Loose steering 150 mariner

mbecke2

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
94
My steering has lots of play and it steers very hard to the right. I have to use all my strength to hold the steering wheel when Im on a plane or it will turn hard to the right. If I let go of the wheel for one second, the boat will be on the land. Its that bad. I was wondering if there is something I can adjust or check to see what it wrong. Or do I need to get new steering. I think it is a regular single cable steering. I have heard I need two cables or change to hydraulic or no feedback. Anybody??
 

jerryjerry05

Supreme Mariner
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
17,923
Re: Loose steering 150 mariner

There is a fin on the bottom of the cavitation plate.If the motor turns hard to the right then turn the fin to the right.
Check the motor for bad bushings.
Have someone hold the wheel and go back and push, pull on the motor.See if it moves.
 

carholme

Rear Admiral
Joined
Sep 4, 2010
Messages
4,845
Re: Loose steering 150 mariner

Re your steering play:

Single Cable - Single High
Performance Outboard
Single cable steering installations for high performance
outboards - Pro Max/Super Magnum models
- ARE NOT RECOMMENDED.
CAUTION
It is recommended that boats capable of going
over 50 MPH be equipped with dual cable
steering and adjusted so that there is a minimum
of steering backlash. The more steering
backlash that exists, the more difficult it is to
control a high performance boat, particularly if
the hull has chine walking tendencies.

This is directly from the manual.

Gerry
 

sschefer

Rear Admiral
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
4,530
Re: Loose steering 150 mariner

There is a fin on the bottom of the cavitation plate.If the motor turns hard to the right then turn the fin to the right.
Check the motor for bad bushings.
Have someone hold the wheel and go back and push, pull on the motor.See if it moves.

Jerry's probably nailed it. You might also check the retainer clip for the swivel pin to see if it is missing. Depending on the year it might not have the stainless swivel pin and could be rusted badly. The motor mounts could also be shot, you can check the lowers without much effort but the uppers will require you to pull the powerhead. If it is a high performance model then you could consider changing out the rubber mounts for solid mounts. That makes a world of difference.
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
2,906
Re: Loose steering 150 mariner

i had a boat that pulled realy hard to the right i adjusted the fin and that made it a little better then the motor punched a hole in the fiberglass of the transom which was my first clue that i might have a small transom problem. check to see if your transom bolts are loose.
 

mbecke2

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
94
Re: Loose steering 150 mariner

There is a fin on the bottom of the cavitation plate.If the motor turns hard to the right then turn the fin to the right.
Check the motor for bad bushings.
Have someone hold the wheel and go back and push, pull on the motor.See if it moves.

I had someone hold the steering wheel and I moved the motor back and forth and it moves a bit. Something is not right with the steering/bushings/etc. The steering is very loose and I can move the motor by hand with little effort. When you say bad bushings what does that mean?? Is it easy to fix or do I need to take it to professional?? Is there any other easy test to try??
 
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