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Author Topic:   Montauk 170 steering cable maintenance

AZdave posted 02-18-2014 02:01 PM ET (US)
The steering on my Montauk 170 with the 90 HP Mercury four stroke is not actually stuck but is showing some stickiness. My search of this site suggests that there is an O ring on the port side of the tilt tube which prevents lubrication from that end unless the steering cable is removed from the tilt tube. This newer Montauk design has very limited exposure of the steering cable on the starboard side before it enters the hull. Some have posted that the motor must be moved and supported to change the cable. It appears that I will have very little potential clearance to retract the cable. It doesn't seem that I will be able to get the O ring out. Does anyone have thoughts on this subject? The Baystar hydraulic steering system is starting to look less expensive. It's hard to believe that the system would be designed in a way that turns normal maintenance into a major issue. Thanks. Dave
AZdave posted 02-22-2014 12:16 AM ET (US)
I did a limited service of the steering cable/tilt tube. It may be a "good enough" solution. I removed the steering link arm from the cable end. You may not have to do this, but it isolates the cable from the bearings on which the outboard turns for steering. You can then be assured that the bearings are not causing stiffness in the steering.
Next I removed the nut for the steering cable. You may find that the whole tilt tube will turn if the steering nut is tighter than the nuts at the ends of the tilt tube. Once the nut was disengaged I was able to pull the cable a little more than an inch to the starboard side. This is not enough to withdraw the solid rod from the tilt tube. Thus the port side o-ring can't be removed.
I then pulled the cable as far as possible to starboard and squirted PB Blaster on the solid part of the steering cable. I spun the wheel lock to lock a couple of times, pulled the cable out again and wiped the residue from the cable. I repeated this process several times. The steering seems to be much smoother, and I lubricated with grease and reassembled. I will provide an update after a couple of months.
The cleaning could be done a lot better if the cable were pulled out farther, but this would require cutting the cable ties connecting other wires and tubes to the steering cable. I think it might also be necessary to take the steering cable off the helm. I was not interested in doing that. I think any aerosol light oil would work to dissolve the old grease.
tmann45 posted 02-22-2014 08:08 PM ET (US)
WD-40 is an excellent solvent for old grease and other petroleum products. Just be sure to wipe off all of the WD and lubricate with an oil or grease.
macfam posted 02-23-2014 08:15 AM ET (US)
From your description, it sounds like the Steersman Nut would be the perfect solution.
http://www.steersman.com/html/whatitdoes.html
I have used these on several of our outboards. I currently have it on our 13 Super Sport with a 30 E-TEC used exclusively in salt water. They really work well and use very little grease. I always use the BRP waterproof grease(purple blue) and it goes season after season without taking it apart.
The o-ring on the port end keeps water out........and grease in.
AZdave posted 02-25-2014 10:24 PM ET (US)
I would agree with tmann45 that other spray oils or solvents would work well to remove old grease. I just wanted to name the product I used. Macfam, the Steersman nut sounds great. I found a number of treads relating to this. LHG and others say that the Steersman nut will not work without removing an existing "o" ring in the tilt tube itself. LHG's reply is several lines down in the thread.
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013524.html
Marsh posted 03-02-2014 07:00 PM ET (US)
I actually bought a steersman nut for just such a problem. Then I came to realized that I would have to remove my engine mount bolts, and tilt the engine away from the transom in order to gain the clearance needed to remove the steering arm and install the steersman nut. Thus, it still sits on my workbench three years later, while I continue to wrestle with stiff steering. But since I ran my boat less that an hour last summer, it is not much of an issue. Maybe this is the year. Maybe.
(Or maybe I need to sell it)

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Author	Topic: Montauk 170 steering cable maintenance
AZdave	posted 02-18-2014 02:01 PM ET (US) The steering on my Montauk 170 with the 90 HP Mercury four stroke is not actually stuck but is showing some stickiness. My search of this site suggests that there is an O ring on the port side of the tilt tube which prevents lubrication from that end unless the steering cable is removed from the tilt tube. This newer Montauk design has very limited exposure of the steering cable on the starboard side before it enters the hull. Some have posted that the motor must be moved and supported to change the cable. It appears that I will have very little potential clearance to retract the cable. It doesn't seem that I will be able to get the O ring out. Does anyone have thoughts on this subject? The Baystar hydraulic steering system is starting to look less expensive. It's hard to believe that the system would be designed in a way that turns normal maintenance into a major issue. Thanks. Dave
AZdave	posted 02-22-2014 12:16 AM ET (US) I did a limited service of the steering cable/tilt tube. It may be a "good enough" solution. I removed the steering link arm from the cable end. You may not have to do this, but it isolates the cable from the bearings on which the outboard turns for steering. You can then be assured that the bearings are not causing stiffness in the steering. Next I removed the nut for the steering cable. You may find that the whole tilt tube will turn if the steering nut is tighter than the nuts at the ends of the tilt tube. Once the nut was disengaged I was able to pull the cable a little more than an inch to the starboard side. This is not enough to withdraw the solid rod from the tilt tube. Thus the port side o-ring can't be removed. I then pulled the cable as far as possible to starboard and squirted PB Blaster on the solid part of the steering cable. I spun the wheel lock to lock a couple of times, pulled the cable out again and wiped the residue from the cable. I repeated this process several times. The steering seems to be much smoother, and I lubricated with grease and reassembled. I will provide an update after a couple of months. The cleaning could be done a lot better if the cable were pulled out farther, but this would require cutting the cable ties connecting other wires and tubes to the steering cable. I think it might also be necessary to take the steering cable off the helm. I was not interested in doing that. I think any aerosol light oil would work to dissolve the old grease.
tmann45	posted 02-22-2014 08:08 PM ET (US) WD-40 is an excellent solvent for old grease and other petroleum products. Just be sure to wipe off all of the WD and lubricate with an oil or grease.
macfam	posted 02-23-2014 08:15 AM ET (US) From your description, it sounds like the Steersman Nut would be the perfect solution. http://www.steersman.com/html/whatitdoes.html I have used these on several of our outboards. I currently have it on our 13 Super Sport with a 30 E-TEC used exclusively in salt water. They really work well and use very little grease. I always use the BRP waterproof grease(purple blue) and it goes season after season without taking it apart. The o-ring on the port end keeps water out........and grease in.
AZdave	posted 02-25-2014 10:24 PM ET (US) I would agree with tmann45 that other spray oils or solvents would work well to remove old grease. I just wanted to name the product I used. Macfam, the Steersman nut sounds great. I found a number of treads relating to this. LHG and others say that the Steersman nut will not work without removing an existing "o" ring in the tilt tube itself. LHG's reply is several lines down in the thread. http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013524.html
Marsh	posted 03-02-2014 07:00 PM ET (US) I actually bought a steersman nut for just such a problem. Then I came to realized that I would have to remove my engine mount bolts, and tilt the engine away from the transom in order to gain the clearance needed to remove the steering arm and install the steersman nut. Thus, it still sits on my workbench three years later, while I continue to wrestle with stiff steering. But since I ran my boat less that an hour last summer, it is not much of an issue. Maybe this is the year. Maybe. (Or maybe I need to sell it)