Steering cable stuck?

[woodlin]

Just wanted to let everyone know what worked for me on several boats in the past (1994 American Skier, 2004 mobius lsv and my current 2005 Mobius LS). I did not want to spend the money on a new cable so I took matters into my own hands. I took the cable out of the 1994 and the lsv but I found it to hard to do on the LS, so I did it with cable in the boat. On all of the boats I could still turn the wheel but it was tight. This is the procedure. Remove what is necessary to access the cable at the rudder. On the LS I removed the back storage pannels and was able to get a wrench in-between the tank and seat. Take the cable loose from rudder it's a 9/16 bolt. Take the cable out of the support bracket also. I think it's about a 1'' nut. Slide the cable out of the bracket. You will then have the cable loose at the back. Take a 3 to 4 foot piece of 3/4'' Hose. I used a heater hose from a auto parts store. Slide the hose over the cable until it gets to the plastic part of the cable. Put 2 hose clamps on the hose where it meets the plastic. Fill the hose with oil. Do not use oil that is thick. I used 50% marvel mystery oil and 50% auto transmission fluid. Stick a air hose with a blower attachment to the other end and hose clamp it on also. Pressure up the hose. This is forcing fluid through the cable. Move the steering wheel back and forth. This may take a while. I had to let one set overnight pressured up. Make sure to put a towl under your steering wheel because when the fluid makes it's way up the cable it will drip from the rale at the steering wheel and get on the carpet. You will need at least 90 psi of pressure. This is worth a shot It can save lots of time and $.

[moombadaze]

welcome to moomba-what a first post, very interesting

[btoller]

Just wanted to let everyone know what worked for me on several boats in the past (1994 American Skier, 2004 mobius lsv and my current 2005 Mobius LS). I did not want to spend the money on a new cable so I took matters into my own hands. I took the cable out of the 1994 and the lsv but I found it to hard to do on the LS, so I did it with cable in the boat. On all of the boats I could still turn the wheel but it was tight. This is the procedure. Remove what is necessary to access the cable at the rudder. On the LS I removed the back storage pannels and was able to get a wrench in-between the tank and seat. Take the cable loose from rudder it's a 9/16 bolt. Take the cable out of the support bracket also. I think it's about a 1'' nut. Slide the cable out of the bracket. You will then have the cable loose at the back. Take a 3 to 4 foot piece of 3/4'' Hose. I used a heater hose from a auto parts store. Slide the hose over the cable until it gets to the plastic part of the cable. Put 2 hose clamps on the hose where it meets the plastic. Fill the hose with oil. Do not use oil that is thick. I used 50% marvel mystery oil and 50% auto transmission fluid. Stick a air hose with a blower attachment to the other end and hose clamp it on also. Pressure up the hose. This is forcing fluid through the cable. Move the steering wheel back and forth. This may take a while. I had to let one set overnight pressured up. Make sure to put a towl under your steering wheel because when the fluid makes it's way up the cable it will drip from the rale at the steering wheel and get on the carpet. You will need at least 90 psi of pressure. This is worth a shot It can save lots of time and $.

I am new to this forum and trying to change the steering cable on my 2005 Supra. I have everything taken apart, except for the large retaining nut...How the heck did you get this off? What tool did you use? I cut a larger wrench in half in order to maneuver around the tight space, but still unable to release the nut. Any secrets or hints? Thanks!

[Ian Brantford]

I am having the same problem right now. How do you free this nut? This is a long weekend coming up with fantastic weather forecast. I am getting desperate to complete this repair.

[btoller]

Hi Ian -

Once we figured out how to get the retaining nut off, it was easy sailing. I finally found a hint on a Tige' forum.
Instead of trying to loosen and remove the retaining nut while under the motor, I found it WAY easier to remove the bracket that holds the steering cable to the bottom of the boat. Then pull the the whole cable, including the nut and arm attached to the cable, through the front of the motor. Then once you have the cable, nut and arm out from under the motor, you can release the nut. It takes a long reach to remove the bracket from the bottom, you'll need a long socket wrench arm to remove the bracket. But it's impossible to loosen the nut while its still attached to the bracket.

[kaneboats]

Stick a air hose with a blower attachment to the other end and hose clamp it on also. Pressure up the hose. This is forcing fluid through the cable. Move the steering wheel back and forth. This may take a while. I had to let one set overnight pressured up. Make sure to put a towl under your steering wheel because when the fluid makes it's way up the cable it will drip from the rale at the steering wheel and get on the carpet. You will need at least 90 psi of pressure. This is worth a shot It can save lots of time and $.

That idea blows! :o

[Jet]

I have done a similar thing on my buddies Mali. I took the steering cable/box off of the back of the wheel turned it upside down and drilled a small hole and added a 1/2 can of mystery oil to it and let it sit overnight and BAM! Done. Saved $180 on the cable and $700 in labor. lol Yep, as long as you can get some oil in there your good. Not sure if they seal them now to keep it lubed or they seal it to keep us out and to have to buy a new one??

[Ian Brantford]

Hi Ian -

Once we figured out how to get the retaining nut off, it was easy sailing. I finally found a hint on a Tige' forum.
Instead of trying to loosen and remove the retaining nut while under the motor, I found it WAY easier to remove the bracket that holds the steering cable to the bottom of the boat. Then pull the the whole cable, including the nut and arm attached to the cable, through the front of the motor. Then once you have the cable, nut and arm out from under the motor, you can release the nut. It takes a long reach to remove the bracket from the bottom, you'll need a long socket wrench arm to remove the bracket. But it's impossible to loosen the nut while its still attached to the bracket.

Thanks for the reply. I was getting ready to do exactly this a few hours ago, but couldn't quickly find the right socket for the bracket and ran out of time before work. I'll give it a shot this evening.

What did you use to securely hold the arm without crushing it? The bracket is made to do this, but the bottom half of it will be stuck in the bilge. It will take a heck of a squeeze to hold the arm while loosening the nut.

[Ian Brantford]

DONE! Finally, it's done!. That took many attempts to free that nut. I tried wrapping rubber around the arm so that pliers would not crush or scrape it. Minor damage ensued, but the job is done.

Thanks for the help.