Lose stearing on a boat

Next look at the rudder itself and the play in the shaft and tiller arm. I find the steering is very loose but not sure if this is typical.

How to get home when your boats steering fails you.

Lose stearing on a boat. Start by disconnecting the steering arm from the cables motorrudder end and turn the steering wheel. If the cable now moves freely you have an issue with the motor stern drive unit or rudder. If the cable does not move at all but the steering wheel freely moves then the problem is most likely at the helm.

HiCustomer a loose feeling on hydrolic steering means there is air in the hoses and the air must be bleed out adding fluid will not do alone. Check all hoses and fittings for leaks and repair or tighten then Go to a marine store and buy some Seastar steering fluid and filler hose that fits the top of the bottle and screws into the fitting under the small cap you were talking about. If theres any slack or give in the steering link between the end of the cable and the motor you have a real bad accident looking for a place to happen.

The bolt between the arm and the link is critical and its a special bolt dont substitute anything. What to Do If Your Boats Steering Fails. How to get home when your boats steering fails you.

I once steered a boat from 20 miles offshore through an inlet and then proceeded down a winding channel all the way to my marina. Some of you might think of this feat as no big deal. Have a friend hold the steering wheel tight while you stand behind the boat and swing the drive back and forth.

It should move very little. If you have excessive movement inspect the area at the top of the Gimbal Ring where the steering shaft passes through the gimbal ring and into the boat. Not sure if you have the standard Mercury pump or the billet Teague reservoir.

As for where the fluid went if its not in the bilge it might be leaking out of the rams you would have to run the boat in the driveway and cycle the steering back and forth to see if there are any leaks. Boat steering problems should be solved at the earliest opportunity ashore just like steering problems in the family car need to be fixed before going on a trip. Isolate the problem location.

Start at one end of the steering system usually the steering. The Achilles heel of any hydraulic or mechanical steering in a boat is when it fails you lose all control. With the Optimus actuator if power is lost you can still maintain control of your boat.

In the case of a complete power loss you can gain access to the. Remember that a steering system is one of only a few boat systems where what is known as a single point failure could be the cause for a total loss of steering control. An example might be the failure of a self-locking or nylock nut.

These nuts are supposed to be used only once. I just test drove a 1999 Searay 190 with 110 hours. The boat seemed great overall but the steering seemed loose in that the steering wheel had to be turned a couple of inches in either direction befo.

Youll need to find out exactly where the looseness isand it will take 2 people to do it. One to turn the wheel and the other to inspect all areas of the steering linkage. If the wheel is actually loose then taking the wheel off should expose a nut that may need to be tightened.

I have a 20 foot aluminum with an older Mercury 2 stroke outboard. I find the steering is very loose but not sure if this is typical. The very loose steering can allow the boat to get out of control fast if your hand slips on the wheel for even a half second.

Is there a way to tighten. Fix Sticky Steering on Inboard Engine Lake Boat - YouTube. Fix Sticky Steering on Inboard Engine Lake Boat.

If playback doesnt begin. Steering a car is one thing but steering a boat is an entirely different matterwhich is why we made a video about steering a new boat. But all the piloting abilities in the world wont help if your boats steering system fails.

This isnt as uncommon as one might think and often leads to a call for help. You will want to look at the tilt mechanism and the steering mechanism they develop play over time and tend to loosen up. Pull the rubber boot at the base of the steering wheel out of the way and tighten up the U joints and attaching screws to reduce the play in that area.

Next look at the rudder itself and the play in the shaft and tiller arm. Posted July 23 2009. Steering wheel being loose can be caused by a couple of things.

First make sure the nut holding it on is tight. Pop the center out of wheel and make sure the shaft is turning with the wheel and no free play there. If the wheel was loose the keyway may be beaten out and giving you too much play.

March 28 2019 at 732 am 1846546. When my Seastar leaked over an off season the cylindar drained down to the point that the motor turned under its own weight. The hydraulic fluid from the steering should be lighter weight and color and.

Those symptoms indicate one of two things. Either the steering arm is loose on the swivel shaft or more likely the the gimbal ring is loose and starting to ware. First thing you need to do is retorque the two gimbal ring clamping screws to 55 ft lb.

There are nuts on the them but you can get on them by turning the outdrive. The cables run to the control valve and the ram is what moves the lower end. The shiny thing is the ram and the dark thing is control valve thats where the cable from steering wheel goes.

At the end of the ram it attaches to the steering lever top picture where the pin goes into the lever and you may have play there where it is attached to the lower end square shaft. Watch for play there too mine was loose and. Grab hold of the cable where it exits the helm and hold firm with your fingers then turn the steering wheel.

If the helm and gears are OK the cable will move in and out and there will be practically no play at this point.