boating troubles

[tshep]

i have owned a quintrex hornet 4.55m side console 1997 model for a little less than a year now, and just recently there have been some problems, mainly to do with the steering and wiring of this boat. i took the boat out on the water a month ago and the steering wheel wouldnt move :'(.. (luckily i have a minn kota ;D) so i have taken the parts out from behind the wheel, greased them and placed them back, and still no luck. so now i cannot steer my motor. i was wondering if any of you have had the same problem and could provide some advice, otherwise the boat is going to be fixed professionally. i was also wondering how much a complete wiring job would cost?

tshep

[Spaniard_King]

tshep,

Your steering is seized in the tilt tube of your engine :o The tube needs to be lubricated on a regular bassis.

A full wirring job is dependant on the amount of wirring/electrical accessories you have. I would be doing some reading on wirring and doing it yourself. I did a full rewire for a guy just recently including fitting a vhf and sounder for $300 + parts (wire connectors fasteners ect) 7 hrs work

cheers

Garry

[tshep]

thanks for the help garry,

this may seem like stupid question but just in case i do the wrong thing... how do you lubricate the tilt tube?

sorry and thanks

tshep

[Spaniard_King]

tshep,

you will see the steering tube inside the tilt tube, this needs to be kept well greased with a marine type grease. Yours most likely has frozen up due to the grease drying out. you may get it to free up if you spray a heap of WD40 or the likes up in there and knock it around with a hammer on the end of the steering arm. Undo the nut at the opposit end of the tilt tube and spray some wd40 in there too.

Garry

[Burley_Boy]

I don't know much about the names of these things but usually you have a cable connected to the engine via a ram of sorts>this is the ram that tends to get jammed and requires lubrication not anything near the wheel.
Your engine needs to move freely without the steering cable attached.

Sorry Garry you just baffled me with science ;D But it is Sunday night.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Put a piece of wood on the end of the push pull ram before you start flogging it with a hammer. Garry is right with what he says, I have had the same prob years ago. If the ram housing doesn't have a grease nipple in it, I would strongly suggest you put one in and grease it every time you wash your boat and motor out.

Cheers
Dave

[yockman]

Yep, seized up grease is the problem.vIt's often possible to start these moving by pouring boiling water on the tilt tube. Did this last w'ed on mates boat that had been sitting idle for too long.

[rajawolf]

yockman,

Good tip with the boiling water...thanks. :)

[ANYFISH]

yep same thing happened to mine.
We were sitting in the gutter at waddy point with me in the boat and 2 blokes holding boat. I said ok bail in then opened throttle only to find out no steering :o :o next few words were SH!T BAIL OUT, BAIL OUT ;D ;D
Pretty funny now but a bit scary at the time with a few small waves pushing the nose of my little boat around and lifting one side up a bit.

I had some fish oil in an aerosol can in the boat and sprayed it around the push pull rod then it took one bloke keeping pressureon the wheel and two blokes heaving on the motor end to free it up.
Well lesson learnt (alwars check steering before beach launching) ;D

cheers anyfish

[gunna]

Couple other things this site has taught me. After you get it freed - and after you grease it, when the boat is not in use turn the motor so the tube is inside the housing & not exposed to the elements. And every week or so when you walk past the boat turn the motor by hand all the way to the right then all the way to the left to keep the rod from seizing.

[littlejim]

when my steering rod jammed in the tilt tube I had to use a screw jack (with flat bits of wood protecting the F/g), to get it moving.

Some time ago Kerry pointed out that the reason it jams is dried up grease turning to clay. When dried out it is like pottery.

Kerry pointed out if you use grease again you are going to get the same problem.

From memory, he recommended a fine oil to lubricate the rod, others used brake fluid.

Every time I go out I put a bit of sewing machine oil on the rod and work it from full lock each side. Some times do the same with wd-40. No grease gets near it.

If it jams, murphy says it will be on full lock, L or R. Makes pulling into the wharf rather interesting.

[dnej]

Grease is the worst offender, especially with salt water.

When installing cables. its a great idea to hang them up for a fortnight , to get the grease out.
The best lubricant to use on the ram part is power steering, or auto trans oil.
Dont use grease.
As a previous posting said, each time you go past your motor, give it a side to side shove. You can also use this method while adding the PS oil. Used to be able to buy a reservoir, that attached to where the nut holds the cable in place. This was filled with PS Oil, and fed the cable on a regular basis.
Regards David

[tshep]

thanks for the info guys..great help

[GBC]

Whitw****s have a replacement starboard tube nut with an oiling port for the morse mechanical steering. Simply screw on the staino nut with the oiling port facing out, Drill thru the oiling port through the outer steering sleeve, and screw in the little plastic adaptor. Every few trips open the adaptor, attach the oiling bottle and give it a squeeze. Hope this helps