Steering Troubles

mschrope · #1 05-14-2008, 01:46 PM

Hi, Everybody-

I'm afraid there may not be a good solution to my problem, but thought I'd check your collective wisdom.

I've got a 74 V20 with a mid-80s rebuilt 200HP Mercury and the steering is really, really tight. The problem is that it's really sticky around the shaft that the engine turns on. Normally you would be able to easily push the engine from side to side, but I have to heave to get it to move, and of course that translates into having to really heave the steering wheel to get the engine to turn. Makes docking really interesting sometimes...

There's a great mechanic here that worked on it some last summer. He heated the area with a torch and then pumped loads of new grease through and got things working a little better. But, over time it's gotten just as bad again if not worse.

My question is, does anybody know a trick for dealing with this problem? Is there some way to pump solvent through the packed area using the grease nipple at the top? Some other trick I haven't thought of? It would be really nice to have normal steering.

A related question: I have what I assume is the original steering wheel still. It's the rubber kind and is kind of rusting out and soft, which makes the steering issue more pronounced. I'd like to replace the wheel, but it has a bolt pattern they don't even make anymore. At any rate, I think I'd rather get a stainless steel version. Anybody have tips on how to get the original steering hub off so I can replace it and the wheel? The hub has a central bolt and nut, but when I take that nut off I still can't get the hub off. And, the bolt moves with the hub when I jiggle the hub in and out if that makes sense, so obviously the hub isn't just mounted on that bolt. It's so corroded I can't see how everything works in there. Is there some kind of washer embedded at the base of where the nut tightens down that has to pop out for me to get the hub off? Seems like that might be the case but I don't want to go banging on this thing too much if that's not what's holding the hub on.

Thanks for any tips.

Blue_Runner · #2 05-14-2008, 02:03 PM

With regard to removing your steering wheel - If its the same as I've seen before it is a tapered shaft and its just stuck on there. There is some play there which is why the bolt moves with the hub when you pull on it.

Soak it down with some penetrating lube and let it sit. If you have a gear puller it might work. That is how I got the original wheel off my '72, which I might add was plastic as well.

If no gear puller then get a buddy and both of you grab the wheel, count to three and give it a jerk, then repeat to cadence simultaneously until it pops off and you both go falling back into the motor well. This works better with a steel wheel though and your plastic wheel will probably break before it pops loose. A gear puller or the like may be your only option.

Another thing to do is one of you pull while the other taps on the bolt with a hammer to try and break the bond on the tapered shaft.

P.S. I cut the plastic steering wheel off the hub to get the puller on there better.

pic of a gear puller and even a pic of one in action on a steering wheel:

Best of luck,
Blue

macojoe · #3 05-14-2008, 02:08 PM

Take the cable out now before it gets stuck for real!!

Then turn the wheel it should be nice and free, is not then you have a problem at the helm or the cable itself.

Once you get it out the tube use carb cleaner and a shot gun cleaner to get the tube clean. Clean the end of the cable well and put back toghter with grease.
Get a Grease nut for the tube and add some grease from time to time. I use to always remove my cable every winter clean all and put cable in plastic. Come spring I make sure all was well and put back toghter if there was a problem at least i was not stuck in the tube!!

steplift20 · #4 05-14-2008, 08:40 PM

hey mush i know exactly what your going thru, when you pump grease into the shaft it only comes out of the bottom right what i did was i bought a flush mount grease fitting and a nozzle the fits it i drilled a hole about 1 to two inches from the top and thats how i got grease to flow to the top i used penetrating oil pb blaster heat and it only worked for a little while put a grease fitting near the top and becareful when you drill do a little at a time and check that it did not go thru the shaft
i was going to use a reg grease fitting and had it on but when i turned the engine it hit so watch were you are putting it you can use a reg one just make sure the motor doesnt hit it when its turned all the way to take the wheel off try hitting the center with a hammer as you are pulling on it
when it comes off your going to say why was that so hard its a tapered shaft and it should come right off

parishht · #5 05-15-2008, 07:40 AM

Get one of these lube nuts,
no drilling required,
I have not had any issues since I installed it and my steering
cable was rusted into the pivot tube.

http://www.davisnet.com/marine/produ...asp?pnum=00425

THEFERMANATOR · #6 05-15-2008, 09:06 AM

From what he is describing, his problem isn't his cable or tilt tube. It is actually the large diameter shaft that the whole engine turns on. I went through this before on one. To fix it by removing and cleaning everything is EXPENSIVE! Try what steplift20 suggested and get some grease forced through it with a grease zurk installed up higher. Once you can get some grease in it, get somebody to turn it side to side and work it in and keep greaseing it. You may want to spray it all down with cleaner first, heat it and spray it down with BLASTER before you grease it as well.

mschrope · #7 05-15-2008, 09:58 AM

Thanks for the tips, guys. THEFERMANATOR is correct-- problem is definitely with that whole engine shaft, not in the cables or tube. And yes, my trusted mechanic says breaking the engine down to truly fix the problem would be at least $500. So, I'm definitely looking for a cheaper solution even if it's not perfect.

The grease fitting on the shaft now is about 2-3 inches below the top of that shaft, and the grease will definitely only go down and out that way. So, I will try adding a fitting higher up.

When you say spray it all down with cleaner first (and what is BLASTER, by the way, is that a product name?) do you just mean getting what I can up into the shaft? Is there some kind of cleaner that can be injected using the grease fitting that will break down some of the 20-year-old grease I need to get out of there to make things work smoothly?

Thanks again.

THEFERMANATOR · #8 05-15-2008, 10:16 AM

Spray it down with a cleaner of some kind to get all of the old grease and build up off of the top of that pivot point, then use a good penetrating oil(I like PB BLASTER myself, available at most any auto parts store butaerocroll is another REALLY good one) to spray in there to try and loosen some of the rust. Then put a grease fitting in near the top like STEPLIFT20 said so you can force the grease directly through the bushing that is tight. This may not work, but at the price difference it should be worth trying.

steplift20 · #9 05-17-2008, 08:47 AM

what i did also
is put the motor all the way down
put a block of wood under the skeg crank up the trailer slowly so that when you are raising the trailer you pushing on the skeg to lift the engine enough to get alittle space in between the pivot point and soak pb blaster
you will need 2 people doing this 1 cranking and 1 looking sometimes you migh have to shake the motor to break away from the old great the motor should have about 1/8 inch play just enough to get the pb blaster in to do its job
but you will still have to put in a grease fitting to get grease to the top of the shft it will work my engine was like that and thats how i fixed it
i put in a knew steering tube this year wow its like knew but i did havr to fix the first problem first the turning shaft