stiff steering

[gus]

hi i have a johnson 50hp motor and the steering has become stiff

it is a morse single cable system is it possible to take it apart and clean and oil or grease it and if so what is the proceedure an what oil or grease do i use.do i have to oil or grease the tube that comes through the outboard motor.

regards

scott robertson

[captcarb]

This usually means a new cable is in order if it is full of rust. Then keep it lubricated to prevent this from happening again.

Jim

[chris_lacey]

I have tried (unsucessfully) to free up a seized or seizing steering cable several times. I know their not cheap, but replace the cable.

[Techno]

Try taking out the OB end of the cable. The grease gets all gummy and hard, could be some corrosion too. With it like that try turning the wheel and see if that helps. Try a before you clean it and an after.

I took my no feed back apart and it was pretty easy. I've got a picture of the gazillion peices on my site. But even with so many pieces it goes back together one way, easy. The grease had flowed to the bottom over the years. I just used a hi temp grease. 2800* or something like that. The type doesn't matter a whole lot. Lithium I think is the preferred one though.

If you get it out of the boat it should turn out simple to disassemble.

You should have a grease fitting on that tube too. If I remember right the tube should be retracted when you grease it or you'll get hydraulic lock.