Steering cable lubrication 2015+

[cyclops]

Hi there, I have a 2015 242LS. Just dropped her back into the water for the season after installing my SeaDek everywhere (thanks guys for the group buy!!) and I noticed steering is tighter than last year. I’ve only had her for two of her years, but man I wish it was super smooth steering. There are plenty of videos of folks on YouTube forcing lightweight oil through steering cables, but my question is, has anyone tried it with a 2015+ boat that has the rack and pinion steering? Does it come apart so that you can do this? The part number for replacement is F3F-U1470-00-00.

If you haven’t done that, does anyone have a 1:1 aftermarket that isn’t the $400+ of OEM?

 

[Drexx3]

After seeing several posts on here about folks having to replace their steering cables I decided to do a little research. My thought was to try avoiding the same myself (down the line) and there’s a product called Dri-Slide that I had always used to lubricate the cables on my motorcycle. Never had to force the product into the jacket as it works by capillary action and will actually work its way through the entire cable. Good stuff.

anyway, I believe the steering system on the Yamahas is made by Sea Star and is a version of “The Rack” model. Took a while to find it but it looks like the cables are supposed to have lifetime internal lubrication. Sea Star does make a cable called Xtreme that looks to specifically allow for lubrication which is nice. Don’t know if they make a replacement version of the cable that specifically works on the Yamahas though.

 

[Cambo]

At the minimum during storage they should be moved every few weeks to keep them from seizing . I have always slipped on a tube with light weight oil in a hose and let it gravity feed mostly the boat is used in salt water the older 2005 lasted until sold in 2018 . Now I do the same with the 242x but do one side at a time and move the other with a 2x4 . The reverse gates can be disengaged from the e controller I have not lubed those yet but move them up and down to make sure they stay free.

 

[cyclops]

But has anyone tried to take that rack apart to get to the cables and lube them? Or do you push the lube from the jet nozzle side of the cable rather than from the helm??

 

[Cambo]

I lube from the jet side it worked to keep everything moving freely for years . I would apply air pressure and had the hose pop off and spray oil so I didn't want to attempt that on the interior by the steering box. I think the worst thing you can do, especially for salt water is let it sit all winter with no movement within 3-4 years it will fail

 

[MilesPrower]

But has anyone tried to take that rack apart to get to the cables and lube them?

The housing around the rack is crimped together with the cables, so there's no way to take it apart. I've attached photos of the rack removed from the pinion. (2019 Yamaha AR210.)

Stamped onto the housing: "Warning. Disassembly of this unit can lead to steering failure. Replace complete assembly."

Warnings like that have never really stopped me, but the stamped/folded/crimped steel construction is definitely preventing me from taking apart the rack housing and lubing my steering cables from the helm end.

One of my steering cables was frozen when I got my boat back from spring service, back in March, so I lubed both steering cables from the jet end, and that fixed the cable seizure. 100+ hours of salt-water boating later, I still have smooth, one-finger steering.

 

[Bayouwater]

The housing around the rack is crimped together with the cables, so there's no way to take it apart. I've attached photos of the rack removed from the pinion. (2019 Yamaha AR210.)

Stamped onto the housing: "Warning. Disassembly of this unit can lead to steering failure. Replace complete assembly."

Warnings like that have never really stopped me, but the stamped/folded/crimped steel construction is definitely preventing me from taking apart the rack housing and lubing my steering cables from the helm end.

One of my steering cables was frozen when I got my boat back from spring service, back in March, so I lubed both steering cables from the jet end, and that fixed the cable seizure. 100+ hours of salt-water boating later, I still have smooth, one-finger steering.

Can you elaborate a little on how to lubricate from the jet end? Thanks for any help.

 

[Cambo]

See below

 

[MilesPrower]

Can you elaborate a little on how to lubricate from the jet end? Thanks for any help.

The DIY Steering Cable Luber thread describes how to lubricate the cables from the jet end.

In my case, I used an air compressor with 75 psi of line pressure to force Moterex 75W90 Prisma ZX Gear Oil into the cables. I chose this particular gear oil because (a) I already had an open bottle of it for my motorcycles, and (b) even though I also have various cable lubes in my garage, the gear oil seemed like the best viscosity for this purpose. (Note that gear oil viscosity numbers are on a different scale than motor oil viscosities, so you can't make a comparison between 75W90 gear oil and something like 10W40 motor oil.)

If you have Cobra Jet Steering Fins installed, you might want to modify the fins so you can easily maintain your steering cables. I described in this post how to easily modify Cobra Jet Steering Fins so you can access the fasteners that hold the cables to the jets.

 

[drewkaree]

@MilesPrower when you did this, where does the excess come out? I know the cables go into the steering assembly, so does the lube come out from an opening in the assembly, and can you point it out? Going to look at how the fittings at the jet look to see if this needs to move up the list of things to do, and I'm trying to figure out how messy this could potentially be at the helm area.

@HangOutdoors did you see this thread as well?

 

[HangOutdoors]

I did. I sent @MilesPrower a Message about it as well, he hasn't responded. It looks like the only place for it to go would be you have to disconnect the black case from the bottom of the steering column and I would assume that the lube would come out of it then. Probably just wrap it up in a bag. to catch everything.

 

[MilesPrower]

@MilesPrower when you did this, where does the excess come out?

I didn't have any excess come out. Just in case, I did exactly what @HangOutdoors suggested — disconnected the rack from the rack-and-pinion steering assembly, and placed the rack into a big plastic bag. (I used a contractor trash bag.)

With my air compressor set at 75 psi, I'm guesstimating that I pushed 1 fl oz of gear oil into the first steering cable. When I checked the rack under the helm, no oil was coming out of that end. So I reassembled the rack-and-pinion and turned the wheel back and forth a bunch of times while I forced another oz of gear oil into the first cable. I then moved the compressor hose over to the second cable and pushed 2 fl oz into that one. At this point, the wheel was turning very easily, and as I turned it, a tiny bit of the oil dripped out of the first cable. The escaping oil looked relatively clean. Same with the oil that dripped out of the second cable once I had removed the compressor hose from that cable.

More than 200 hours after lubing the cables, my steering is still buttery smooth.

 

[drewkaree]

I didn't have any excess come out. Just in case, I did exactly what @HangOutdoors suggested — disconnected the rack from the rack-and-pinion steering assembly, and placed the rack into a big plastic bag. (I used a contractor trash bag.)

With my air compressor set at 75 psi, I'm guesstimating that I pushed 1 fl oz of gear oil into the first steering cable. When I checked the rack under the helm, no oil was coming out of that end. So I reassembled the rack-and-pinion and turned the wheel back and forth a bunch of times while I forced another oz of gear oil into the first cable. I then moved the compressor hose over to the second cable and pushed 2 fl oz into that one. At this point, the wheel was turning very easily, and as I turned it, a tiny bit of the oil dripped out of the first cable. The escaping oil looked relatively clean. Same with the oil that dripped out of the second cable once I had removed the compressor hose from that cable.

More than 200 hours after lubing the cables, my steering is still buttery smooth.

I'm assuming that turning the wheel works similarly to the power steering pump on a car, turning the wheel from lock to lock to force out air bubbles (although there's no reservoir on these), it helps to move the fluid through the cable, at least a little bit, right?

Does that assembly just unbolt from the helm, or is there any wiggling/removal process? It looked like a toothed area in there, like it mates to a gear or cog on the end of the steering wheel shaft, so to my eye, it looks like you'd unfasten the black assembly, and it would just drop down. Is it that easy?

 

[MilesPrower]

It looked like a toothed area in there, like it mates to a gear or cog on the end of the steering wheel shaft, so to my eye, it looks like you'd unfasten the black assembly, and it would just drop down. Is it that easy?

Yup, that easy. It just drops down once you loosen the screws.

The "toothed area" is the rack. The "cog on the end of the steering wheel shaft" is the pinion. Rack-and-pinion steering.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I cant get the oil to move at 80 psi

 

[drewkaree]

Yours kinda sounds like it's worse than the others I've been reading about, you might need to let it sit for a bit, and everyone seems to be at 70 psi or less.

Wondering if ATF might be better for you at first.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Gonna let it sit overnight at 70psi and see what happens

 

[HangOutdoors]

Hold the fortbi got movement

 

[HangOutdoors]

I am continuing the write up and where I am at in this thread.

2020 AR210 Stiff Steering | Page 2 | JetBoaters.net - The World's Largest Jet Boat Forum!

 

[cyclops]

Gonna let it sit overnight at 70psi and see what happens

Did you remove the rubber piece that keeps the water from getting into the cable? Made all the difference for me