1985 Mercruiser 260R Power Steering

MetalDemon

Cadet
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
10
Hey,

Having problems with power steering, seams VERY hard to turn with boat off and only slightly better with the boat running. I came across http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=385966&highlight=power+steering and it seamed close to my problem except that when I remove the pins to the cables there is no improvement (I did lube it up regardless.)

Today I removed the nut at the power steering side of the steering cable and was able to move it through the cable housing easy enough. The wheel was still very hard to turn. Checked out the rack and pin system, seamed fine so I lubed and reassembled.

With the pins out and the nut off it seems to me like there is really nothing that should be locking the wheel up its just a steering cable....Seems like the power steering is out of the equation and the small amount of weight from the out drive isn't even there to make a difference. Right now I'm starting to think that the problem is the cable itself from the wheel to the P.s. Do cables go bad like that?

Thanks
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
71,285
Re: 1985 Mercruiser 260R

Re: 1985 Mercruiser 260R

Do cables go bad like that?

Yes,... Quite often,.... Or they corrode inside the aluminum top at the transom...
 

MetalDemon

Cadet
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
10
Re: 1985 Mercruiser 260R

Re: 1985 Mercruiser 260R

The cable seems to move back and forth through the transom very easy once the nut on the other end was removed.
 

MetalDemon

Cadet
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
10
Re: 1985 Mercruiser 260R Power Steering

Changed out the cable, boat is great again. Thanks for the response.
It did not take 10 minutes like I saw 1 person on a diff thread say. It might have taken that long..... They sent a cable "Teleflex Rack Steering Replacement Cable Assembly" that did not match up old Pinion.

Ended up buying "Teleflex Back Mount Rack Steering Systems" which is the full steering system. The pinion from this kit did not match with the single rack and cable I just installed! It did match up with my boats original system.

I'm not sure why these would be different but... whatever....
 
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