1990 Ski nautique problem

Hello everyone! I am hoping for some advice and incite on an issue that happened today with my 1990 ski nautique.
I put it in the water a few days ago after storing it in my garage over the winter.
The steering felt a little stiffer then I remember but your could maneuver the boat just fine with some slight effort to turn the wheel.
Took my 9 yo for the first ski run of the season, again after dropping him by our swim raft I went to make a turn towards the dock. When I turned the wheel I felt a Click or snap and then the wheel would just free spin without actually turning the rudder .
I swam it back to the lift and took a closer look... the wheel will just freely spin and make a clicking sound, no movement of the rudder at all..
My question is.. do I have an issue with the helm, steering head, or a snapped steering cable?
Any places to recommend for ordering replacement parts or to try troubleshooting over the phone..
would like to get to work on replacing whatever needs to be done
Thanks
Andrew

Thanks for the response ...
the steering wheel will just turn freely with absolutely no resistance right now.
It also
Makes a clicking sound as it turns.i will try disconnecting the cable at the helm.... once I do that does the cable pull or turn (spin) to a Attempt to move the tiller?
I am located in north central Wisconsin

As I recall, the cable should wind out of the helm after you unscrew the retainer nut. It will be greasy so have some gloves on & a plastic bag to put the end into.

There are many posts on this site about the procedure to replace the cable.

Assuming that the steering cable is the issue, should i plan on ordering the direct replacement? I have been researching this. and this cable seems to be much more expensive then the cable that goes in the newer models. Some posts mention that you can upgrade to a newer cable by changing out some of the helm/steering components as well. Is this worth doing or should i just plan on replacing the cable if that is what is truly going on?

Andrewkelly1983 wrote: Assuming that the steering cable is the issue, should i plan on ordering the direct replacement? I have been researching this. and this cable seems to be much more expensive then the cable that goes in the newer models. Some posts mention that you can upgrade to a newer cable by changing out some of the helm/steering components as well. Is this worth doing or should i just plan on replacing the cable if that is what is truly going on?

8122pbrainard wrote: Andrew, Nautique Parts is a good source for the cable. Understand it is a special throw so it is on the pricey side. Do not use a generic cable. Your boat would have a steering problem!

DVskier wrote: I’ve heard some sad stories over the years of folks who went for the “cheap aftermarket” steering cables only to be disappointed in the end.

Update:
I went down to the boat with my son..it was on the lift so it was a little tricky.
I wiggled the tiller around a little in the water, it was pretty difficult move by hand..not sure if that is normal. As i was doing that he saw the steering wheel move.
He was then able to turn the wheel to the left, and the tiller moved accordingly . It might have been a little stiff turning it, but he was able to turn it with 2 hands ( he is nine y.o).
However, when we tried turning the steering wheel to the right, it would move the tiller accordingly until it reached the end range. At that point, the wheel would skip and return to free spinning with a slight click as it spun.
I would manually move the tiller again ( moving wheel to the left), the wheel would re-engage and he could turn the wheel all the way to the left again.

Any thoughts on what could be going on, or what might need to be replaced?

Thanks!

Regarding my
Above message.. I was behind the boat turning the rudder ,
The steering wheel could
Move the rudder when turned to the left.. when the wheel was turned to the right it would turn the rudder until it got to the end range of motion for the wheel.
At that point it would click, spin freely and not turn the rudder.
Could I replace the helm part if necessary now, then at the end of the season do the cable or is it just worth doing it all at once?

Bri892001 wrote: The skip with click and then free spinning makes me suspect there is something going on where the steering wheel or helm gear interfaces with the rack gear of the cable. There's also the possibility that something is messed up within the helm gearing if it has a tilt type helm.

Plus 1. It's got to be taken apart to find out what's going on inside the helm.

Before you take anything apart, just take a look under the dash, on the backside of the steering wheel with a flashlight and see if you can have someone move the wheel for you.

When the wheel is turned all the way right to that "skipping" stage, see if you can see any unusual movement.

Andrewkelly1983 wrote: sorry this might be a tough one to figure out..

Andrew,
I think somethings amiss inside the helm so opening it up may tell the story. The stiffness is still a concern. It may have caused damage inside the helm? A new cable in my opinion may be needed.

The link below is a non tilt helm Assy. for your boat vintage. It looks to me like you could take the four bolts off of this part and be able to inspect the gear in this assy, and moving the rudder should show you all the teeth. Also inspect the part attached to the steering wheel shaft.
I would be very concerned with driving the boat much with this type of problem just waiting to occur on a hard turn under power
Helm

Thanks for the responses.. I’m going to try and post a pic of what it looks like under the steering console .. I don’t think it’s a rack and pinion.. it resembles more of a rotary system I believe ...

8122pbrainard wrote: Andrewkelly1983 wrote: Thanks for the responses.. I’m going to try and post a pic of what it looks like under the steering console .. I don’t think it’s a rack and pinion.. it resembles more of a rotary system I believe ... If it looks like a rotary, it's the Big T Teleflex.

Maybe... but not 100% true. Most 90 should have the big-T, but some late 90 and then 91-92 had some different rotary systems (not big-T). My 91 had such a set up. Pics would be best to confirm.

Are you uploading it with an iPhone? Sometimes an iPad will work (oddly) but you often need a regular computer.

Anyway, the picture may be uploaded but lost in the abyss. To find the file location
1.) Click on Member control, with the little gear on the upper left of this page
2.)Click on file manager
3.)See if you can find your pic, if so, right click it and open it in a new tab.
4.)Grab the pics url from the top of the new tab
5.)post it here

Otherwise PM me, and you can send it to me over email.