Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

[MajBach]

Hi All!! This is a hard one to do a search on and even my shop manual doesn?t cover it and I don?t want to proceed to take anything apart without at least a diagram. My Honda 90hp has been slowly been getting harder to steer ? nothing to do with the trim. Just out of the water, there is a lot of resistance in the steering wheel. Used to be, I could swing the motor left to right by hand ? even when vertical ? just by pushing on the cowling. Now, even with the motor trailered right up, gravity won?t even pull it to one side. Obviously, first thing I did was grease the two nipples ? as I do every year, but ZERO difference. I applied enough grease to expel the grease inside ? which was quite dark ? through the crack in the pivot joints. I then removed the control linkage from the push arm so that the motor was ?free? from the steering wheel and you could practically swing it side to side with a strong wind. So I then proceeded to remove the nut on the driver side of the motor that attaches the push arm from the steering wheel ? sort of looks like a brake line type fitting. Ok, so when I try an pull it apart to separate it from the motor, I can only go about 2/3s the way as I?ve run out room to pull it any further but what comes out from inside the pivot shaft of the motor mount is a large tube with a smaller diameter rod inside it. This smaller rod slides in and out of the larger as the wheel is turned. Anyone whose worked on this knows what I am talking about. Both shafts looked shiny but had only a thick film of old grease on them , requiring a rag and several passes to remove, and not an even coat either. There was no evidence of fresh grease. Even when I cleaned the shafts off and reinserted them and pulled back out, they looked the same. I did this several times. I then manually greased each rod. Surprisingly, once reassembled, it seemed slightly stiffer at the wheel. So whats my next step? And where is all the grease I am pumping through the nipples going aside from through the cracks. Anyone know where I can find a schematic of the motor mount?
Thanks a HEAP in advance.

 

[MajBach]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

Quick update:

After playing around with it some more, I've come to the conclusion the stiffness has nothing to do with the motor mount and shaft, rather it's the pushrod itself, i.e. the entire steering wheel assembly. Is this normal after barely 5 seasons for the sheathed pushrod to seize? Is there a way to lubricate it?

 

[zzzzz]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

you may have to dismount the motor to do it but you need to get the steering cable out of the tube on the motor(called the tilt tube) and ream out the tube-there is one made like a round file and a different one made like a wire brush that you put in a drill...using a good degreaser (put down a good layer of cardboard to catch the MESS !)run the brush in and out of the tube from both sides while squirting the degreaser on the brush and into the tube ...by the way- the 2 grease fittings aren't for the steering-they are for the motor swiveling and tilting

 

[MajBach]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

Thanks ZZzzz, that sheds a lot of light on the subject - I still think the cable itself is also a suspect. IF those grease points are for tilting, how does one grease the swivel?

 

[zzzzz]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

one zerk is for tilt and the other is for swivel...for parts diagrams go to the boats.net website and click on the Honda link under "shop for parts"...

 

[cymru]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

one zerk is for tilt and the other is for swivel...for parts diagrams go to the boats.net website and click on the Honda link under "shop for parts"...

Hi all,

I have a 2003 Honda BF90A with the steering frozen. I read all the mails I could find and went to work... After freeing the cable at the steering wheel and removing the large nut on the cable at the engine starboard side (looking from stern to bow), I still can't get the cable out at the rear. It withdraws about 3 inches from the tube and stops. The rod which connects to the swivel arm to swing the engine is stuck solid, yet the smaller diameter rod at the end of the cable withdraws a little. Why is that?

When I unscrewed the two nuts on the tube in the tilt hinge and started banging on the end of the rod, the tube started to exit, but the rod didn't move relative to it. Reading in a thread that the tube is supporting the engine, I stopped and screwed the two end bolts on again.

Can anyone direct me to a parts diagram of the steering mechanism to help me understand it? The boat lives in the water and I am trying to do this myself rather than rely on the local mechanics.

 

[kandil]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

You need to get a good shop manual if you want to do it your self!!

 

[cymru]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

You need to get a good shop manual if you want to do it your self!!

Will the steering mechanism be in the manual? I ask because I can't see any reference to that part in the Honda site.

An update.. after reading the posts I reluctantly bought a 1Kg hammer and whacked at the end of the rod (disconnected from motor) using a piece of wood in between. The thing got free, so I unscrewed the large nut on the cable and by rotating the wheel got the cable rod exposed. Removed the gunge, sprayed 3-in-1 and repeated several times. Then rescrewed and did the same for the piston.

Upshot is that it is now quite free, although it still has a point of hesitation at dead center, when the motor is in the mid position. Could this be caused by the weight of the motor when it is tilted for long periods?

 

[Nick on the Bad Habit]

Re: Stiff steering on Honda 75/90.

Re: Stiff steering on Honda 75/90.

The piston as you call it might be bent slightly. That can happen when to much force is used to install or removed from tilt tube. Try to remove the cable completely and clean both the inner and outer pieces and the inside of the tilt tube. Once cleaned re lubricate with water proof wheel bearing grease and re install.
Nick

 

[kandil]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

A shop manual or a technicians handbook covers every nut and bolt for that model

 

[cymru]

Re: Stiff steering on HOnda 75/90.

A shop manual or a technicians handbook covers every nut and bolt for that model

Thanks, I'll look out for one.