stiff steering

[iknowalttl]

I have a 1989 Rinker Captiva 206 with a 4.3 apha one gen one... took it out for the first time this season and the steering is stiff... narrowed it down to the steering tube being corroded up... greased, sprayed and lubed every way I can and worked the steering with some luck but still very stiff even after taking it out on the water for a bit... was going to take the steering cable/tube apart by removing the steering tube adapter from the power steering assembly with just the one bolt and removing the pin that attaches the cable to the steering arm so I could get everything out in the clear and work on the steering tube... the bolt was easy enough to get out but the adapter isn't wanting to slide off... there is a lot of movement up and down between the steering assembly and the adapter that I am guessing is supposed to allow for when trimming the drive but has me cautious about prying between the two to help separate... is there anything special about getting these two pieces apart or is there a better way to deal with the steering tube? I'm sure getting the cable out of the tube and everything separated for clean up is going to be a PITA so getting the whole thing out to where I can work on it I think would be easiest...

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... Power steerin', or not,..??..??

 

[iknowalttl]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... Power steerin', or not,..??..??

yes it is...

 

[achris]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... Power steerin', or not,..??..??

yes it is...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[iknowalttl]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... Power steerin', or not,..??..??

yes it is...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

that's some good stuff right there.... alrighty then...

well I figured out that the tube adapter attaches to the power steering assembly on a tapered shaft and is a bit fiddly to get off... checking out my options I also figured out the corrosion in the tube was not binding and that I was able to get the cable out... turns out the end of the cable where one piece slide over the other was also corroded and that was where the squeeze was taking place... first was the PB Blaster and a soak... then I extended as far as I dared to turn the wheel and cleaned, sanded, and greased things up good... retracted as far as I dared and extend, clean, sand, and grease... another half dozen times and finally fully extended... the sanding still left a lot of roughness so I broke out a hand file and smoothed things out reasonably nice... a good greasing and now I can go stop to stop on the helm with 1 finger... I guess I will need to keep after this pretty regular with the file finish down there and make sure it stays well coated with grease... unfortunately the cable will have to come off to service it every time... fortunately it is easy to get it to in my case...