Quick question? Steering linkage

[Sroc]

There is a linkage I’m not sure exactly what it does but a rubber boot at the end of said linkage has come off and the linkage is freely moving I put the rubber boot back on which was a PIA and secured it with a zip tie I believe I was given that recommendation here from this site? I wanted to check with the greater hive to make sure this is an appropriate fix and what the exact linkages is and is this a common occurrence? I have a 2021 252SD
TIA

 

[Dixemon]

Thats your steerage linkage. Also that solid brass looking tube shouldn't come out of the through hull transom attach fitting. I wonder if some how the cable was over extended disloging that guide? If you found the boot off after being on the water, i would be concered about corrosion due to water intrusion in your cables. There are a few different methods of flushing, lubeing those cables on the forum. Might be worth looking into, cosidering cables are hard to come by right now.

 

[jamesk]

I am dealing with this right now, tried to lube my cables and that was worthless and could not get any oil in.
I have new cables on the way as my steering became very difficult and did not want it to lock up on the water.
What I wanted to tell you that is more specific to you.....I was able to slide off both of the (2) rubber boots on each cable.....one cable, the "outer tube"....the part between the 2 rubber boots, spins freely while the other side does not....thinking maybe this is broken lose and maybe that is where I got water or debris into my line....won't know until I get it all apart. Seems like the boot you have the zip tie on needs another one over the "tube" as well. Where as the boot that is further away needs to be "lose" so the inner cable can slide in and out of the "tube". Hope that makes sense what I am saying. Anyway, as the cable moves in and out water is going to get in and I think that is just the way it is.

 

[Beachbummer]

The steering cable generally locks up from rust and sitting over the winter, and improves a bit with use. (It can certainly break during use if it's binding, but you can lather the 2 ends with lubricant and move the wheel end to end to loosen the whole thing and make it usable again before you give up on it. If you get it soft and moving you are probably pretty safe, but there's always a risk. Mine has locked up a few times and I can always free it this way, but I'm in brackish water that is not as corrosive as real salt water.)

If you feel adventurous, you can even disconnect the cable from the steering and rear gate and push and pull beyond the normal travel boundary to allow the grease to enter further into the jacket.

Hopefully you get your cable soon and can return to the water, Best of Luck!

 

[jamesk]

So to finish my story....
I tried to lube the cables and could not get any oil into them.
I went and just replaced them with a new cable set.
After, I decided to cut the old cables apart, they are more complicated than I had expected.
I would describe them as an outer sleeve made from plastic with metal strands followed by and internal sleeve.....all (1) part.
The part that moves inside of that tube, seems to have a plastic coating on the outside followed by internal cables/ strands.
I was expecting just a plastic tube with 1 cable running through it.

After I cut the end off both cables I tried to move them and they still were very hard to move....point I am making is that I don't think the failure was in the last 12" of the unit, it would appear it was somewhere between the steering wheel attachment black box and the last part of the cable before it exits the transom but not sure. I was surprised by this as well.

Hope I don't have to deal with this again, the cable was $400 and it took me a couple hours.
My boat sits in winter storage for 6 months and I can't access it in order to turn the steering wheel a few time in an effort to help prevent this.

2 other points, sroc posted a picture of the "linkage" coming lose at the little boot. Both my old and new cables, the linkage is attached (crimped) to the other part, the boot does not hold them together. I could not separate the old ones from this "crimp" connection.

Also, my new cables came with 2 washers.
My old cables had one washer on the outside of the transom.
The inside of the transom, there is no room for a washer.
In fact the fiberglass is (cut out) and the internal nut fits inside the fiberglass.
If that makes sense....there is a nut that fits in the fiberglass recess and that backs on to the (Metal plate , not sure what it is called) than a washer and nut on the outside of the boat.
Hope that helps if anyone has questions.

 

[Cambo]

older models had two separate cables, that made more sense mine did get tighter but not to the point that they failed. I did have a shift gate cable fail it was really tight. While I tried to lube it with a hose that I added oil to and put a schrader valve on the end and added air pressure. It would not loosen up while it was disconnected at both ends I did attach a drill and stated to rotate the cable this helped and it slowly was able to go faster and faster, the cable was moving more freely and it probably would have been 90% free. Then I went aggressive with the drill and switched it from forward to reverse and it turned a few times in reverse then snapped. The newer boats have a servo type electric controller that hooks to the shift gate cable I still have not seen anyone report a failure. It could be that the routing is very straight eliminating binding points. The servo controller does have a lever that disconnects the cable allowing the gate to be moved by hand. While the boat is wrapped for the winter I grab the gates and move them up and down to make sure they don’t seized same with the rudder I grab it and move it from side to side.

 

[Beachbummer]

As a general comment, The cables are a wear item. The newer boats have not seen it fail yet because they are new. Submerge any bare metal cable under water for 10 years, some are bound to bind.

You can extend their life with marine grease and feeding oil into the tube. Eventually if it binds more than you like, replace it. My steering cables were so rusted in place I ended up whacking at it with a 20lb weight and the right diameter and thickness tube/pipe to get it to move. The rest of the job seemed reasonably easy by comparison. Took me 5 tries over a few months to finally get it to give. Painful but worth it.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Where there is smoke often times people find fire.