V21 Steering Cable Broke - Near Disaster!

[Blue_Runner]

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

[Blue_Runner]

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. ::)

[macojoe]

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 ??

[Blue_Runner]

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

[Skools Out]

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.

[Blue_Runner]

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

[Stillrunning]

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

[Blue_Runner]

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.

[Airslot]

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?

[Stillrunning]

Originally Posted by Airslot

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?

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