Steering locked up??? little help???

[Treefish]

The 115hp merc turns back and forth when the cable is disconnected.  I think the rod that runs througth the mount is frozen up.  I tried greasing it and gently tapping it with a hammer but no luck.  
Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jim

[RickK]

Have you tried pulling the end of the steering cable, the part that runs through the sleeve on the mount, out of the mount?  It should move in and out as you turn the wheel.  That's the part you attached the steering rod to. The cable itself is probably frozen up from grease buildup.  You might want to carefully try heat on that area.  To replace the cable you'll be going through these steps anyway if it's stuck in there.

[GoneFission]

Bigger hammer?      

 

       

See ya on the water!

[fnichols]

Try to buy a cable grease nut. They sell them all over, but Bobsmachineshop has them online for about 14 bucks. My cable steering froze up and I bought one of these. I installed it and squirted some grease then waited a day and did it again. By the second day it felt like new steering and never has given my a problem since.

[Treefish]

I wish I could fit a hammer that size in there; there's not enough space.  
I didn't want to have to resort to heat but that may be the only way; unless there's something else I haven't heard of.
???

[John Jones]

I have fixed a few of them for friends.  Some were so frozen that nothing but a hammer, heat, and a long rod would get them out.  Once out I use a gun cleaning kit with the brush to get the rust and hard grease out, as well as to grease it back up.  The nuts with the grease fitting won't do much if it's really frozen because you will blow the seal out of the nut way before you can move that old hard grease and rust.

[jdupree]

I had this happen on a 140 Evinrude before.  Unhook the steering cable first.  I took a big screwdriver and placed in the shaft and hammered it out.  It did not hurt anything.  Once you do this, get a cylindrical wire brush and clean out the cylinder with some sort of de-greaser.  Once you do this, coat the cylinder as best as you can with new grease and re-insert the shaft and hook the steering cable back up.

The lesson I learned from mine is to turn the steering wheel so the shaft is always out of the tube so it won't freeze up.

[Treefish]

thanks for the insight.  I'm gonna get at it.

Jim