Steering Seized ???

[Reel EM In]

Hello fellow boaters !<br />My boat has been sitting for about a year. I got it running yesterday, but, could not turn the steering wheel. I diconnected the linkage from the engine, and the rod that attaches to the steering cable seems to be seized. Any ideas on how to free it up? I looked in the service manual, but, there is no information on steering. I sprayed WD-40, and that didn't seem to help. It's a 1991 70hp Johnson.<br />Any help will be greatly appreciated.<br />Thanks.<br />Steve.

 

[rpddoc]

Re: Steering Seized ???

I have 1988 Alumaweld with 1986 Johnson 60 VRO. Mine was sitting for about 3 months until yesterday. I put in the water and fired her up. Went to back up and the steering wheel was froze. I was able to finaly free it up by just manhandling the wheel. It was probably a bad idea for doing it, but it worked. Today, I extended the shaft out and cleaned the old hardened grease off with WD 40. Then I light greased the shaft with marine grease. It works like it used to now. Good luck.<br /><br />TakeEm

 

[moderator1]

Re: Steering Seized ???

Moving to Boat Questions. This is not engine specific.

 

[tangent]

Re: Steering Seized ???

Do a search for "steering" and you'll find some good advice. Here's the short version:<br /><br />Instead of WD-40, try PB Blaster, it is sold at some Auto Parts stores (I got it at AutoZone). You may have to give the rod some heavy-duty whacks to get it to move, but you have to make sure you don't make it wider. You also may have to take the outboard off to get enough room to work. Once you get the rod out, clean the rod, and run a wire brush or something like that through the tilt tube. Get a new steering cable if it is damaged. Probably a good idea to get a new one anyway if it is old. Same with the tilt tube. There are different opinions on grease - I use OMC's Triple Guard grease. There is much more good info in some of the older messages.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Steering Seized ???

Reel - I recommend you try a pipe wrench to "rock" the steering rod forward to back, while spraying with penetrating oil. If it will rock, you can usually get it loose enough to grease it with some (Mercury Brand) Special Lubricant 101. If you beat it with a hammer, the end of the rod will mushroom and you may cause other damage.

 

[Scuda11]

Re: Steering Seized ???

I have the same problem, and continuously greasing. It is getting better, I am using a thin lubricant, tilt/trim lub actually. But I need to pull it out and at least clean it. Question: When I loosened the nut on my steering wheel, do I just keep turning the wheel left until it comes out?? I need to take it all the way off so I can disconnect the nut near the tilt tube. Is it hard to realign it when I hook it back up?<br /><br />Thanks in advance and sorry to hijack your topic Reelemin!

 

[Oldsaltydog]

Re: Steering Seized ???

Instead of making the disconnection at the steering wheel, could you take off the nut connecting the cable housing to your outboard? This way you could swing the MOTOR and the shaft should come out from the tilt tube. When you are finished, nothing should be out of alignment.

 

[Scuda11]

Re: Steering Seized ???

I am trying to loosen it up now EBG. God bless PB Blaster I think I might finally get it!

 

[Reel EM In]

Re: Steering Seized ???

Sorry for not getting back to you guys earlier, but I was away on business. I attempted once again to try and free this thing up, and it just won't budge. I was able to tap it into the sleeve, but can not get it to come back out. I have soaked this thing with blaster and it just won't free up. Can anyone tell me how the cable is attached to the rod? Maybe if I can understand that, I can come up with something. <br /><br />Hey I'm_A_learning...... Don't wory about Hi-jacking. We're all in this together

 

[DJ]

Re: Steering Seized ???

Reel,<br /><br />Understand that your cable is shot. It is not a good idea to try and resurrect the cable. If they freeze up, it's because of corrosion (rust). You DO NOT want one of these to break at speed.<br /><br />At this point, you need to get it out of the tilt tube.<br /><br />Hammer it out if you have to. Make sure you pay atrention to not damage the threads on each end of the tube.<br /><br />Once that is done, clean out the tube and install a new cable with plenty of marine grease.

 

[codyandamber]

Re: Steering Seized ???

One or two squirts of greese should suffice inside the cable. More than that can actually damage the cable.