Stiff Steering

[pastorbud]

My 1987 Force 125 HP outboard has hydraulic steering, and it seems awfully stiff. I have disconnected it from the motor, and the wheel turns freely when sliding the ram back and forth.

The motor, however, is so tight you can't pivot it left and right by hand. Should I be able to?

Any suggestions for freeing this up?

I already tried lubing it with a grease gun. See my previous post "Grease fitting popped out" for a description of how well that went.

I see here there is a kingpin and bearing involved, but I really don't want to tear into that.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Merc2/Force/125 H.P. (1987)/1251X7B/MOTOR LEG/parts.html

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Stiff Steering

You can try continually greasing it but in my experience that never helps. The only sure cure is to remove the kingpin and clean everything. #47 yoke tends to corrode and squeeze the plastic bushings. The yoke needs to be scraped out and the kingpin sanded clean and smooth. The plastic bushings need to be resized back to 1 1/8 inside diameter.

That's a winter job because of the fuss and bother.