If the motor pivots easily, then you have a problem in either the cable or the helm. The helm is the gearbox that the steering wheel bolts to. There are two types - a rack style or rotary. Rotaries are more common on outboards, it should be a round metal casting under the dashboard.
First - stop using the boat - if the effort is really high, a bad cable can result in you breaking a tooth off in the helm and then you'll need one of those too.
Try a few "free" fixes before you start throwing parts at it. Trim up the motor and you should see a greease fitting on the port side. This is not the two fittings on the tilt tube (wouldn't hurt to grease those too). As you pump grease in it, the old stuff should come out the top or bottom of the motor pivot.
Next, look at the routing of the cable - if there are tight bends, then they will be harder to turn over time. Look at the bend from the engine forward and from the helm over and down. Sometimes use and vibration will push the cable forward or aft resulting in tigh bends. Make sure nothing is tie-wrapped or attached to the cable and it can move freely.
There are 3 places where steering can get stuck:
1. Helm – if you disconnect the cable, the steering wheel should spin easily in either direction without limits
2. Engine – with the cable disconnected back here, the motor should pivot freely.
3. Cable – if it is not the engine or helm, then it is the cable.
To remove only the cable:
At the engine:
• Unbolt the arm from the shiny tube on the port side of the engine. It should be a nylock nut and a couple washers. Once the nut is off, you should be able to wiggle the threaded rod out of the tube.
• On the starboard side of the engine, the cable is secured with a large nut, loosen this completely.
• Do not loosen the remaining two nuts on the tilt tube – these are what hold the engine to the tilt tube.
• If the tilt tube is in line with the rigging hole in the side of the transom, you should be able to pull the cable straight back. If not, you need to lift the engine:
o No need to disconnect any of the gas lines, controls or wires – they will move with the engine.
o Park under a tree with a stout branch that can handle 300 lbs of weight (have a couple friends hang from it). Hook a come-along wire winch ($15 at Harbor Freight) to the lifting eye at the engine and another over the branch. Take the slack out of the cable. Make sure the cable is straight up and down.
o Make a note of which of the holes the engine is using so you can set the height the same afterwards.
o Remove the 4 nuts off the engine mounting bolts and push the upper two bolts into the transom so they are flush.
o Lift the engine a couple inches until you can pivot it away from the transom – just enough to align the tilt tube with the rigging hole.
o Pull the steering cable straight out and set the engine back on the transom, temporarily bolting it in place.
At the helm:
• There are two places on the starboard side of the helm to attach cables – make sure you note which one the cable comes out of. The other one is a spent cable tube that protects the excess cable.
• The cables are held in place with either no screws, one screw, or two screws. If one of these does not have a screw, there should be a bent pin alongside the cable. Pull that pin out and use it to push down in a hole where the cable enters the helm while pulling on the cable. It should pop right out. Remove the screw(s) on the other tube.
• Unwind the steering wheel to remove the cable.
Removing the cable from the boat:
• You need to tie a strong line around the helm side of the cable and tape it in place with electrical tape.
• Pull the cable out from front towards the rear.
• Leave the line in place – you will use this to re-install the new cable.
Getting the right cable:
• About 2’ from the helm side there should be a stamped part number filled in with white paint. It should say “Teleflex” or “Uflex” and then have a part number. If it is Teleflex, most will start with a SSC number and end with the cable length – SSC6115 is a 15’ cable.
• If you cannot read the serial number, measure only the black outer housing, add 18”, and round up to the next higher foot. If your black cable measures 11’, add 18” (12’6”) and round up to the nearest foot (13’). You would need to get a 13’ cable.
• If the cable is up to about 18” too long, you can make it work; too short and all the wishing in the world isn’t going to help.
Installing the cable:
• Start at the engine side, feed the helm side of the cable through the rigging hole in the transom and tie the cable to the line you left behind. Have one person push the cable and another gently pull the line. If it gets stuck pull the cable out slightly and try again.
• Eventually the cable end will be visible at the helm and you can grab it and pull it up. Untie the line.
• Feed the cable into the helm (do you remember which hole it came out of?) and start turning the wheel – it will start taking up the slack and eventually the black housing will enter the helm.
• If there were no bolts holding it in place, the housing should click and lock into place, otherwise secure with screws. Attach the spent cable tube to the other hole.
• This is probably a good time to clean the inside of the tilt tube. You can ball up a piece of scotchbrite pad and push it through the tube with a plastic hanger – back and forth a few times. Then repeat with some paper towels and a lump of grease.
• At the engine, you need to grease the end of the steering ram and insert into the tilt tube. If you had to lift the engine to get it out, you’ll need to lift it to get it back in.
• Tighten the nut on the end of the cable to the engine.
• Once in, immediately set it back on the transom. Seal where the bolts pass through the transom with 4200 sealant / adhesive and tighten the engine bolts to the transom.
• Reconnect the threaded rod (you might have to rotate the cable with a flat wrench so the hole lines up with the bolt, but should spin easily).
Pretty simple, should take about an hour if you have everything you need.
If you also want to change the helm (the metal thingy under the steering wheel), now would be a good time while you have everything apart.
Removing steering wheel:
• There should be a protective cover on the hub and often a small set screw holding it in place. Remove this.
• Remove the nylock nut and washer at the center of the steering wheel.
• The wheel bore fits over a tapered shaft. Spray a little PB Blaster on it and then gently tap on the back side with a rubber mallet while someone else is lifting. Rotate the wheel and repeat. If it is super corroded, you might need a steering wheel puller, but not likely. You can also put the nut back on ¾ of the way, put a socket over the nut, and hit it a couple times while someone else pulls up on the wheel.
• Once the wheel comes off, a small metal half-moon key will fall out.
• The trim ring is held on by 2 screws, remove this and the trim ring.
• There are 3 screws that hold a bracket to the console, and 3 screws that hold the helm to the bracket. Most kits give you a new bracket, so unbolt the helm first, remove it, and then the 3 bolts holding the bracket. Mine were rusted and ended up twisting the head off one. The kits come with all the new hardware.
• Assembly is reverse.
There are 2 types of rotary helms – traditional or No Feedback (NFB). The NFB design is great because it locks the steering so it does not pull the wheel when you let go. Costs a few bucks extra, but worth it. I also went from the regular 3 turns lock to lock to their 4.2 (actually 5 turns) lock to lock. Less effort and better feel on center.
Assuming you have rotary steering, I would recommend getting the NFB 4.2 instead of the Safe-T II system from Teleflex. Everything you need is in the kit: cable, helm, trim ring, all bolts and hardware including steering wheel nut and key. It is part number SS147xx where the XX is the length of the cable. They run about $200 for the kit and about $100 for just the cable.
