Rack and Pinion Froze Up

[joey nathan]

Hello All,

New to boating hobby as I recently inherited 1975 fiberglass tri-hull. It's sorta rough but I'm taking it on as a long term project.

Among various problems, I can't turn steering wheel. So I removed steering wheel and rack. Rack itself is not frozen.

If I loosen steering cable attaching nut at motor end I can pull rod partially out but opposite end doesn't come with it. Does that make sense?

See attached photo.

So, Is it seized inside the motor pivot area with the two grease zerks? Do I just replace the whole thing under these circumstances?

Thanks in advance for any ideas...

 

[DJ]

Re: Rack and Pinion Froze Up

Replace the whole steering helm and cable assembly. Use the old one as a guide for length.

There are plenty of choices here on iboats. See link.


http://www.iboats.com/Boat-Steering...8422356--**********.801529899--view_id.217122

Those two grease zerks have nothing to do with the steering cable. They are for the engine bracket pivot.

 

[jspano]

Re: Rack and Pinion Froze Up

check out one of the other forums here at IBoats search frozen steering.
there's alot out there telling how to get it apart and how to clean it up

 

[jspano]

Re: Rack and Pinion Froze Up

check out

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=296206&highlight=frozen+steering

my friend just went through this. he tapped it out of the tube CAREFULLY, not to mushroom the end or damage the tube, then cleaned the tube out

 

[DJ]

Re: Rack and Pinion Froze Up

I'm not saying you can't get it unstuck. However, there is no way to inspect the inside of the cable. They do get weak with corrosion.

Trust me, you DO NOT want that cable breaking at speed. Very dangerous.