Had the same problem 3 years in a row. Take that sucker out and replace tilt tube with a stainless one. Never been an issue since.

spray the crap out of it and hammer the thing home! clen the tube good and grease the crap out of it, in the fall remove the cable and clean well, clean and grease well and leave apart till spring, thats what i did after the first time and never had a issue again!!
If you really feel like fixing it good replace the tube with a new stainless one, I never under stood why they make them out of steel anyway??

Well I'd say that 99% of the time they fail is because they get neglected and people fail to grease them up as often as needed. My 1994 Johnson 150is so greased up it falls to either side when the motor is raised.

I wouldn't use a torch, rather a heat gun would be better. I went through the same thing this past winter. Heat the tube to get the grease inside more fluid and them you will start seeing grease come out of the bottom probably. You may see it come out of the top (probably not) Bottom more likely. Mine works great now.

oh the steering rod is stuck, ok do this, put a wrench on the end of the rod and move it up and down until it becomes loose shake it not to much just enought to break the grease thats holding it from sliding but a steering tube is probable going to need to be replaced some time but maybe not, its just stuck for now

My motor now turns. It took about 2 hours of manipulating it and spraying penetrating oil in it until it was free. Then I was able to put a whole bunch of grease in the tube and turned the wheel to work the grease all the way through. I appreciate all the input and advice from everyone. It would have taken me a lot longer without your guidance.

Thanks

Carl

Carl, any particular advise that seemed to help the most? Like Steplift20's wrench comment? Did you have to beat or heat on it?

Bumpedy bump bump, bumpedy bump bump...:deer:

Sorry Blue,

Here's what I did - I removed the nut that holds the steering cable to the tilt tube and sprayed WD-40 in the tilt tube. I then removed the large nut on the port side of the tilt tube. The 2 large nuts that hold the tilt tube, are self locking and do not move that easily. That I believe helped in rotating the tilt tube slightly and also spraying the WD-40 I was able to free up the steering cabel inside the tilt tube. I did not see any rust come out of the tilt tube, just a lot of dry grease and dirt. After everything was loose, I fully extended the end of the steering cable (rod end that's in the tilt tube with both sides disconnected) and put grease in the tilt tube and on the end of the steering cable. You can't really get a lot of grease in there, so I did it about 5 times, each time reconnecting the steering cable nut and turning the steering wheel from stop to stop a few times to disperse the grease throughout the tilt tube. I then buttoned everything back up. It took about 2 hours from start to finish.

I can post pictures tonight if that would help.

Carl

They have a oil lube system that I was going to try, but I have Hydraulic steering now.
Problem with grease is that it attracts dirt and holds it, making it a binding grease of its own.
A new SS Tube and a oiling system seems to be the way to go.