How to grease steering cable.

My steering is very stiff. I have disconnect the steering cable from the outboard and the outboard pivots smootly and with ease. I also disconnected the steering cable at the steering column. The steering wheel spins quick and smoothly. The cable must need cleaning and regreasing. The cable is a Morse brand, rack and pinion style. The geared end has a long flat rectangular shaped enclosure that the cable and geared end slide back and forth. It appears the cable can be unscewed inside the enclosure, but I can't get a wrench or nut driver on the nut. The enclosure is rivoted, so I can't seperate the two halves of the enclosure. I could always drill out the rivot and install a nut and bolt when reassembling. Hopefully there is a better way. Thanks in advance for any help or advice. I don't know how old the cable is, unfortunately. I'm sure that it must be at least 15 years old, maybe more. The cable has been fully removed from the boat.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

replace cable? or dig in? im not too sure myself the proper way to go but if the cost of the part is relatively low i might just replace with new if it seems worth it

Re: How to grease steering cable.

If your cable goes through the tilt tube at the motor end did you completely remove it?
It's pretty common for them to seize up in the tube itself.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

The tilt tube is relatively fine. I will clean and regrease before reinstalling since I have the opportunity. With the cable still attached to the pinion, I still could feel stiff steering of the wheel. I read in another posting about rack and pinion systems are non-servicable. That seems strange. I know with bicycle cables, they have an attachment that you put on one end of the cable and it seals around the sleeve and cable and allows you to inject lubricant without a big mess. I think I can come up with a crude version of this using PVC and an air chuck. If I can seal around the pivot tube end of the cable using 2" PVC which is long enough to let the cable travel in and out, a compression fitting around the cable sleeve for the 2" pipe to attach, and a threaded PVC cap on the other end with a male air chuck screwed into it, then I could fill the 2" pvc tube (which will be about 24" long) with WD40 or better cleaner and inject it under pressure into the sleeve and around the cable. I will also be able to attach the other end to the pinion and move the cable in and out. I'll make sure to protect the pinion end from any gumk coming out the other end of the cable. That could make a big mess inside the boat. Sounds like an ambitious plan, but I think it is possible.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

Another idea on the source might be to inspect the entire cable sheath for any cracks. If moisture had gotten in rust has probably played a part in the stiffness.

Also, you didn't mention the size of the boat and engine. If your current system is unsalvagable and the size of the motor warrants it, you might want to consider converting to a hydraulic setup.

Your cable lubrication plan sounds interesting. Please post the results with pics and I can see needing to do that at some point.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

The riveted head unit is riveted for a reason.

The cable is non serviceable for a reason. Replace it.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

SOLVED

roscoe said:

The riveted head unit is riveted for a reason.

The cable is non serviceable for a reason. Replace it.

Click to expand...

Wise words on this one. I tried fooling around with it and ended up wasting time. I sucked it up a threw more money at the boat. Bam, it worked. New cable and smooth steering. Thaks for all the advice.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

LOL- you sound like me. I'll waste time and energy trying to save a buck and then spend the jack to get what I should have just bought in the first place. LOL

Re: How to grease steering cable.

That was the right choice. Even at low 25-30 mph a broken cable (loss of steering) could toss you overboard.

Re: How to grease steering cable.

Good point, that will help justify that purchase.