Steering froze up

General Boats and Motors
1

Had not been able to use the old 79’ Mckee since Jan and tried to take the wife to Deveaux on Memorial Day and when she tried to back it off the steering would not turn. Could not even turn it with her turning the wheel and me pushing motor with my foot.It worked fine last time out and I had cranked it several times but never thought to work the steering—Duh. Can anyone help with info on where to start on un freezing it? Thanks for any help!

2

Take the linkage off of the end of the steering rod, then remove the cap off of the steering tube. Spray with lots of penetrating oil and wait. Then get someone turning the steering wheel while you pound away with a hammer and a block of wood over the end of the steering rod.

You’ll probably have to loosen up the cable end nut also and spray some penetrating oil in that end as well. Once you get it freed up, pull the steering cable all the way out and sand the inside of the steering tube or use a good bore brush and clean it out real good.

Then all you have to do is grease it all back up with a good quality marine grease and put it back together. Its gonna be a lot of work, but everybody who plays in the salt is gonna have that experience once in a while.

'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki

3

What he said. Then look into purchasing one of these:
http://www.steersman.com/html/whatitdoes.html

4

Yeats ago I found a fast way to free up those cables. The trick is not to push or pull but to twist. Grab the cable with a pair of vice grips or pipe wrench and twist it back and forth a few time and you are back in business.

ZX

5

Thanks for all the info guys!

You can’t catch fish on a dry line

6

Once a steering cable starts “freezing up” it only gets worse.
Time to replace it.

7

careful not to strip your helm while wrenching back and forth with the steering wheel…I made that mistake after RussB helped me “unfreeze” my steering…luckily replacing the helm on my boat was a snap…

The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org

8

Thanks Bonzo, as my bride had the pressure on it Memorial Day, she was not happy, so I had to come home and unload,pull the Seahunt out,reload and start over, thankfully it had no problems,but she still wants the Mckee fixed as its easier to get in and out of for her at Deveaux"s.

You can’t catch fish on a dry line