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Stiff steering

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Netdewt View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Netdewt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Stiff steering
    Posted: June-04-2017 at 1:45pm
My steering is a little stiff this year. What should I do to loosen it up a bit?
1989 Ski Nautique 2001, 880 hours
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8122pbrainard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8122pbrainard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-04-2017 at 2:23pm
Nate,
See if you can isolate the cause. Disconnect the cable at the tiller arm to see if it's the cable or the rudder port. If it's still stiff, then disconnect the cable at the helm to make sure that's not the problem. Chances are very high that it's the cable. If so, then replacing it is your best option.


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77 Tique

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Netdewt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-04-2017 at 7:46pm
Will do. Thanks. My mechanic says $325 to replace the cable. It seemed a little better today in warmer weather. I probably won't do anything until it gets worse or at least until fall.
1989 Ski Nautique 2001, 880 hours
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Gary S View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gary S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-04-2017 at 7:51pm
Stands to reason. What ever lubricant they use in them seems to dry out. I cut the end off my first one to go bad and pulled out the inside cable to see what was going on. The lubricant was gummy and not really "oily" feeling at all.
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8122pbrainard View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8122pbrainard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-04-2017 at 8:05pm
Originally posted by Netdewt Netdewt wrote:

My mechanic says $325 to replace the cable.

Nate, Remind us what year your boat is. Some had special length/throw cables that are only available through a dealer.


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77 Tique

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Netdewt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-07-2017 at 12:50am
It's a 1989.

Wish there was a meetup in MN!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fgroce Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-07-2017 at 9:44am
My idea for the failure of the steering cable is a wet bilge. The end of the cable does not have a very good seal, and they do not send a new seal for the end of the mounting tube. That is all there is to keep water from getting down inside the cable. Once water gets inside the cable it is only a matter of time before it corrodes and gets stiff. Just my opinion.
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Gary S View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gary S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-07-2017 at 10:11am
No not a problem. My Mustang would freeze solid every winter,thaw out every spring. The jacket had cracks which allowed water in but it always steered easy. Like I said before whatever lube they now use binds it up as it dries out. I have cut them open they are made out of quality stainless,no corrosion at all.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hollywood Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-07-2017 at 11:14am
I've pulled out cables with badly cracked jackets but the boat still steered beautifully.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8122pbrainard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-07-2017 at 12:50pm
Originally posted by Hollywood Hollywood wrote:

I've pulled out cables with badly cracked jackets but the boat still steered beautifully.

One think to note, the outer jacket protects the metal casing. Then, there's a plastic liner that the actual inner cable rides on. I feel the failure is when the inner plastic liner wears out on bends to the point where the inner cable rubs on the metal casing.



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Gary S View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gary S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-07-2017 at 1:08pm
Pete the lube actually feels gummy or sticky. Maybe they used to use whale oil before and can't get it now
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Netdewt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-15-2017 at 9:07am
Can the cable not be removed from the liner and relubed?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SNobsessed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-15-2017 at 10:07am
No owner serviceable parts inside!

I think Pete has best hypothesis - the inner plastic liner wears out.

$300 isn't too much to spend to assure you have control of your boat IMO.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gary S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June-15-2017 at 11:07am
Don't agree,how do explain then how my Mustang which lead a hard life never bound up where as my Nautique with under 300 hours went? Mustangs even took on water due to cracks in the sheath . Even my Shamrocks that had been replaced in 94 went out when it spent its first summer in the Florida heat. Nope it's relatively close internal tolerances that cause it to bind up when whatever they use dries up and turns sticky. When does an older boat owner ever come on here complaining, it's always a boat from the mid 80's and up.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JoeinNY Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-01-2019 at 1:20pm
So count me in on the Gary Starr sticky grease camp... The steering on my 83 had gotten to be just about impossible on cold early/late season days but would loosen up after a turn or two in the summer.   My bilge has been through the ringer with various attempted sinkings and fires over the years so I figured I had a suspect cable jacket and water was in there and causing rust or freezing issues and it was time to replace it before someone got killed.   So I pulled it our yesterday and dammed if that jacket didn't look intact, pretty, and even reasonably pliable for a 40 degree day. I was gonna cut an end off to pull out the inner cable and explore but it turns out you can unscrew the rudder rod end from the crimped cable end and remove the inner cable.   It was pristine inside as well, save for some really sticky "grease" covering everything. The inner cable was also much better built than the older rotary cables I have had break on me over the years , this one is certainly going to destroy a helm before the cable would break in its current condition.   So I made a big mess cleaned the inner cable off with various solvents, brushes, compressed air, etc.   I then blew some solvent/air through the jacket put the cable in dry a couple times, cleaned, solvented, blew, inserted - etc. Cleaned the inner cable a final time, and reinstalled using about two cans of spray white lithium grease.    Twas a messy couple hours but the cable that took me everything to pull out of the sleeve would fall out by the time it was done, and more importantly moves easily over the full range of motion by hand even with the cable coiled up.

Not sure that the white lithium is the ideal grease for me to have gone back in there with for the long term, but it is what I had and I was mostly expecting just to be an experiment,.   I guess now the experiment is how long the white lithium grease lasts
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