V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

Well, it was Stinky Hooker worst nightmare revisited. Headed down the lake, boat full of people and kids and the steering cable gave way! I noticed some tension on the cable as I went to turn and heard a loud "pop" then the wheel just took a hard right....about 27 mph and less than 100 yds from shoreline....thank God it did the hard right or we'd have been toast. I barely had enough time to pull it back let alone think of putting it in reverse, which didn't even enter my mind ::)

So, what steering cable length do I need for my V-21? I'm thinking 18ft? Where are the other V-21 people when I need them? ;D

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

I'm here at work and haven't even raised the cowl on the motor in a while. Does anyone know if the 2004 Yamaha 150 2-stroke would have a lifting ring on top under the hood? If I go back with a standard NFT system I'll probably have to lift the motor....fun fun. ::)

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

My first boat was the old cable and pully steering, I was going down the cape cod canale and the steering let go!

Had to have my friend bear hug the motor to keep us stright to get 3 miles to the ramp, Man that sucks!!

I can tell you all Yamahas I have seen all have the lift ring so you should be fine.

Cable leanth ??

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

The bad part is I'm taking off Friday from work and supposed to leave bright and early for the beach. This sucks!

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

BR rip out that old one fast it has the length on the cable my V20 and my 21 both use 15 ft cables. When you pull it out tape a nice strong rope on the cable that way you can use the rope to pull the new one back in faster and easier.

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

That would be nice if it does have it stamped. *I'll check. Thanks for the tips! We are all lucky to be alive.

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

Did the cable give any signs prior like stiff turning before it busted?

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

I had noticed when turned fully in one direction it would stick a little bit - hardly noticeable.

Also, NFB had begun giving me feeback from the motor going on a year now. :-/

Steering cable was 2 years old and installed by the previous owner.

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

Reading your description of the events...are you sure the cable broke and not the helm? It sounds like maybe the helm let go? Jus wonderin?

Re: V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!
 

Yea, I was thinking the same way and with it only 2 years old it should not broken.