Steering tube with corrosion in it...?

[ozscott]

Hi all - 93 Yammy 115. Steering froze up - its always been a bit stiff, but not too bad. With some difficulty I got the push pull ram out of the tube. Typical - old hard grease. But the tube itself has corrosion in it - pitting of the alloy really. Is it worth giving it a good clean up and back together with some oil mixed with light grease (old seals, oil by itself would come out) or am I up for a new bracket and tilt/steering tube? Or should I stick a hydraulic in there given the extra power it has and force it up and down the old tube?

Cheers all.

[ozscott]

I ended up cleaning out the tube thoroughly and then mixing a little grease with a heap of oil and lubing the rod. I then oiled the tube thoroughly and stuck her in and it ran nicely. I then cleaned out all the nipples that I had removed before cleaning the tube and stuck them back with caps on and grease on the outside of everything to keep the seawater out. My plan is to keep the seawater out of the tube with a combination of the seals and grease on the OUTSIDE and oil and grease mix on the inside. It works well now and given the amount of old hard grease in there I can see why she froze up. I reckon that I have extended the life of it by quite a few years. I noticed that the steering is made in Switzerland of all places.

Cheers

[BM]

5/8 drill bit is the weapon of choice when replacing steering. Cleans out the hole perfectly.

Cheers

[dnej]

Grease is the steering rod enemy.

As you said ,it goes hard.
When you do get it clean,use power steering oil.
Also,each time you walk past your boat,move the motor from one side to the other.
David

[ozscott]

Thanks Fellas - yep I move the motor every couple of weeks normally, but I had left it this time for about a month. I would have used auto trans (as I used in a new system I fitted to my old Haines before I sold it) but my seals are a bit old and she would leak that out - hence I used synthetic engine oil and a little bit of grease as a slurry. I reckon thats not a bad compromise.

Cheers again.

[ozscott]

Am I right in saying that if I eventually want to go hydraulic the bullhorn type (like the one from Hydrive etc) steer from the ram in front so that the tilt tube mounting point does nothing - ie now with push pull the inside of the tilt tube is pitted and makes the steering a little heavier than is ideal but with bullhorn type, whats in the tube does nothing in terms of steering?


Cheers

[BM]

Correct! and pitting inside the tilt tube means nothing either. Growth inside the tube is your enemy but if its pitted that means greater clearance.

Cheers

[ozbee]

good old outboard gear box oil couple drops on arm each time you use it it will never jam never dries out like grease or goes gluey with water can be a little to efficient so go easy on amount.

[ozscott]

Thanks matey. Brian at Wondall Rd marine mentioned to me to use a drill bit (long one - auger style I guess) wrapped in emery paper with a drill to hone out the tube. I might do that an see how she performs, because hydraulic is frightfully expensive for a boat that does not get used more than once every couple of months in winter and about once a month in summer.

Cheers

[Seaking]

Hi guys/girls,
Yes, a good clean and a "sanding" sure sorts it out. What l did was turn a +/-5cm wide strip of waterpaper (150 grit) around a dowel stick, placed it in a drill, then ran it through the pipe slowly from one side, until it came out the other. l then cleaned it out again, and made sure there was no more hard grease, rust dirt etc. Once clean, l stuffed it with a cloth, soaked in ATF. The following week-end, when l fitted my new steering system, l oiled the entire cable, as well as the pipe again. In the 3 months l had it, it was 100%.
Seaking

[ozscott]

Cheers Seaking - when you say dowell stick what did you use? Did you make one up from wood or buy a bit of some sort? Thanks mate.