Mercury 50 HP tight steering

[Little.desperado]

Hi Everybody!

On my 1990 50 HP Mercury which i just bought, the steering is very tight.
I guess the previous owner did not lube it enough.
I greased it several times and also tried rust spray, but it is not yet ok.
It turned a bit better, but a lot of power is needed to move the engine.

I hope you can give me some good advice, how to solve the promlem fast and easy.

Thanks a lot!

[WillyBWright]

It's probably not the motor. It's probably the cable. Disconnect the steering link and try turning the wheel without turning the motor.

[Little.desperado]

I already disconnected the steering cable.
It's the motor.

[j_martin]

Did you get grease into all the zerks on the mid?

[Little.desperado]

Yes, i greased everything! The grease-nipples, the gaps, but it was not successful!

[pman7]

My 1971 50hp was very stiff and would not loosen with just pumping in grease. All the excess came out the bottom.

A combination of heat gun, penetrating solvent applied to the top and additional periodic grease pumps eventually loosened it up along with a hundred or so pivots.

I think the alternative is dissasembly. Some people on here will suggest that before what I tried.

edit: mine has remained fine for about 4 months since the heat gun treatment.