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Author Topic:   frozen steering fixed (for now)

kgregg posted 07-31-2003 07:59 AM ET (US)
The teleflex steering on my 1991 Outrage 19 has been getting quite frozen in recent weeks and really giving me some grief. Last night, I managed to free it completely with careful application of a hammer and liberal application of white lithium grease. I hope this fix lasts a while. I'm hauling boat to NC Outer Banks on Sat for a week long vacation. How long has your steering stayed un-frozen after you fixed it? Any other ideas? Thanks, Kevin

wayne baker posted 07-31-2003 09:33 AM ET (US)
I had one on a 17' kew west a few years ago that stuck. After getting it moveing again I thought I had won. A few weeks later it took a good tug on the wheel to get it to move. I made it the rest of the summer by turning the motor form side to side as I passd by it in the yard. If you could get the cable out of the tube and clean the tube and cable of that old grease you would probably be fine. I would try getting the tube as far out as possible, clean the poriton of the rod you can get to, and inside the tube as far as you can. spray penetrating fluid and work back and forth. clean it off and reaply your grease. Sounds like a lot but you could do this in an hour.Good luck with the cable.
David T posted 07-31-2003 02:59 PM ET (US)

I had a teleflex cable snap during a hole shot earlier this summer.
If you have had enough corrosion to freeze up the cable, I would think seriously about replacing it. You can get replacement cables from west Marine for $120. It took me about 30 minutes to do the swap.
I'm glad it happened where/when it did - I was able to chop the throttle and stop before I hit anything. I hate to think of what could have happened had I been going through the piers or through a bridge at speed.
There had been no indication that there was anything wrong before this. The cable parted about 3 feet from the motor inside the sheath. There was no crimping etc. of the outer sheath, nor any indication of damage visible from the outside. I had greased the system routinely - but the break happened well away from where the grease fitting is.
As far as I know, the cable was original to the boat, which is a 1990 with a 150hp Merc.
jstachowiak posted 07-31-2003 03:18 PM ET (US)
Once a cable gets to the point of freezing its best to replace. My dad's Grady-White cable froze and he unstuck it and a couple weeks later it broke on me 6 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. Try steering a 175 Yamaha by hand and idle all the way back in August in Florida. $120 well spent.
Taylor posted 07-31-2003 03:27 PM ET (US)
Can anyone comment about how long it might take to change a teleflex cable. Is this an afternoon project? What are the tricky parts or gotchas?
Taylor posted 07-31-2003 03:28 PM ET (US)
Sorry, David, I missed the 30 minute reference. Is it really that quick?
Bigshot posted 07-31-2003 03:31 PM ET (US)
What boat? If you can unscrew the nut at the engine and get the cable out without moving the engine back off the transom, job could take 10 minutes to an hour. You just undo the cable from the helm the same way and turn the wheel until the cable comes out. Then insert the new cable into the helm and turn wheel to feed it back in. Run cable through tunnel and connect to engine and VOILA!
Personally I like to replace the helm with the cable, only costs about $35 more.
David T posted 07-31-2003 06:57 PM ET (US)
Yeah, it really was that quick.
Undo the nut at the pivot tube, disconnect the linkage and pull out. Unscrew the nut at the helm and spin the cable out.
Put a messenger on the old cable to use to pull the new cable and pull it out.
The cable is stiff and you have to plan ahead whether you run it before or after you attatch to the motor, but it is just 2 nuts at one end and threading it back into the helm to reinstall.
Honestly, 30 minutes start to finish.
Bigshot is right, the kits that include the helm are really not that much more expensive than the cable itself - note that the length is stamped right on the outside of the sheath so you can order the right size.
ratherwhalering posted 07-31-2003 07:15 PM ET (US)
Its easier to connect the new cable to the engine, then run it up the tube, then connect to the helm. This makes sliding the steering arm into the piviot tube easier because you have more cable to work with.
simonmeridew posted 07-31-2003 07:20 PM ET (US)
Do you re-use the sheath or get a new one?
What's the special grease fitting nut called that you can get that fits on the motor side of the steering rod assembly? and how does it work?
Just looking ahead to try and postpone the inevitable.
simonmeridew
kgregg posted 07-31-2003 09:09 PM ET (US)
Replacing entire Teleflex cable seems to be right way to fix the problem. What length will I need for 19 ft Outrage? Cable makes several turns between outboard and helm.
simonmeridew - the nut you mention has a zerk fitting (think that is what it is called) on it. You can attach grease gun to it and squirt grease into cable assembly. Seems like a good solution. Kevin
adaps4 posted 07-31-2003 11:36 PM ET (US)
Just get a Zerck(?) fitting for the end. Shoot some grease every now and then, and don't even worry about it. I find it hard to believe the cable would just snap unless it was twisted on reinstall. Of course, I runa 40, not a 175 so it probably gets a little more of a workout with that engine.
Whalerdan posted 08-01-2003 04:27 AM ET (US)

It should be a very quick job....
When I replaced mine the housing for the helm was slightly different than the old one. With the thickness of the console and stearing flange the bolts where the wrong lenght. The old ones were too short and the new ones too long. I would have cut the long ones down but the threads only went down about 1/2 inches so that wouldn't work. By the time I figured all this out and went to the hardware store and got the right ones it took 2-3 hours.
Just my experience.
Danny - With no hat on.

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Author	Topic: frozen steering fixed (for now)
kgregg	posted 07-31-2003 07:59 AM ET (US) The teleflex steering on my 1991 Outrage 19 has been getting quite frozen in recent weeks and really giving me some grief. Last night, I managed to free it completely with careful application of a hammer and liberal application of white lithium grease. I hope this fix lasts a while. I'm hauling boat to NC Outer Banks on Sat for a week long vacation. How long has your steering stayed un-frozen after you fixed it? Any other ideas? Thanks, Kevin
wayne baker	posted 07-31-2003 09:33 AM ET (US) I had one on a 17' kew west a few years ago that stuck. After getting it moveing again I thought I had won. A few weeks later it took a good tug on the wheel to get it to move. I made it the rest of the summer by turning the motor form side to side as I passd by it in the yard. If you could get the cable out of the tube and clean the tube and cable of that old grease you would probably be fine. I would try getting the tube as far out as possible, clean the poriton of the rod you can get to, and inside the tube as far as you can. spray penetrating fluid and work back and forth. clean it off and reaply your grease. Sounds like a lot but you could do this in an hour.Good luck with the cable.
David T	posted 07-31-2003 02:59 PM ET (US) I had a teleflex cable snap during a hole shot earlier this summer. If you have had enough corrosion to freeze up the cable, I would think seriously about replacing it. You can get replacement cables from west Marine for $120. It took me about 30 minutes to do the swap. I'm glad it happened where/when it did - I was able to chop the throttle and stop before I hit anything. I hate to think of what could have happened had I been going through the piers or through a bridge at speed. There had been no indication that there was anything wrong before this. The cable parted about 3 feet from the motor inside the sheath. There was no crimping etc. of the outer sheath, nor any indication of damage visible from the outside. I had greased the system routinely - but the break happened well away from where the grease fitting is. As far as I know, the cable was original to the boat, which is a 1990 with a 150hp Merc.
jstachowiak	posted 07-31-2003 03:18 PM ET (US) Once a cable gets to the point of freezing its best to replace. My dad's Grady-White cable froze and he unstuck it and a couple weeks later it broke on me 6 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. Try steering a 175 Yamaha by hand and idle all the way back in August in Florida. $120 well spent.
Taylor	posted 07-31-2003 03:27 PM ET (US) Can anyone comment about how long it might take to change a teleflex cable. Is this an afternoon project? What are the tricky parts or gotchas?
Taylor	posted 07-31-2003 03:28 PM ET (US) Sorry, David, I missed the 30 minute reference. Is it really that quick?
Bigshot	posted 07-31-2003 03:31 PM ET (US) What boat? If you can unscrew the nut at the engine and get the cable out without moving the engine back off the transom, job could take 10 minutes to an hour. You just undo the cable from the helm the same way and turn the wheel until the cable comes out. Then insert the new cable into the helm and turn wheel to feed it back in. Run cable through tunnel and connect to engine and VOILA! Personally I like to replace the helm with the cable, only costs about $35 more.
David T	posted 07-31-2003 06:57 PM ET (US) Yeah, it really was that quick. Undo the nut at the pivot tube, disconnect the linkage and pull out. Unscrew the nut at the helm and spin the cable out. Put a messenger on the old cable to use to pull the new cable and pull it out. The cable is stiff and you have to plan ahead whether you run it before or after you attatch to the motor, but it is just 2 nuts at one end and threading it back into the helm to reinstall. Honestly, 30 minutes start to finish. Bigshot is right, the kits that include the helm are really not that much more expensive than the cable itself - note that the length is stamped right on the outside of the sheath so you can order the right size.
ratherwhalering	posted 07-31-2003 07:15 PM ET (US) Its easier to connect the new cable to the engine, then run it up the tube, then connect to the helm. This makes sliding the steering arm into the piviot tube easier because you have more cable to work with.
simonmeridew	posted 07-31-2003 07:20 PM ET (US) Do you re-use the sheath or get a new one? What's the special grease fitting nut called that you can get that fits on the motor side of the steering rod assembly? and how does it work? Just looking ahead to try and postpone the inevitable. simonmeridew
kgregg	posted 07-31-2003 09:09 PM ET (US) Replacing entire Teleflex cable seems to be right way to fix the problem. What length will I need for 19 ft Outrage? Cable makes several turns between outboard and helm. simonmeridew - the nut you mention has a zerk fitting (think that is what it is called) on it. You can attach grease gun to it and squirt grease into cable assembly. Seems like a good solution. Kevin
adaps4	posted 07-31-2003 11:36 PM ET (US) Just get a Zerck(?) fitting for the end. Shoot some grease every now and then, and don't even worry about it. I find it hard to believe the cable would just snap unless it was twisted on reinstall. Of course, I runa 40, not a 175 so it probably gets a little more of a workout with that engine.
Whalerdan	posted 08-01-2003 04:27 AM ET (US) It should be a very quick job.... When I replaced mine the housing for the helm was slightly different than the old one. With the thickness of the console and stearing flange the bolts where the wrong lenght. The old ones were too short and the new ones too long. I would have cut the long ones down but the threads only went down about 1/2 inches so that wouldn't work. By the time I figured all this out and went to the hardware store and got the right ones it took 2-3 hours. Just my experience. Danny - With no hat on.