Stiff Steering - don't think it's the cable

[particlerealities]

A few months ago, I purchased a 2013 Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 18 DLX with a 60HP Mercury Bigfoot 4-stroke from my mother for a really nice price. She kept it in a lift during the boating season on a brackish river on the Gulf. I never got to drive it when it was new, but the steering is very stiff (takes two hands to steer it). I have greased the zerks that I can find. I removed the bolt connecting the end of the steering cable to the steering rod on the motor, and the steering wheel moved freely (so I assume it's not gunked up inside the steering tube). My fear is its the actual hinge mechanism. I've reached out to a couple mechanics, but none have called me back.

Is there anything I can do to further self-diagnose the problem? Or should I just replace the steering cable anyway? I'm a first time boat owner so this is all new to me.

 

[HotTommy]

Welcome. Pontoon boats have lots of different kinds of engines. But there is a forum here on iboats just for Mercury ouboard motors and their problems. Click here and you may get more and quicker answers.

 

[ahicks]

Engines that haven't been maintained real well often suffer pretty badly under the conditions you describe. Brackish can be as hard on them as salt water.

If the steering is free with that steering link removed/disconnected, the problem is not in the cable. It's on the engine side.

I think you'll find at least 1 more grease fitting in the area between the tilt mechanism and the engine itself. The issue you describe is likely in the area of that fitting. I'd grease the daylights out of that fitting, until you see it squirting out the ends, then try to work it in and see what happens.

Best of luck!

 

[MH Hawker]

+ 1

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

The grease in the swivel can harden over the years or lack of grease can cause corrosion - Both can lead to stiff steering.

If you pump and pump grease and it doesn't squirt out, try using a heat gun to warm and soften the grease until it oozes when pumping. Moving the motor from side to side while pumping can also help break the hard grease free.

 

[particlerealities]

Last weekend, I removed the steering cable from the tilt tube. There was one very minor area of pitting, about 2" long, but nothing major. The cable travels freely when removed from the engine. I shoved a bunch of clean t-shirt pieces through the tilt tube to remove the old grease. With the cable still removed, I tried turning the motor side-to-side. It wouldn't budge. After several tries, I finally got frustrated enough that I shoved on it really hard to the side, and it broke free and started turning. Seems there's a break-over point that it's hard to push past, but once you get it moving, the motor pivots relatively easily. It still takes more effort that I imagine it should (I doubt my wife could move it very easily). I pushed it side to side multiple times, then pumped more grease into it until it pushed out the top of the hinge. I repeated this multiple times. I never could get rid of the break-over point - is this normal with boat motors? Is there any way to know how much force is 'normal' to turn the motor?

I'm about ready to take it to a mechanic for diagnostics and service - just found out my mom never had the oil changed because Bass Pro told them not to change the oil until they reached a certain amount of hours, which they never reached prior to selling it to me...

 

[particlerealities]

In case someone stumbles across this thread, I ended up taking the boat to a local mechanic. He ended up fixing it by removing the grease fitting, heating the pivot tube and removing as much of the old grease as he could with compressed air. I believe he also lifted up on the motor slightly with a hoist to relieve pressure on the joint, which helped when he was pushing new grease into the pivot tube. Steers much more easily now.