outboard motor won't turn

[Sandybar]

The steering wheel will not turn my outboard motor. What is the most likley culprint? Is the cable kinked or is the cable frozen shut? I cannot budge the motor or the steering wheel. I have use a bit of leverage to try and move the motor but no luck. Any advice out there?


Thanks in advance.

[skybuster]

Probably need a new steering cable. How old is the cable in the boat now though? I was told that they should last 15 years, but I had a boat with a design flaw that caused the cable to go bad after only 3 years.

Steering cables aren't that difficult to replace.

[jimh]

You could try disconnecting the cable to make sure the motor will turn without it. Then straighten the cable to see if it is kinked. You should also check to see if the linkage has multiple parts that slide. In other words, does it have a rod that slides in a sleeve and that is stuck or is the cable stuck. If yes, maybe only one part is stuck and the problem is simpler. Penetrating oil may be enough to loosen the cable.

[KChookem]

I and one of my friends have 1997 Honda 90's, and we both had a problem where the grease hardens in the steering tube that runs across the front of the motor (steering cable runs inside the tube).

When my friend called his boat mechanic, he was told to use a penetrating oil like WD40 and soak it good. Then take a 2x4 and big hammer and give it a couple of Hard whacks on the end of the shaft that runs in & out of the steering tube. That worked for him.

My first Steering problem was several years before the above episode. I noticed that my steering would be hard when the boat was first put in the water, but would loosen up some when on the water (and in use). However, one day it froze up solid at the ramp. When the cable went out a second time, I literally tore the cable apart and found that grease had worked itself halfway up the 19-ft length of the cable, and the grease simply dried and hardened to the point it bound up. FYI - the construction of these steering "cables" is very interesting. The actual cable was stainless steel and had no corrision. The SS cable is tightly encased in a slippery-plastic type material, and the SS cable moves inside this first layer. That initial covering/sheath is tightly encased in several other layers of sheathing (therefore, virtually no room for expansion due to grease, etc.).

I no longer use grease to lubricate the steering, instead just use lubricating oils, either a special oil to lubricate steering, or I spray WD40 on the SS shaft that runs in & out of the steering tube.