My steering cable broke - Ideas?

[samo_ott]

So my cable broke on the first turn of the season. Sigh. I have it on a small 16' pontoon boat. It is a teleflex type steering but I'm not sure if it actually is a teleflex or another make. I've never worked on the steering system before as it has worked flawlessly for the 10 years I've had the boat.

I got it off the boat. It's about 14' long. The threaded cable inside the main cable pulled out of the end that attached to the steering wheel and about 5' came out and you can see the broken end. The other end will not pull out at all. I would think it should but it's in there pretty tough. Should it come out? it must.

My question. Can the inside cable be replaced? Do I need to replace the inner cable and outer cable. Can I buy this type of system still? is it common? will a new cable fit my steering wheel and box? as I said, I've never worked on it before so any help will be appreciated... thanks...

p.s. photos attached...

 

[Lone Duck]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

Expose the helm where the cable enters it. should be name and numbers on it. And yes ! You should replace the whole cable .

 

[marine4003]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

Its a Teleflex, order it here at iboats, 14' steering cable, Follow instructions when installing new cable...good to go.
you can only order the cable as a whole unit.

 

[Bondo]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

The other end will not pull out at all. I would think it should but it's in there pretty tough. Should it come out? it must.

Ayuh,... You need to pull the steering wheel off,+ replace the Whole Helm,+ Cable....
Your's is Junk,... They're Not servicable as a per part fix...

 

[samo_ott]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

Ah. I was afraid that one could not just buy the inner cable. But as I cant get it all out I guess it doesn't really matter anyway!

So if it a Teleflex, will a Teleflex QC fit? That's all I see for sale here at iBoats?

And is the length based on the thicker outer cable then?

 

[Mark42]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

The QC will be a good replacement for the steering on your pontoon. Anything else will be overkill and a waste of money.

Some of the rotary heads can be disassembled, but no service parts are available. If the cable is jammed somehow, you might be able to free it and save the cost of a new helm. After 10 years, its probably a good idea to replace the entire system, helm and cable.

Generally, these systems fail for two reasons. 1, the cables liner wears out from use and the cables become sloppy, binds and break. 2, water gets in and rusts the inner cable causing binding and seizing.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

The helm is ok. As seen in the pic above the cable came right out. But the inner cable is broken on the inside. It does look like water got in and it rusted. Is the new cable, the QC, a direct replacement?

 

[mr eye]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

I just replaced my cable and helm with a new teleflex (18' bowrider, i/o )

It's really not hard at all. Go ahead and order your parts and have at it

 

[Mark42]

Re: My steering cable broke - Ideas?

I misunderstood your post. Thought the cable was stuck in the helm.

As long as the helm is a Teleflex brand helm, then the Teleflex QC cable will fit it, even if its an old helm. The QC cable comes with an adapter that screws onto older helms, then the QC cable will just snap into place. A pin is inserted into the adapter keeping the cable from coming out. The cable is removed by pulling out the pin and pulling the cable free.