1979 Sea Ray Turns Left but not right

jbark

Cadet
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
6
Hello, new to the page. Came here looking for advice. I just bought my first boat, a 1979 Sea Ray with Mercruiser 260. It was a good price but needed a little bit of help. I've worked though a lot of it but just realized there is an issue with turning. The boat turns left with no problem and stern drive seems to almost go to far to the left. The boat barely turns right. The steering is smooth both ways. The previous owner supposedly changed the steering cable prior to my purchasing the boat. It is a rack steering system. Any feedback as to what the problem is and any suggestions on how to fix?
 

MRS

Commander
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
2,572
Stern drive straight the wheel should turn the same amount of turns both ways. If not he did it wrong.
 

jbcurt00

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
25,073
Does it have Nascar stickers on it?

Sounds like MRS ^^^ nailed it, PO didnt install cable correctly.......
 

jbark

Cadet
Joined
Jul 20, 2020
Messages
6
Any videos/website you can recommend on how to hook it up properly? Haven't found much on YouTube. And someone before mentioned tiller arm? Any suggestions on where the hook up went wrong
 

matt167

Rear Admiral
Joined
Sep 27, 2012
Messages
4,159
sounds like the rack was not centered.. Just take 2 lefts and you will end up right..

In all seriousness, disconnect the cables. turn the wheel all the way left, then count the turns till it's all the way right and back off half of that and reconnect everything.. That should do it
 
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