Seized steering

[Kracker Jack]

The steering ARM that is showing in picture one I had one locked up like that one time and I put abolt thru it to hook a ratchet strap to the ARM and to a tree beside the boat I put light pressure on the rachet strap and had my dad trying to turning the motor the same direction at the lower unit also. And I did light taps on the ARM with a hammer in the direction of the pulling and it broke lose slowly. Take your time don't rush it. Light taps with steady pressure will go a long way. The powerhead should not have to come off to get to the transom bracket and all other tilt and pivot areas. Remove the lower unit and the 2 bolts that attach the "wishbone" end of the steering ARM to the mid section, remove the 2 side plates on the mid section down buy the lower unit they will expose 4 ss bolts that attach the lower part of the whole transom bracket to the mid section,then remove the 1 1/4 nut at bottom of pivot shaft to remove it from the transom bracket then clean and grease and reinstall. It sounds like a lot but if you are tuning her up you need to remove lower unit to replace water pump and seals. I just went thru this process to put my whole transom bracket back on my evinrude.

[peiserma]

Originally Posted by Kracker Jack

The steering ARM that is showing in picture one I had one locked up like that one time and I put abolt thru it to hook a ratchet strap to the ARM

I like it. I could get a ratchet to my stand and squirt a little PB Blaster on it every day. I could even weld a little bracket onto the stand (I welded it together out of 2 inch tube steel so that would be an easy modification). But the goal is to FIX it so it does not seize up again while I'm underway... I can remove the powerhead easily enough. Well, it might not be easy but I have an engine hoist so its not like I have to invest in any equipment. Just want to know if its worth doing. I guess the compression test will tell me that. Will post back in a day or two with real numbers instead of what I remember doing a year ago! [EDIT] If i only have to remove the lower unit as you say, which I was planning on doing anyway, for the reason you said, then maybe it won't be half-bad.

[Destroyer]

Not sure what the stated compression is for your engine, but I have a 91' Johnson 200 and the compression is in the mid 90's...right where it's supposed to be. I really would't worry too much at this point about if your compression is too low ot too high. What you want to see is even compression within a few pounds over all cylinders. Anything more than 10 lbs difference can be an indication of possible trouble. Additionally, remember that a proper compression test is done on a warmed up engine... since you cannot do that don't be fearful if your numbers are a little low...

As far as the tilt tube goes, glad you got the cable out... squirt some WD40 down the tube, and like MJ said, run a 12 ga shotgun wirebrush down and back. I like to hook mine up to my electric drill so I get a spiral effect while I'm ramming the cleaning rod in and out. Makes short work of the cleaning process...

The "tiller" has been discussed at length already, I agree with what everyone else has said... lots of rust buster type fluids, (PB Blaster, Kroil, WD40), light taps, constant pressure. Move it back and forth and let the oils do their thing.. And a heat gun, not a torch will help out... (You have to be careful with a torch with all the oils around... don't want to start a fire or melt something