43 steering difficulty

Hello all - I'm new to thi

Hello all - I'm new to this forum and any help would be greatly appreciated. Just got a 1999 deck boat but it requires serious effort to steer. Turning the wheel cannot be done with one hand. Stopped or moving - makes no difference. There is power steering. Could steering cable cause this or should I start with the pump and assembly?

"With the boat out of the wate

"With the boat out of the water, disconnect the pin that holds the cable to the steering actuator behind the engine. (there are 2, just take out the the cable pin not the outdrive pin.) after pin removal turn the steering wheel. I f it is hard to turn replace cable. If not, then the problem is the drive or the actuator. I just had a problem where the cable and the actuator were bad. Good luck"

Thanks boatrep1 - I'll tr

Thanks boatrep1 - I'll try that this evening. If its not the cable is there a method to determine if the pump or acutator is causing the problem? If its the cable - are they repairable (lube??) or do they have to be replaced??

"Scott, The cables are not lub

"Scott, The cables are not lubeable, other than the ends. My Alpha I steering gets stiff where the SS cable end goes through the aluminum guide tube near the PS unit at the transom. Mercury makes special lube (101) just for this area. The lube is of a "toothpaste" consistancy. Hopefully this is your problem, and not the cable."

".."The cables are not lub

".."The cables are not lubeable"

Au contraire! (Obviously, you never manitained a motorcycle.)

You can lube a cable from end to end. First, find a rubber hose that fits over the outer sheave of the cable and clamp it to the sheave. Next, elevate the rubber hose and pour some thin oil in it. Next, apply air pressure and wait (which can be several hours. I use an air fitting clamped in place to put the air pressure to it.) You need to work the cable back and forth a few times from the other end as the oil slowly seeps through, driven by air pressure.

Jeff"

"Jeff, That is a slick idea.

"Jeff, That is a slick idea. However, the oil would need to travel down the cable end, make a u-turn and travel up under the cable end and make another u-turn at the end of the cable, before it got to the core cable you want to lubricate. Does your air pressure trick force the oil up under the cable end, and then back down into the cable core?

The motorcycles I had, you could dilute the oil with some gas and squirt it onto the bare cable."

Buy a cable if its bad. Don&#

Buy a cable if its bad. Don't waste your time. They are not very expensive ($90 - $150) depending on whether they come with the helm and length. You will be MUCH happier with a new cable. They are all really easy to connect. Shouldn't be more than a 45 minute job or so.