Confirming steering cable length

mfelthousen

Seaman
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Messages
68
I have a '77 Starcraft Holiday 18 I/O with a rack/pinion steering system. The steering cable needs to be replaced due to excessive play. It appears to be a Morse Command 200 system; I am not positive yet because markings have been hard to find or read. I believe the markings on the cable casing are 300619 204 IN 1374P. '300619' is barely legible due to being almost scratched off. Using the ABC measuring method I get 19 feet, but what's throwing me off is the "204 IN", which is 17 feet. Is that in reference to the casing length, and I should order a 19' kit per the ABC method?

Thanks,
Mat
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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if you have the cable out, use a tape measure.
 

alldodge

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Did a search on "steering cable 300619 204 IN 1374P" and found the cable (new old stock) and it is 17 feet long. The 300619 is a morse command cable and the 204 is listed as 17 feet. The measurement is taken by the outer jacket length.

Found the cable at marine surplus for $90. Maybe Teleflex has a replacement of new :noidea:
 

mfelthousen

Seaman
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Messages
68
Thank you both. The old one isn't out of the boat yet, since I'm still trying to fit in some water time (been a long year of repairs/rebuilds). I was careful with the ABC measurement, so the 2 foot variance between the stamp on the housing and the measurement worried me. I'll probably give up and pull the cable for a measurement since I still need to see if the pinion is any good. It probably isn't, since as far as I can tell it is all original gear.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Just replaced the rack and cable in my 32 year old boat. Cable had been sticking for years, however sitting foe 3 years, there was no moving of the cable within the sheath.

Im thinking that since i know in the distant past, the bilge had water in it, my guess the cable had rusted

Cable was bad, pinion looks like day it was installed

My guess your pinion is fine
 

mfelthousen

Seaman
Joined
Jun 12, 2018
Messages
68
Thanks again. I took another look and realized that I had misread how to arrive at the rear measurement for an I/O, plus clearly had added too much to account for the corners. So, between all that and rounding up to the nearest foot, I got 19. I've got a NOS replacement on order.
 
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