Frozen Steering arm in tilt tube

[Moffy]

sounds like a simple issue from using grease that "sets" - simple fix is a sharp tap on the end of the steering rod with a lump of wood - don't hit it hard enough to bend anything - just have to break the "set" grease and it should be free as a bird after a few cycles back and forth from lock to lock.,

bought a boat a few years back that had this issue and knocked the price way down cause of the stuck steering - was pretty confident looking at the motor (no obvious bend) and given the owners story - haven't used it in 9 months - can't see why it would be like that (and using a bit of judgement as to the bloke's character) - 1 softish hit with a bit of wood once had the boat home and steering was all good - for a few years till we sold it to upgrade.

[Marlin_Mike]

i cleaned mine out recently with eindex and a piece of towel on a stick shoved through and pulled through several times to clean it.

I use the blue castrol marine grease, if you turn the wheel a few times eahc week seems to keep it going.

Mike

[Moonlighter]

Hi Mindi

I reckon your friend should go to the Hydrive 212.

I replaced my old cable steering with that model a few years ago now, and it's definitely well worth while. Works reliably and not very hard to install. And Aussie made!

As was pointed out, that model Hydrive does attach to the end of the tilt tube and the steering shaft runs thru the tube the same as cable steering does.

The key to keeping things working well re the tilt tube is the seal on the end of the steering rod where it comes out of the tilt tube.

There is a nut on the port side of the TT where the rod moves in and out, and inside it is usually an "o" ring that seals the steering rod as it moves in and out. You need to check the o ring regularly because if it gets damaged or degrades and starts to let the salt water into the tilt tube, that's when the problems start.

I usually take the nut off every 6 months, wind the steering all the way out so the max amt of steering rod is exposed, wipe it clean, repeat a few times and then re-oil the rod with Inox, then replace the o ring with a new one just to be sure.

Re the grease nipples on the front of the tilt tube, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that they don't actually lubricate the steering cable at all - I think they just lubricate the pivot points that allow the motor to tilt up and down. None of that grease actually gets into onto the steering cable at all.

So that's why the steering rod should be cleaned and re-oiled with something light oil like Inox or auto trans fluid (I used to use that on my old cable steering), but never use grease because as others have said, it eventually dries out and causes grief.

Cheers

ML

[Mindi]

Hi Mindi

I reckon your friend should go to the Hydrive 212.

I replaced my old cable steering with that model a few years ago now, and it's definitely well worth while. Works reliably and not very hard to install. And Aussie made!

As was pointed out, that model Hydrive does attach to the end of the tilt tube and the steering shaft runs thru the tube the same as cable steering does.

The key to keeping things working well re the tilt tube is the seal on the end of the steering rod where it comes out of the tilt tube.

There is a nut on the port side of the TT where the rod moves in and out, and inside it is usually an "o" ring that seals the steering rod as it moves in and out. You need to check the o ring regularly because if it gets damaged or degrades and starts to let the salt water into the tilt tube, that's when the problems start.

I usually take the nut off every 6 months, wind the steering all the way out so the max amt of steering rod is exposed, wipe it clean, repeat a few times and then re-oil the rod with Inox, then replace the o ring with a new one just to be sure.

Re the grease nipples on the front of the tilt tube, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that they don't actually lubricate the steering cable at all - I think they just lubricate the pivot points that allow the motor to tilt up and down. None of that grease actually gets into onto the steering cable at all.

So that's why the steering rod should be cleaned and re-oiled with something light oil like Inox or auto trans fluid (I used to use that on my old cable steering), but never use grease because as others have said, it eventually dries out and causes grief.

Cheers

ML

Absolutely right...I used to think those nipples greased the steering rod but they do not..they only grease the tilt tube for tilting.

[ozscott]

I think my old steering cable must have been inserted with grease cause it had hard grease in the tune...good to know about the nipples not accessing the rod.

Cheers