omc steering is hard while under power

i have a 1977 omc stern drive powered by ford 302 this boat is a runner problem is it is very hard to turn under power no mater how i trim it when idling its fine out of the water its fine no binds in cables it has a aftermarket fin on it is that why is there a p/s change over for it or am i stuck with with this problem and no im not a whimp my pic up has man steering and it turns easier than my boat help help

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

You aren't alone, mine's the same. I assume you have tru-course steering. Your pick up man probably has power steering, you don't. I've just grown used to it.

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

well thanks for the reply i was hoping for some sort of p/s converson i like this old boat just put new interior well maybe time for a new boat

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

First off, welcome to iBoats. Second, please add some punctuation to your post - makes it much easier on the eyes.

Now, for your issue - my first thought would be pull off the aftermarket fin and try it out. It's easy enough to try. Many times those are added for no good reason, and in fact hurt handling. Second, are you sure the trim is working properly? My boat is a bear to turn, until I am up on plane and trim it all the way out. Lastly, your pick up manual steering is a completely different beast. Much different mechanism, and thrust isn't applied throught the steering like it is on the boat.

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

I might have a reason for this hard steering problem,

I just bought a new propeller for my 1980 OMC 400 Stearn drive, the old prop was a little out of balance, the new prop same size and pitch does not have that outer ring with the little gap in it on the outside of the propeller on the very end where the exhaust exits,

I put that new prop on its nice and smooth but I cant hardly turn the wheel to the right it feels like if i had to turn fast and hard i might break the steering cable its so hard,

Its like day and night how the 2 different propeller effect the steering!!,

its nice and loose until i get up on step,

The only difference I can see is the new propeller does not have that ring on the outside like my old one.

I'm stumped as to what that ring does???

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

vxdude21a said:

I might have a reason for this hard steering problem,

I just bought a new propeller for my 1980 OMC 400 Stearn drive, the old prop was a little out of balance, the new prop same size and pitch does not have that outer ring with the little gap in it on the outside of the propeller on the very end where the exhaust exits,

I put that new prop on its nice and smooth but I cant hardly turn the wheel to the right it feels like if i had to turn fast and hard i might break the steering cable its so hard,

Its like day and night how the 2 different propeller effect the steering!!,

its nice and loose until i get up on step,

The only difference I can see is the new propeller does not have that ring on the outside like my old one.

I'm stumped as to what that ring does???

Click to expand...

welcome to iboats....

very interesting......
post that one to prop topics..
we have some really knowlageable porp guys here that could shed light on that issue

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

Update on that reason for such a difference in the way the boat steers after swapping prop,

The new propeller although the same diameter and pitch also seems to have a different blade design besides also not having a what I now know is called a "diffuser ring" the new prop uses a flair at the end too diffuse exhaust gas's,

I'm thinking that the radical change in the way it steers is the blade design,

The boat always pulled to the left and the trim tab is turned quite a bit to compensate, I'm going to back off on that and see if it helps, but I'm thinking I'm probably going to have my old prop rebuilt or get one with the same bade design to be back to having a easy to steer boat.

Anyway hope this helps anyone else that has this mysterious steering problem.

Re: omc steering is hard while under power

Hey thanks for the welcome, Glad I found this site I posted it and the update I made on "prop topic"