Grinding, sticky steering

[Dj105]

Loving this forum! Seems to be so much knowledge to draw from, I'm hoping some of you can help a new boater out. I've got an '02 Tidecraft 15.5ft bass boat with a 90hp outboard. I was out fishing stripers last night and headed for home around midnight. I noticed the boat had suddenly become hard to steer. It wasn't constant, but there are certain "sticky" spots when I'm turning the wheel, and a definite noise.....noises actually, coming from behind the steering wheel. I don't know if it's the steering cable because it happened so suddenly and it's not stiff through the entire turn. I looked underneath and my steering components seem to be some sort of rack & pinion. I say this because after the aluminum housing behind the steering wheel is a long rectangular housing with the steering cable coming out the end. The noise seems to be coming from one of these housings, but I can't quite pinpoint it.
If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated!

 

[64osby]

Most of the time rack and pinion steering is not serviceable.

First try to remove the steering cable from the rack. Inspect it for any damage. Test the rack to see if there is issues with with it. Grease the cable and reinstall.

If you find issues of any kind or still have noises look to replace the steering and the cable. Not that expensive and keeps you, passengers and the boat safe.

Welcome to iboats. :welcome:

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard.

As 64osby indicated, most can not be serviced. however if you can pull the rack, maybe you can get some greas in there.

however a new rack and cable is not that expensive.

 

[lmuss53]

I've seen the rack bolts come loose, it feels and sounds like you described, might be as simple as a couple of loose bolts. If the rack is tight and you have free play, crunching noises in the wheel you probably have a failed component. You can check and see which component has failed, they are individually replaceable. I replaced the Teleflex rack cable in an older Starcraft just to have it all fail 3 or 4 years later. I replaced everything with a NFB system the second time around.