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Boat Fishing & Boating A new forum at Striped-Bass.com for those fishing from boats and for boating in general

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Old 10-09-2021, 06:05 AM   #1
Rmarsh
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NFB steering problem

My steering is stiffening up pretty bad.....takes two hands....i grease it regularly and there are no signs of corrosion.... its not really that old. I'm going to get to the bottom of it or else.....going to check inside the tilt tube for dirty grease.....actually heard that too much grease can cause problems. I will also check on things at the helm. I cant see how i could be needing a new cable...but that could be the case.
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Old 10-09-2021, 07:03 AM   #2
Guppy
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Been there too many times… :-(

Pull cable out of the tube, ream tube out with 12 ga. Shotgun brush..

With the cable out, engine down, she should spin smooth as silk,,, raise the engine and find the grease zert under there that manages the upper and lower bearing…. Grease should come out of both…

My lower one is sticky… I’ve put the heat gun to it and has helped a little,,,

You can grease the top end by removing it from helm unit,,,

With all this said,,, I’m on my second or third cable in 8 yrs. …… :-(

BOATS
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Old 10-09-2021, 07:45 AM   #3
JFigliuolo
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Crazy... last boat was 18 yrs old. Original nfb. Smooth as butter
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Old 10-09-2021, 07:48 AM   #4
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Grease and lube has worked in the past, knock on wood... If it were to croak, I would likely go with hydraulic. Pricey, but would just have to budget for it.

“Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms.” – James Madison.
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Old 10-10-2021, 10:12 AM   #5
Rmarsh
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worked on finding the cause yesterday....engine swings freely with steering arm detached...so tried loosening the large nut that holds the steering cable into tilt tube.....was really tight and noticed the cable jacket was moving with it...not supposed to........no visable corrosion anywhere but maybe inside cable and jacket?. .....used a pipe wrench on the cable end so i wouldnt crush it and got the nut unstuck from it and then unscrewed from the tilt tube.... with a little effort....then couldnt pull it all the way out from the tilt tube to remove it without bending it....was hitting against the motorwell side....Ill have to unbolt the motor and slide it over a few inches.

I did all the installation originally....just dont remember doing that part.


From what I can tell its the cable....so im ordering a new one. I put it back together after cleaning and lubeing and its working a little better.
Tilt tube had dirty grease coming out with the rod....but wasnt stuck or tight and moving freely. I applied marine grade grease on the ram bar on a regular basis.


Like Guppy says....
BOATS
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Old 10-10-2021, 10:19 AM   #6
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Crazy... last boat was 18 yrs old. Original nfb. Smooth as butter
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Thats a good run....I keep my boat pretty clean and well maintained...or at least i thought i did.
One online mech said lack of use and too much grease is a cause ...so theres that.
Going to try a new cable and see how it goes
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Old 10-10-2021, 04:54 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rmarsh View Post
worked on finding the cause yesterday....engine swings freely with steering arm detached...so tried loosening the large nut that holds the steering cable into tilt tube.....was really tight and noticed the cable jacket was moving with it...not supposed to........no visable corrosion anywhere but maybe inside cable and jacket?. .....used a pipe wrench on the cable end so i wouldnt crush it and got the nut unstuck from it and then unscrewed from the tilt tube.... with a little effort....then couldnt pull it all the way out from the tilt tube to remove it without bending it....was hitting against the motorwell side....Ill have to unbolt the motor and slide it over a few inches.

I did all the installation originally....just dont remember doing that part.


From what I can tell its the cable....so im ordering a new one. I put it back together after cleaning and lubeing and its working a little better.
Tilt tube had dirty grease coming out with the rod....but wasnt stuck or tight and moving freely. I applied marine grade grease on the ram bar on a regular basis.


Like Guppy says....
BOATS

Loosend the motor first time, second time rat tail file to oversize the motor well hole… aint pretty but much easier..
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Old 10-11-2021, 05:54 AM   #8
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Loosend the motor first time, second time rat tail file to oversize the motor well hole… aint pretty but much easier..

Ray.....I thought about doing that.....the hole in my motorwell side is a just a little off center with the tilt tube, just enough that the long straight ram end of the cable wont pull through it without bending. Might be worth enlarging that hole... if this keeps happening. Checked the helm end of things....but appearance wise it looks so clean....inside my console looks like new.
I ordered a cable from Jamestown Distributors.....
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Old 10-12-2021, 11:51 AM   #9
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90 weight gear oil works better than anything else on these shafts, the problem is the seal and small amount of clearance between the tilt tube and the steering shaft, it wipes off most of the grease but does a poor job of keeping water out, then the grease dries up and mixes with contaminants... a squirt can full of 90 wt. applied to the extended shaft a few times a season keeps it free and happy.....lube the cable well when you get it out of the tube and you will be good for the season and beyond..be sure to apply anti seize ( the aluminum stuff copper will corrode due to dissimilar metals)
Hydraulic steering is so far superior to cable in anything but the smallest engines cables are hardly worth reinstalling when they go bad..
I've had the same Bay star system in my boat for 25 years, never had a problem with it... and it will never freeze like cable steering = no maintenance .

A good run is better than a bad stand!
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Old 10-13-2021, 06:18 AM   #10
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90 weight gear oil works better than anything else on these shafts, the problem is the seal and small amount of clearance between the tilt tube and the steering shaft, it wipes off most of the grease but does a poor job of keeping water out, then the grease dries up and mixes with contaminants... a squirt can full of 90 wt. applied to the extended shaft a few times a season keeps it free and happy.....lube the cable well when you get it out of the tube and you will be good for the season and beyond..be sure to apply anti seize ( the aluminum stuff copper will corrode due to dissimilar metals)
Hydraulic steering is so far superior to cable in anything but the smallest engines cables are hardly worth reinstalling when they go bad..
I've had the same Bay star system in my boat for 25 years, never had a problem with it... and it will never freeze like cable steering = no maintenance .

Thanks for your input Joe....I know you have way more experience with this than I ever will.

Going to try replacing the cable..... this time.
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Old 10-13-2021, 12:55 PM   #11
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I went from NFB steering to hydraulic and it's super easy to install. I didn't need it, the NFB steering on my 90 was butter smooth but the used console I bought had a seastar helm and changing it would have been a nightmare to refit. I called SeaStar and gave them a couple dimensions for hydraulic line measurements, told them what outboard I had and they gave me a few options and made sure I had the spacer kit so the cylinder mounted without a gap. I didn't write it down but I think I went from 6 to 4.25 turns hard port to hard starboard. Their install instruction manual was spot on with pictures.
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Old 10-16-2021, 05:47 AM   #12
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I remember telling a good friend about my plans to build a boat.......first thing out of his mouth was "You're going to put in hydraulic steering aren't you?"
I didnt but maybe now wish I had. LOL
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Old 10-16-2021, 07:22 AM   #13
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Quote:
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I remember telling a good friend about my plans to build a boat.......first thing out of his mouth was "You're going to put in hydraulic steering aren't you?"
I didnt but maybe now wish I had. LOL
domitec makes a plug and play 12 volt power assist steering ram for outboards. Check it out it might be a good compromise.
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Old 10-16-2021, 07:23 AM   #14
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https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoo...eering-systems
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Old 10-16-2021, 10:37 AM   #15
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https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoo...eering-systems
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Those are cool, if you link your gps to your outboard with those you can truly have auto pilot.
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Old 12-31-2021, 02:58 PM   #16
Rmarsh
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Loosend the motor first time, second time rat tail file to oversize the motor well hole… aint pretty but much easier..

Thanks Ray... I did make the hole bigger in the motorwell side that didnt line up like you said and it worked.

I..might not need a new cable right away cause its working much better now after getting some spray lubricant in there vertically and working it in by turning the helm...turns easy now...just havent put it all back together.

Last edited by Rmarsh; 08-26-2023 at 05:59 AM..
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Old 08-22-2022, 05:11 AM   #17
Rmarsh
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I have been putting off doing this...thought I could hold off until the off season ....but steering was getting worse....so reluctantly...had to pull the eight year old steering cable out.
It had to make some tight radius bends that may have caused premature wear. Installation instructions said no less than an eight inch radius at bends...and I was around 9
It snakes through a 2 1/2" pvc chase that runs under the floor from inside the console to the motorwell locker on the starboard side...it shares that same conduit with shift and throttle cables.
Before we started my son predicted that a lot of cursing and sweating was about to take place.
Really was not as bad as we anticipated. Attached a pull string to make pulling the new one back into the console easier......with no cursing......and maybe just a little sweating.....we'll see.
You might notice.....that I double clamped my fuel fill and vent lines as advised for safety.

Last edited by Rmarsh; 08-26-2023 at 05:54 AM..
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