Not your run of the mill cable situation.

Joined
Feb 22, 2017
Messages
9
Greetings iboaters,

Like many of us, my steering locked up. Teleflex Safe-T rack and pinion. Finally got around to working on it this weekend and she was stuck good in the tube. Being as careful as possible, I had to hammer it through with a piece of rod. I am getting a new cable and helm, but for craps and giggles, I wanted to see if I could clean up the original cable and get a smooth steer.

I brushed all the dried up grease/crap in the tube and filed down the end of the rod because even though I was pretty careful, I thought I may have mushroomed the end a little. I greased up the rod and it will only go back in about 1.5 inch. No worries because I am replacing the whole thing, but I am now a little worried that the new one wont go in either. Anyone ever experience this? I cleaned out the tube pretty well and looking through it, there are no score marks or anything from forcing a mushroomed end through. Hoping I didnt deform the tube by being too aggressive with the hammer and rod. Any ideas?
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Beating out the cable didn't cause the tube the inner cable goes through to swell out about 1 1/2 ' from the end, did it?

If you don't have a caliper, you can use a crescent wrench as a makeshift caliper to check for swelling. Also you check the tilt tube by feeding the cable in from the other end to see if the cable jams at the same place or when 1 1/2" is left to fit in.
 
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
14
the steering tube must be clean and shiny on the inside. It sounds like there is corrosion in the tube about 1 1/2 inches into the tube. You will need to get a bore hone and hone the steering tube out until it is clean and shiny inside the tube. If you know anyone that works on boats they may have a old steering cable end that you can use/have to make sure it is clean and honed out. Like GA_Boater said, check the steering cable end to make sure it didn't swell on the end. Bore hones are made in different sizes and come in different lengths. It's most likely a 3/4" dia hone. you can get them from Snap on, Cornwell and most any tool vendor 6-8" length. they usually run $30-40 each and last a long time. Chuck in in a cordless drill and make sure the drill is in the "drive direction" go slow at first, honing as deep in the tilt tube as possible both ways into the tilt tube and keep blowing the tilt tube out with compressed air. Stop & try to slide the borrowed steering cable end as a (guide) through the tilt tube. Keep honing it out until the steering cable end slides through the tilt tube freely. Clean with carb or brake clean, dry & apply a "LIGHT" coat of grease to the steering cable end, replace and connect the steering cable. Check for ease of movement. Done this many times and it works great. Note!! the tilt tube must be clean, dry & rust free on the inside or it'll happen again in no time. Don't goop the grease in the tilt tube either. A light coat is all that's needed. Good luck
 
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