Steering Left Hard at Speed

[BlackSmoke]

Just removed, lubed, and reinstalled rack & pinion and brass ball steering cable on '69 120 hp OMC electric shift. Worked fine out of boat (17' Thompson bowrider). Back in boat, however, left turns over 10 mph are very stiff and cause cable to creak. Am wondering about two things that might be cause:<br /><br />1. Rack length forces cable to make very sharp bend due to limited space. This is obviously a replacement steering system since cable is a couple feet too long. Wondering if original had rotary helm, allowing more gradual cable bend.<br /><br />2. Could this be a torque tab adjustment issue?<br /><br />Any suggestions? Replacements are difficult to find and very expensive.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Steering Left Hard at Speed

Torque tab issue. Adjust it and see what happens. It is a zero cost repair.<br /><br />Bob

 

[BlackSmoke]

Re: Steering Left Hard at Speed

Well, I think I ruled out the torque tab. I readjusted it, took the boat out, and really didn't notice a lot of difference. On the way back in, I slowed down from WOT to no-wake speed and noticed I'd lost steering control completely. Haven't taken it apart, yet, but suspect I need a new cable.

 

[BlackSmoke]

Re: Steering Left Hard at Speed

Yup, that was the problem. Cable broke, but not at sharpest bend immediately out of rack where I thought. It broke just inside the transom, probably aggravated regularly by tilt. I'm just thankful the outdrive didn't go wild when it finally broke, since I was at WOT.