Steering

[steplift20]

1978 wellcraft steplift
150 mercury outboard
That's what I have, what it need to know is
What steering cable length do I need, I think mine is to long,
What mechanical system should I get, I have a no feedback 4.2
And do I have to take the motor off to get the new cable on
I would like to know what you guys use, and advice on getting it in
Thanks for any info
My steering now is to hard to turn can't seem to loosen it

[Destroyer]

Sorry, I don't know the answers to your questions.. But here's what I do know.
Most cables fail due to lack of grease in the final few feet of the unit... closest to the engine... and people mistakenly think that putting grease into the grease fitting on their steering tube on the engine greases the cable. It doesn't!!

AND

I have a Steersman Nut (a long time ago they used to be called Widget nuts) on the end of my cable that keeps water out and lets grease in... Everyone Needs to get one of these if they have a cable type system. It only takes minutes to install, it's cheap and it saves huge $$$$$$$. Chances are if your present system had one it would not have failed. Although they offer the nut in both Stainless for salt and Aluminum for freshwater.... just buy the stainless one. It's still cheap. Simple.

http://www.steersman.com/html/whatitdoes.html

[SkunkBoat]

I think you said in a previous post that you had the cable off at the helm end and the wheel turned OK? So you don't suspect the helm? You have a Teleflex 4.2 NFB?

Teleflex video for selecting cable length https://youtu.be/BsHvms0XLic

If you can't get the cable off without moving the motor, you won't get it on without moving the motor.
(if you hack a big hole in your motorwell you might get it out)

Starting with the cable connected normally;

Disconnect the drag link (stainless bar that connects to motor swivel arm) from the cable. Turn wheel both directions. You say this is hard. Probably the cable..but..
With motor down, Try moving the motor left/right by hand. Verify that it is not hard and that you have grease in the swivel zerk fitting and it comes out from top & bottom when you add more. (I am currently dealing with this problem)
If its good...

Turn wheel until cable is all the way inside the tilt tube.
Loosen the cable from the tilt tube using the big aluminum nut that is "captive" on the cable. You will probably need to hold the cable with channel locks or it will try to twist when you are loosening the big nut.

When the nut is loose from the motor, pull the cable out.
If there is not enough room between the motor and the motorwell, or if the angle is bad, you will get stuck.
Don't force it. If you bend the rod at the end of the cable, you will need a new cable.

Borrow a motor jack, loosen the motor, and move it enough to get the cable out.
Test the cable by turning the wheel with your little finger. if you can't, get a new cable.

[bradford]

Great post Skunk.

[steplift20]

Skunk boat what are you doing this weekend? Lol I never disconnected it from the helm yet I did from the engine side ,the reason I would like to know, if I can, I know it can be done cause my friend changed the cable when I first got her without taking the motor off, I remember he tightened the port bolt to slide the tube over enought to clear but for some reason I can't, my baby is up there in age and I really don't want to look for trouble on the transom some plus I personally never did it, all I want is to get it right, it's harder than ever for me to get that done I also was thinking if I can use a rack system instead of the helm, Skunk boat I expect to see you in Atlantic highlands this weekend helping me,,, I will bring the coffee lol Your a good guy,
That's nj

[steplift20]

On a brighter note I started her after coming off her winter sleep And one shot she started up That's always a good feeling

[13Echo70271]

Skunk, I am starting to have a similar problem with no grease getting to top of steering swivel on 1989 Yamaha 150. Plenty of grease comes out the bottom. Is there any reason I couldn't drill and place a zerk near the top to try to get some grease in there? I was thinking 3/16 hole and tap for a zerk. It looks like there is enough clearance when the motor swivels. I might not get any grease in at first, but I thought I could shoot some wd40 in the hole from time to time and it might loosen up, (plugging the hole between times)then grease. Tom (13Echo70271) 88v20cuddy 89 yam 150L

[SkunkBoat]

Skunk, I am starting to have a similar problem with no grease getting to top of steering swivel on 1989 Yamaha 150. Plenty of grease comes out the bottom. Is there any reason I couldn't drill and place a zerk near the top to try to get some grease in there? I was thinking 3/16 hole and tap for a zerk. It looks like there is enough clearance when the motor swivels. I might not get any grease in at first, but I thought I could shoot some wd40 in the hole from time to time and it might loosen up, (plugging the hole between times)then grease. Tom (13Echo70271) 88v20cuddy 89 yam 150L

I am considering adding a zerk there while I have it off. Or at least a small hole

Given all the trouble I encountered, yes, I would suggest drilling a hole and spraying the crap out of it. You have nothing to lose...
Try to loosen up the dry grease with WD40 before adding a zerk and greasing.

You should try and get an exploded view diagram of it.
Get a good sense of where you are going and how deep.

The Suzuki has a plastic bushing. Assuming Yamaha is the same, if you drill in you will eventually go thru thin plastic and hit the steel shaft.
The hole in the plastic shouldn't hurt because the replacement bushings that I got have holes in them.

Good Luck!

[SkunkBoat]

Skunk boat what are you doing this weekend?

It's Mother's Day week and I own a flower shop....

[steplift20]

I had the same problem years ago I am guessing a zerk is also a grease fitting? The only advice I can give you about that is when I did mine and turned the engine all the way to one side( the fitting was on the port side) the motor hit it it was a good thing I could get a flush mounted fitting and got the head to use for it to so make sure your engine won't hit it oh also it worked got the grease to come out the top too

[Destroyer]

I had the same problem years ago I am guessing a zerk is also a grease fitting? The only advice I can give you about that is when I did mine and turned the engine all the way to one side( the fitting was on the port side) the motor hit it it was a good thing I could get a flush mounted fitting and got the head to use for it to so make sure your engine won't hit it oh also it worked got the grease to come out the top too

Yes, Zerk fitting and Grease fitting are the same thing. Also called a grease nipple or an Alemite fitting.

[Troutkiller2006]

never changed the steering cable on a v20 but i did it once a long time ago on a bayliner capris. dont remember any issues getting it off the motor. i tied a piece of parachute cord to the old cable, pulled it out, measured it, got a new one then used the cord to pull the new one in

[13Echo70271]

Thanks Skunk n SLv20. I will let you know how it works out. I had a bit of success putting more pressure on the grease by stopping the grease from coming out at the bottom. I used a strip of rubber inner tube wrapped around the bottom and held tight in place with a hose clamp. The clamp ultimately fails to keep the grease in under increasing pressure, but I think it is taking a bit more pressure and grease each time. A bit of wd40 topside at the joint and pushing the motor side to side each time to help move the wd40 and grease around. No grease at the top yet. we'll see.

It looks like there is enough material there to recess a zerk a bit, giving it more clearance when the motor swivels. the plan is to drill a 3/16 pilot all the way, looking for change in material coming out. then drill zerk hole maybe 1/2 way, then drill larger 5/8" recess hole to fit grease gun onto zerk maybe 1/4" deep. Or maybe i'll take the surface down flat a bit with a grinder to get more room.

[13Echo70271]

update . the wd40 sprayed weekly onto top has seeped in and has loosened the steering. I am seeing a mix of wd40 and a bit of grease at the joint now, and the motor moves freely side to side. I hope with time and an occasional spray of wd40 there, that I start to see more grease, less wd40, until I don't need the wd40 any more. I did not add a zerk (yet, waiting to see).

[steplift20]

I was talking to a marine mechanic and he told me I should clean the pivot tube and pack it with 2 4 c grease Does that sound right, I'm thinking the grease would gunk up after time

[13Echo70271]

I apply grease to the pivot tube grease fitting until I see grease coming out top and bottom. Mine is old and I don't know if there ever were seals. But, if a set-up has rubber seals (like balls joints on a vehicle, I only apply grease until I see the seal bulge a bit. More and you can burst the rubber seal and it will let water in.
Once there is grease throughout, most fittings only require 1-2 squirts of grease when greasing is done on a regular schedule.
I added bright color zerk covers, as they remind me to grease and they make it easier for me to find the fittings when I am looking for them.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=zerk+covers&_sop=15

btw can anyone explain marine grease vs car grease? Is it really that different?

[steplift20]

I disconnected the cable from the helm and the helm seems fine so it's the cable, do you guys think that if I can some how get the cable to free up it would be good or should I get a new cable. If I get a new cable it's going to be hard to install it cause I think I have to remove the motor What would you do?

[steplift20]

Destroyer I hot the steersmen nut but I can't get the port side bolt off, did you have a problem getting yours off? When I turn the bolt the whole tube turns too, how do I hold the tube from turning? Thanks

[Destroyer]

Destroyer I hot the steersmen nut but I can't get the port side bolt off, did you have a problem getting yours off? When I turn the bolt the whole tube turns too, how do I hold the tube from turning? Thanks

I'm a little stumped. Mine have never given me a problem,. All of them have just unscrewed like they should have.

Seems to me that if you unscrew the starboard side nut you should be able to slide the whole tube assembly towards the port side. (Use a brass or urethrae hammer to gently tap it sideways) That should buy you about a half inch or more of exposed threads. I'd take a pair of channel locks put a piece of bike inner tube on each jaw so you don't muck up the threads and try to clamp the tube right next to the port side nut while you back off the port side nut. Unless it's been cross-threaded it should unscrew easily enough.

[steplift20]

That's a good idea, I'm just afraid of bending the tube but if I use rubber as a cushion that should help me and honestly I'm scared of screwing something up cause right now with the new cable it's so easy I don't want to mess anything up but I should be able to do that, dam it I had it moved over before and didn't even think of doing that Oh well I will do it now I just hope it turns cause now it don't

[Destroyer]

That's a good idea, I'm just afraid of bending the tube but if I use rubber as a cushion that should help me and honestly I'm scared of screwing something up cause right now with the new cable it's so easy I don't want to mess anything up but I should be able to do that, dam it I had it moved over before and didn't even think of doing that Oh well I will do it now I just hope it turns cause now it don't

The rubber is more than a cushion... it's also a friction material with a higher coefficient of friction than just plain smooth metal on smooth metal.
(Like you would have by just clamping on the tube with bare Channel-locks). Put another way, it will hold better with less clamping force needed, which means less chance of bending the tube or damaging the threads.

Also, if you have a heat gun (NOT A TORCH) you might want to apply a little heat to the NUT first before you try to loosen it. The heat will make the nut expand slightly (a few thousandths of an inch), and at the same time, if there is any dried grease on the threads it will help soften it, making it easier to spin off the nut. (In much the same way that running a stuck jar lid under hot water helps loosen it so you can unscrew it). :head:

[Destroyer]

btw can anyone explain marine grease vs car grease? Is it really that different?

Not much difference. Marine grease (Aluminum based) has a higher resistance to water corrosion than Automotive (lithium based) grease. However... there ARE lots of different types of grease even among the two classes just mentioned, and mixing them can lead to problems. Read this article from Popular Mechanics and it explains it much better than I could.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a2948/choosing-the-correct-grease/

[Destroyer]

How goes the task Steplift? Curious if you got that nut off.

[13Echo70271]

Not much difference. Marine grease (Aluminum based) has a higher resistance to water corrosion than Automotive (lithium based) grease. However... there ARE lots of different types of grease even among the two classes just mentioned, and mixing them can lead to problems. Read this article from Popular Mechanics and it explains it much better than I could.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/a2948/choosing-the-correct-grease/
good info and article in the link Destroyer, Thx , Tom

[steplift20]

Sorry I didn't get back to you but I just got back from a short vacation to n c I'm back now and I'm going to try it tomorrow, weather permitting I will let you know how I make out and thanks for all the help I hope it works

[steplift20]

Well, I tried to hold the tube but no luck, honestly I'm very nervous about taking things apart since the steering is so good but I did have enough of the tube showing to grab it with channel pliers but that didn't work, the tube turned but I don't think I had a good lock on it I might try it again with the heat gun, I will keep ypu updated Thanks

[steplift20]

I'm going to try it one more time but honestly I'm concerned I would bend the tube but I don't think that would happen I'm going to use a thin piece of rubber, I was using a thick piece and I don't think that was holding I'm not done yet I will try one more time and let you know tomorrow

[Destroyer]

You can also use a pipe wrench to hold it. It will clamp onto the tube, but (depending on the amount of force you use) it might bend the pipe, so tread carefully with that one.

[steplift20]

I tried again today and could not get it off so I'm leaving it on and when I take my boat yo the shop I will ask them to do it, I'm having a real hard time with that nut and don't want to screw something up,,, But when I do get it off I will let all of you know Thanks for all the comments