[skippingtrout]

I just bought my first boat, a 2002 Sea Pro 18.5 CC. The motor is a 2002 115 Mercury 4-stroke. It steers very hard. It has a cable going into a tube that looks like the deal on a screen door. I'm assuming that it is not working correctly. How easy should this boat be to steer?

Also as a first time boater the ignition seems funky to me. The motor is an EFI and starts right up but only when I turn the key correctly. By correctly I need to turn it slowly and wait until the volts drop to zero and then back up again and then finish turning it and she starts right up. Is this normal?

Thanks,

Skipping trout

[Kev144]

I can't answer your second question as my outboard is a Carb not EFI nor is it a 4 stroke. But steering should be pretty easy. When I first got my boat (150 OB) it was very difficult to steer. I took it to a place and they told me the cables were seized on it. Apparently they can last many years or only a few. It seems like that may be your problem. For me on a 18ft boat, the cables going from the steering wheel to the motor were about 600 bucks installed. (dual cable steering by the way). If you pull the cables from where they mount on the motor, and it steers easy, its a problem with the part on the motor, if still hard, its cables/steering console.

A shop manual may help out.

[skippingtrout]

Well, after several hours of use now both the switch and steering are working better. I think the steering was just tight from lack of use. I cleaned up the cable and greased it well. The boat is getting easier to steer each outing. As for the key switch, a can of tuner cleaner has done wonders, again lack of use I figure caused the difficult ignition.

[Catfish1972]

Hey...

First post, can't figure this place out.

Have merc 1985 150 BlackMax outboard on 18.5 foot Invader fiberglass ski/fish/bowrider type boat. Single cable steering. Pulls like a fiend at high speeds. The odd trick is, it pulls in different directions with no apparent cause. Might pull super-hard right at WOT. Then if I stop, crank it up again, it might pull hard left. Then it pulls right at half-throttle or lower.... next time, it pulls left. Very very hard pull at high speeds, and it WILL roll all the way to the lock if I am not holding on to the wheel. It has an aftermarket "planing fin" on it.... The cable seems just fine, as I can easily turn the wheel lock to lock out of the water. Very little actual play in the system. Just pulls like crazy in whatever direction it wants. Could throw an inattentive passenger overboard. I can move the engine side to side quite easily, which seems to rule out the cable binding up...

What is this all about?

Cheers!

Happy trails,
Catfish1972