Disconnect the rack or remove the cable end from the rotary gear. His books include Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual, and the recently updated This Old Boat, the bible for do-it-yourself boaters. He is also a certified marine technician and the author of a popular text on writing local history. If the cable end comes out of the tilt tube and this fixes the problem, then clean the tilt tube, lubricate the cable end with marine grease, and reassemble the steering. Next, find a rope that will be used to assist you in pulling the cable back through the boat. Replacing a boat steering cable can be challenging, but it's a repair that is totally doable for the mechanically-inclined boat owner. Control cables that are really difficult to remove and install make a strong case for replacement rather than the band-aid repair of lubrication, but if your cables are accessible, lubricating can be an expenditure-deferring alternative. OMC made LH worm gears and RH worm gears. Inspecting & Replacing Your Boat Steering Cable - Marine Parts Source If you put a zerk-nut on the tube, lube it with either the special lube supplied, or 5w-30 synthetic oil, and you'll be good. Learn More. Tie a rope to the helm end of the cable then pull the cable through from the engine end. To lubricate the entire cable, you must remove it from the boat. What you would do is remove the clevis pin on the end of the steering cable. Unbolt the steering tilt tube (the steering link arm) from the outboard motor using a 9/16-inch socket wrench. Simply disconnect the cable from the steering helm and from the engine using a wrench to loosen bolts that are holding it. On slow speed, run the cleaning rod through the tube. Once you have the floor up you will see the steering cable a tube that the cable goes through that needs to lubricated. In this video we look at a boat with stiff push-pull cable steering on the outboard. I installed the cable buddy system, hoping … It's best to replace cable and helm at the same time, the kit is only a few dollars more than the cable itself. He and his wife cruise aboard their 30-footer part of the year in the eastern Caribbean. Re: How do I lube the steering , 280 sterndrive that happened to mine. Replace the steering cable if the cable nuts on both ends are tight. Lubricants applied to the ends of the cable tend to penetrate only a short distance, often failing to deliver any meaningful benefit. I dropped it off at my local marine shoppe, and they call later and tell me it was too corroded to reuse. Some high-performance boat/engine combinations (with maximum speeds above 50mph) cannot tolerate this amount of play, and develop high … Learn the basics about tuning up an inboard boat motor with a point ignition system. You have an outdrive with the opposite worm gear in the upper gear housing to the helm assembly on the boat. Poke a hole through the center of the reinforced area and use it to hang the bag so that the cable hangs down vertically its full length. Davis Cable Buddy is a complete steering cable lubrication system that works on inboards, outboards, and inboard/outboard steering cables. Works on inboard, outboards, and inboard/outboard steering cables. Grease the cable end. Thread a piece of extra fine sandpaper into the rod from a firearm bore cleaning kit, attach the rod to a drill and put the tube into a bench vise to hold it tightly. Remove both cable nuts and the old steering cable and sheath, leaving the old mounting brackets along the side of your boat in place. With all the other maintenance you do on your boat, don't wait until the boat's cable steering begins to tighten up before you lubricate the point where the steering cable interacts with the motor. Next, thoroughly clean the links and the inside of the steering tube with a wooden dowel with a solvent soaked rag wrapped around it. Don Casey has been one of the most consulted experts on boat care and upgrades for 30 years, and is one of the BoatUS Magazine's panel of experts.