Repacking Steering Gland

the nautique isn't that hard to get to, but you have to pull the motor to get to the one in the torino or have three elbows. i don't know how your boat is set up, but i would think you could work around the tank.

whatever you do, have something or someone to support the rudder when you take off the safety bolt. i use a big block of styrofoam.

With a boat that new, I doubt that you would need to replace the packing gland. I would thing that at worst, it might need adjusting. To adjust, just loosen the "jamb" nut, and then turn the packing nut one "flat" (hex side) at a time. After each adjustment, check for leakage. That's the only reason I could see the need for adjustment on a hull of that age, unless the steering has been operated many thousands of times or had a factory defect. As for accessability, I would explore the possibilites of adjusting withour removing the tank. On myt 1982 "2001", the steering gland has never needed adjusting, and the drive shaft gland has only been adjusted once. Good luck.

I believe you need to replace it. I'm sure some others will chime in though. I don't believe there are bushing that can be replaced if the play was up and down then you could adjust it out but side to side is bad news. Remove the arm, packing nut and jam nut and drop the rudder out of the housing and inspect it for ware.

Just finished repacking the steering. You have to remove the seat, left side bolster, rear storage deck and Gas Tank. Then you have access. It uses 2 pieces of 1/4" Flax. I used Teflon Flax and the lube they reccommend. Make sure you support the rudder when you take the nut off or the rudder will fall out. Also Make sure you safety wire the 2 bolts again. Total time was about 2.5 hours.

Tony, I repacked my rudder gland with standard flax packing. I also removed the clevis and bent it to remove the play in it. While I had it out, I inspected the rudder for wear and didn't notice anything appreciable. The play is still there in the rudder, but I've skied another ~150 hours since the repacking and the steering is absolutely fantastic. I can steer with one finger at any speed and cut as hard as I want. Never any excessive effort nor any erratic steering, so I guess ~3/8" play at the bottom of the rudder is no problem. Hope this helps.

the spacing got screwed up on the diagram I just posted, imagine the bottom two rows over one more space and you get the idea.