A little help for a newbe?

[jeffrayy]

Let me start by saying that I have recently bought my first boat. It is a 15' omni-pro fishing (tri-hull) boat. The boat is fairly new (2003 with some gel coat issues) and it is equiped with an early '70's model Merc. 850. I have spent a few dollars to have the motor gone through and it starts, runs, idles fine. The compression is good.

I only have a couple of issues at this point. I have tried to read as much as I could on this forum but I have only succeded in confusing myself!

The first issue is with the steering. It is frozen up (the cable is bad) and I need to replace it. I am fairly certain that I can do this job myself, however I am not sure which kit to order. The only issue I see so far with removing the old system is the getting the old cable out of the motor (I guess I need to move the motor over a little to get enough room to remove the cable from the motor). So my question is how do I know which kit to order for my steering?

The second issue is with the throtle cable. It does not seem to be tight enough. When you push the throtle all the way forward, the response in the motor does not match. The throtle lever(?) on the motor will only go about half way. You can push it forward with your hand and does just fine.It is as though the throtle lever looses it's responsiveness half way to full throtle. I am not sure how to adjust this either.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[toocanshan]

Re: A little help for a newbe?

i think the first thing i would look for ( with the throttle) is that both ends (the carb end and the control end) are mounted solid in the control box and on the engine. the exterior of the cable should not move when shifted and excelled. im no pro but ive done my share of repairs. good luck and happy boating toocan

 

[jeffrayy]

Re: A little help for a newbe?

Thanks, I will check that tomorrow after work. I hope it is something that easy. The previousl owner had the cables replaced last summer and then never took the boat again (hince the frozen steering), maybe the cables were never adjusted right to start with.

 

[will941s]

Re: A little help for a newbe?

Make sure the throttle cable is ancored. The Gel-coat.....well, try to a haze remover, available on this website or any store where car/boat care products are sold. You can buff Gel-coat, it's pretty hard and can take high RPM's of a buffer to get back the color and the shine. The steering cable, try to free it from the motor with a penatrant, then you may have to move the motor to the side to gian clearance to remove the shaft out of the tube. Measure from your console (center of the steering wheel) to the motor...thats the cable lenth when you buy a new a system. Accomodate for the curve from the console to the motor as well (not straight back). For instance, a 15' boat will probably have a 10' cable, 17 to 19 will probably have a 12' cable. Most websites tell you how to measure before you buy a steering package.

 

[jeffrayy]

Re: A little help for a newbe?

I was able to free the cable for the motor fairly easy, but I just don't have enough clearance to get it out of the tube on the motor. I will have to move the motor over in order to get that clearence.

I will check the throttle cable tomorrow and make sure it is in and tight both ends.

I didn't really think of just measuring the path that the cable follows. I guess it is not a very precise measurement anyway. They come in one foot increments correct?

Finally about the gel-coat. I'm not so worried about it. The boat was a factory second because the gel coat was cloudy/browned in a couple of areas in the boat. It is just going to be a fishing rig and for the most part it looks pretty good. However, I may try the haze remover and see what I get.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[will941s]

Re: A little help for a newbe?

Sounds like you have it under control, all the cables i've ever seen come in 1' increments. When you remove the old steeing controls you can aslo measure that cable instead of measuring from the console to the engine. Do a little cheat work. Good luck.

 

[flippinfred]

Re: A little help for a newbe?

Know I'm late to this party but..........oftentimes you can unbolt/unclamp the
engine and tilt it to port enough to remove the cable. Depends on the boat.
If that doesn't work, slide it to port as far as the tramsom permits and try again. Use cardboard/aluminum flashing or whatever else you have to keep
from scratching up the transom. Slip it between the clamps and transom after
loosening the clamps or removing the bolts.

If all else fails, get a chain hoist or come-along and hoist the engine off the boat
to clear the cable.