing, since I want to change the impellar while I've got the boat in the garage, it makes sense to go ahead and take the lower unit off, before I hoist this motor doesn't it? Seems like the added weight savings makes sense, unless there's something else I should be worrying about that I'm not.
That thing probably weighs 40lbs or so, doesn't it?

 

[aladin_sane]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Seeing how corroded your flywheel is, I'm not surprised you are having trouble with your tilt tube. How long had that motor been on the bottom of the ocean before you salvaged it?

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Seeing how corroded your flywheel is, I'm not surprised you are having trouble with your tilt tube. How long had that motor been on the bottom of the ocean before you salvaged it?

Funny. That's the only part that's corroded. Show's you what the Fla. enviroment is all about. That's why we don't buy expensive patio furniture. Living on the coast has it's disadvantages too, I guess.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Got the LU off with ease and changed impeller. And, look what I found....

Don't think it was affecting anything, but I guess the story about the old man getting ill and not using it might be right, lol.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

Ok, another (and hopefully final) question for the masses: the tilt tube I just received is different from the one I'm removing. Length, diameter, thread patterns on one side are identical. However, on the Port side, the factory uses a tilt tube that has larger diameter threads so that the tube will only push through from that side. The one I received is not like that. Can I still use the new one with that difference? Help.....again.

 

[emoney]

Re: Yet another stuck steering tube! Make sure I'm thinking right, please.

According to FedEx, my steering cable is at my house as we speak!!!! Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer cuz if all the moons and stars align, I might get to go boating this weekend afterall!!!!! Whipppeeeee!

....still searching for answer on that tilt tube question above......for the record.