Replacing Helm Steering Control and Cable

[Jefecinco]

The time has come to replace the steering control and cable on our 1981 Sport 13 powered by a 2008 30 HP Mercury F30ELPT four stroke EFI engine. The engine has power tilt and trim.

The helm has become corroded and the cable is unsightly as it is too long. The steering wheel is slightly tilted.

My goal is to run the cable forward from the engine routing it beneath the starboard rail mounting and along the space between the seat riser and to the helm.

My measurement indicates an 8 foot cable is required but I'm not confident that is correct.

Please suggest the best replacements to use and the correct length of the cable as well as any tips to make the job go smoothly.

The throttle and shift cables to the side mount binnacle appear to be much longer than necessary as they are on the aft deck coiled in a large circle. I was looking into replacements and found Dometic Seastar Solution Xtreme cables which claim the cables require a turning radius of only 4 inches. Would installing the Xtreme cables make the large loops on the aft deck unnecessary? If so I will also be replacing them and possibly the binnacle.

Now that we a down to a single boat we want to make it as safe, pleasant to look at, and use as possible while enhancing the boats reliability.

[jimh]

I have seen some outboard engine remote control cables that originate parallel to the transom run past the engine and then formed into a 270-degrees loop to come back to the engine.

[Jefecinco]

That's interesting. I've never seen that arrangement. I assume all the supposedly excess cable is not necessisarily excess but required to accommodate the swing of the engine when the steering is turned lock to lock. I hope to find control cables which require the minimum space on our boat.

The control cables on the Sport 13 attach at the starboard side of the engine and the swing from steering lock to lock can't be much more than one foot to each side. The existing cables loops are about 19 inches in diameter. That's about five feet of cable and seems to be a good deal more than needed.

I hope someone who has done this job recently using updated cables will provide some useful advice.

[Jefecinco]

After spending a lot of time searching for information I've found that Dometic Seastar Teleflex Xtream control cables should have a minimum loop of 36 inches to enable proper steering movement. That's a huge improvement compared to the current cables which have a sixty inch loop. A smaller loop should be mostly out of the way coiled beneath the starboard side of the rear thwart.

I've been disappointed not to find more useful information on the installation of the "Xtreme" control cables.

I'm surprised not to have heard from the "usual suspects" on this matter.

[goldstem]

[M]y old 13's were rigged with the longer cables and the 270-degree turn back to the engine. [S]o were my friends’ [boats]. [T]his seemed to be the common approach in the [19]70's.

[A]lso, those old OMC engines had the throttle and shift cables on opposite sides of the engine.

[T]he “Xtreme” cables didn't exist back then, and tight loops would easily bind those old cables. [I] still tend to rig my engine this way, [but] not with as [large diameter] a loop as before.

[Jefecinco]

I'm trying to visualize the 270 degree turn back to the engine. Was the loop around the rear of the engine and above the transom? That does not pass my make sense test but many things are in that category.

[jimh]

Visualize: the remote control cables are run from the helm to the transom along the starboard side of the boat. At the starboard stern quarter they bend 90-degrees and are now running parallel to the transom. The cables run past the engine, and make a 90-degree turn toward the bow, then continue in a 90-degree turn to starboard, and end in a 90-degree turn to the stern. The cable then enter the rigging grommet on the engine. The three consecutive 90-degree turns are a 270-degrees (partial) loop.

[Jefecinco]

Jim - Thank you for that excellent explanation.