stiff mechanical steering

[hondaguy]

The steering on my savage with 90hp merc. is quite stiff now due to not being used for 10 months for health and work reasons. Does anyone know if there is a way to lubricate the worm drive? On the ram end there is no grease nipple I can locate and the exposed part of the ram has a glaze formed on it. Any info appreciated as it may be costly if I have to take it to a dealer. thanks:)

[Cheech]

Does yours have the clip in cable? If yes, try removing from the unit and see how freely it moves. May be the cable.

[Noelm]

first off, disconnect the steering to see if the Motor is free, if so, buy a new cable and your done, mucking around with grease and oil and all sorts of magic solutions will only be a tempory fix, it needs to be replaced, if the Motor is tight, then it is a whole new thing, so get back to us.

[hondaguy]

motor moves freely, cable must be stuffed. Is there any way of checking that is the steering box.cheers

[kizza1]

undo the large nut on the starboard side of the engine that bolts the steering cable to the tilt tube, then try turn the wheel.

80% of the time it is not the cable.
it is actually a build up of hardened grease in the tilt tube/clamp bracket.

if so then remove the cable from the engine (may need to use a hammer and a drift)
run an appropriate size drill bit down the tilt tube, or use some large dowel with a slit in the end and emrytape/ sand paper.

once its all clean, regrease and refit cable.

[BM]

It won't be the helm. They almost never have trouble. In fact, the only thing that goes wrong with helms usually is someone forces the steering wheel when the cable is stuck and the helical cut "teeth" around the helm drum get stripped out by the cable.

Upon undoing the steering cable and removing from the engine turn the wheel and see if the cable is free. Often the cable will get tight from the tilt tube itself and other times the inner stainless rod (at the engine end) gets gunked up and the outer stainless rod binds on this gunk.

A quick clean of the end of the cable will tell you if its going to be ok. If it is still tight then turf it. You can free them up again if you wish to spend the time but its only ever going to give you a bit of grace as a new cable won't be far away.

As mentioned by Noel, replacement is the easiest, fastest and most trouble free method.

cheers

[bigjimg]

And when you replace it squirt only gear lube down the tilt tube no grease.This will give you no trouble in the future.Jim

[hondaguy]

Fitted new cable and all is now good. thanks

[Hornet Rider]

first off, disconnect the steering to see if the Motor is free, if so, buy a new cable and your done, mucking around with grease and oil and all sorts of majic solutions will only be a tempory fix, it needs to be replaced, if the Motor is tight, then it is a whole new thing, so get back to us.

Hi Noelm, that 'whole new thing' you mentioned, is that where the motor won't pivot freely left & right after the steering is disconnected? What's the solution in that case please mate? I think I've got that problem.

[Noelm]

OK, that is a tricky thing, and the same applies, you can patch it or fix it, a quick patch requires heating the swivel bracket with Oxy, (it needs to be hot) greasing with proper Marine grease untill you have purged all the old hard grease out, and hope for the best, the proper fix is dismantle (a bugger of a job) and a proper cleaning, replace any bushes that may be present, then a grease with true Marine grease, not water proof, high pressure, or anything else, PROPER Marine greae is the only thing that should go anywhere near your Outboard, it is not all that dear, but will last and save you a lot of headaches later on. I only ever use OMC Triple Guard Grease, I have a grease gun with this in it and only use it on the Motor, steering, and anything else that needs lubrication.

[Noelm]

OH, when I say it is a "bugger of a job" it is not all that complicated, but it is messy and remember what you are trying to pull to bits is half seized, so it will not just fall apart, it will need a bit of hard labour and then you will have broken bolts to contend will also.

[Hornet Rider]

OH, when I say it is a "bugger of a job" it is not all that complicated, but it is messy and remember what you are trying to pull to bits is half seized, so it will not just fall apart, it will need a bit of hard labour and then you will have broken bolts to contend will also.

Mmmm, should have taken you with me when I went down to Coffs to buy the 2nd hand Johno 70 that's got this problem. Great motor otherwise, but this problem didn't surface until we fitted it on the transom. It moves from sided to side but not the way it should just flop around with one hand. You have to get both hands on it & really push hard to get it to move left or right. Hooked the steering up & it works, but it's like steering a truck without power steering. Maybe the pull down option, although more work buy the looks, would be a better longer term solution? I guess the heat option then needs a repaint to fix the burnt areas?

[Noelm]

repaint depends on a few things, there is a lot of Metal there and you will almost never heat it up to burn off the Paint (unless you stay in one place with the Oxy for a long time), if you can tilt the Motor up, you can heat from the under side, make sure you have no Petrol drips and the fuel and other "burny" things are well away, heat it up nice and hot, have a mate with a grease gun with Marine grease in it grease the nipple (on the Motor, not yours) as you move it back and forth, you will find the grease will only come out one end, even though the grease nipple is not in the centre, it will almost certainly never come out top and bottom, it is well worth doing this anyway, even if the strip down method is going to be done, as it will make it a bit easier to dismantle (only a bit)best of luck, you will be able to do it, as I said it is not all that complicated, it is just a crap job, and the dealers will charge accordingly (as they should)

[Hornet Rider]

repaint depends on a few things, there is a lot of Metal there and you will almost never heat it up to burn off the Paint (unless you stay in one place with the Oxy for a long time), if you can tilt the Motor up, you can heat from the under side, make sure you have no Petrol drips and the fuel and other "burny" things are well away, heat it up nice and hot, have a mate with a grease gun with Marine grease in it grease the nipple (on the Motor, not yours) as you move it back and forth, you will find the grease will only come out one end, even though the grease nipple is not in the centre, it will almost certainly never come out top and bottom, it is well worth doing this anyway, even if the strip down method is going to be done, as it will make it a bit easier to dismantle (only a bit)best of luck, you will be able to do it, as I said it is not all that complicated, it is just a crap job, and the dealers will charge accordingly (as they should)

Okay mate, got it & thanks. Which nipple?:)

[hondaguy]

As a hint if anyone else who has to replace their cable look about 300-400 mm from the steering wheel on the black outside casing to find the manufactures name and cable serial number. This helps as you can order the new cable before removing to old cable.