Steering replacement

[weirdo0521]

Has anyone had to replace the steering cables? We have an 02' Outback LS. Steering is a problem this summer. Dealer said it could make the rest of the summer or go out completly tomorrow. Seems early for this to be a problem.

[BLKOUTLS]

If it is getting tight it will only get worse and much more stress on the dash area. It is time to replace it. Mine started to get tight last season and I put off doing it until the beginning of this season.I did it myself I would recommend 2 people and some time. Do you have a heater or factory ballast in the boat. It makes it a bit harder(alot )
Are you going to do it or have your dealer do it?

[JesseC]

I just replaced mine on my 02 LSV about a month or so ago. It was not that hard to do on the LSV, not sure how difficult it is on the LS, but our boats are the same year and my cable was definately shot! When we got the cable out of the boat, we could not work it by hand. The new one moved with no effort at all!!

Here is the thread where I replaced mine --> https://forum.moomba.com/viewtopic.p...406&highlight=

[weirdo0521]

If it is getting tight it will only get worse and much more stress on the dash area. It is time to replace it. Mine started to get tight last season and I put off doing it until the beginning of this season.I did it myself I would recommend 2 people and some time. Do you have a heater or factory ballast in the boat. It makes it a bit harder(alot )
Are you going to do it or have your dealer do it?

No heater or ballast, I was quoteds $600 to replace it. Lot of $ but it may be beyond my level of repair work.

[BLKOUTLS]

Sounds like roughly 6 hours of labor plus cable for 170 bucks .
JesseC my cable unfortunately had my heater lines,main wiring harness,depth finder wire all twisted around it. Add to it the cable and
wiring exit point under the dash was a tad undersized. I ended up having to remove and reinstall the heater lines ,depth wire and unforntuately make a small service hole in my ski lockers top edge to free the last of the tangles to pull to bad cable end up through. It took me about 13 hours
to do it. I also removed all my rear floor panels and trunck panels and
installed a second bilge pump in the rear while I had it open. So maybe I
will not have to do it again by keeping as much water and moisture away
so it does not penetrate the cable again. Also redid my packing . It was a
tough 2 days.

[JesseC]

Sounds like roughly 6 hours of labor plus cable for 170 bucks .
JesseC my cable unfortunately had my heater lines,main wiring harness,depth finder wire all twisted around it. Add to it the cable and
wiring exit point under the dash was a tad undersized. I ended up having to remove and reinstall the heater lines ,depth wire and unforntuately make a small service hole in my ski lockers top edge to free the last of the tangles to pull to bad cable end up through. It took me about 13 hours
to do it. I also removed all my rear floor panels and trunck panels and
installed a second bilge pump in the rear while I had it open. So maybe I
will not have to do it again by keeping as much water and moisture away
so it does not penetrate the cable again. Also redid my packing . It was a
tough 2 days.

That does not sound like you had a lot of fun. The LSV took about 2 hours and we stopped to go get beer and we did a session on the trampoline! Cost was about 160 for the cable. So a six pack of beer, soar neck from trampoline and 2 hours later the cable was done! Is the LS that much more difficult??

[Buttafewcoe]

Hopefully, while installing the cable, a liberal coat of marine grease was applied to the exposed ends. That will create a barrier to prevent water from getting inside the sheave and greatly extend the life of the cable.
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Hope this helps
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B