This is what you get when you let them sit. . .

[Refitter58]

1996 volvo penta 4.3 GS PNCA, Outdrive SX-C1. 1.85

Bought a house and let the boat sit for over two years. Yes, I know better but. . . Here in sunny Florida I found rusty belt pulleys and frozen throttle plates. Bilge water had reached just below the harmonic balancer bolt. Seemed that the engine/rings may have been seized. Filled cylinders with MMO, half a bottle down the carb. Two weeks later still just slight movement. I bought the crankshaft rotation tool to put a little more pressure on the problem without snapping the bolt. Surprisingly it moved fairly easily. But what I found is that the steering wheel moves with the crankshaft rotation to the limit of the outdrive movement, left and right. Pulled the dipstick on top of the drive. It's not clean but full with no sign of water intrusion. Engine oil looks new. I had changed it just prior to parking/abandoning ship.
I don't understand the relationship between engine rotation and steering in these I/O boats.

 

[alldodge]

Okey Dokey, yep that is a boat that's been sitting.

 

[Refitter58]

So do you have any useful insight into the problem? Looking for knowledge.

 

[alldodge]

So do you have any useful insight into the problem? Looking for knowledge.

Yes I'm old and have been know to over look many things, many times, but I do not see a question in you first post

Might need to ask it directly to get my attention, others maybe not so much

 

[dypcdiver]

Turning the engine turns the power steering pump and the steering wheel must have a bit of offset to Port or Stbd

 

[alldodge]

Turning the engine turns the power steering pump and the steering wheel must have a bit of offset to Port or Stbd

Sorry but not understanding.
When wheel is turned the PS pump moves (as in other then pulley turning when motor is running) or something else?
Or with motor off, the drive is moved port/starboard and the wheel moves but has slop?
Or the wheel is not centered when drive is straight forward?

 

[Refitter58]

My apologies. I am having a little difficulty navigating this forum. The engine has not been started in a couple of years. I have a breaker bar on the end of the crankshaft because thought the engine was locked up as stated in my previous post. It is not, but when I turn the crankshaft back and forth with the breaker bar the steering wheel turns and of course, the outdrive is moving along with it. I don't know what could be seized since the engine turns, the wheel turns, and the drive moves back and forth. I'm looking for a direction to go in trying to fix the issue. Thanks

 

[muc]

Pull the drive and see if the steering problem goes away.

 

[Refitter58]

Thanks. I plan to remove the drive for bellows replacement and likely u-joints. But if the drive IS the problem how does that relate to the steering moving along with engine rotation? The engine and drive worked fine up until storage. No sign of water intrusion in either. I want to fix the problem, but want to understand it also. How can the drive and/or the engine rotate at all if some component is seized in either?

 

[alldodge]

First stop using a breaker bar on the crank bolt, it will snap off

When you rotate the motor, the drive shaft going into the upper housing is torqued one side or the other, is the only reason at the time it "might" be doing it. Do remove drive and check it out

 

[Refitter58]

Breaker bar was only used with the crankshaft rotation tool mounted on the harmonic balancer. Not on the bolt itself.
Thanks for the information. I was going in thinking the worst. What you said makes sense. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the situation. Your explanation makes perfect sense but I couldn't convince myself that it might be that simple. I'll report back once I've pulled the drive.