1997 Alpha One outdrive power steering issue

[flyboycj84]

Hi there.....1997 Searay 185...very recently my boat pulls hard left. most of the post on the forum seem to point to the adjustable fin....i looked at that and messed with it to no avail. The thing i notice is that when the boat is out of the water...i can push on the outdrive and it pushes full left and turns the steering wheel with very minimal effort....but when i try to push it back to the right it does not move, making me think its an actuator problem.....

any ideas?

 

[Don S]

Re: 1997 Alpha One outdrive power steering issue

The steering cable must be free to move the control valve in cylinder back and forth (port & starboard). If the cable is not free to move, it will hold the valve open in one direction and cause your problem. Here is some info from a Volvo manual (same steering system) that explains it in more detail.

 

[flyboycj84]

Re: 1997 Alpha One outdrive power steering issue

ok Don....thank you. I will go disconnect the cable and see what happens. Is this something that would just "pop up"? everything seemed fine the previous time i had the boat out...this seemed very sudden.

And Im assuming that if i disconnect the cable from the actuator, i should expect restricted cable movement?