Steering sticking...?

The other day, when I was about to come in for the day, my steering all of sudden began to stick in two places. Up to this point there was no indication of trouble very smooth operation. My first thought was the steering cable needs to be replaced again. I changed it maybe 10 years ago...the boat is a 16' 98 Wellcraft. The last time I replaced it was stuck bad. The boat had been sitting for a couple of season...Took a lot of work just to get it to free up enough to move.

My question is, is it possibly smoothing else this time?? Could it be the Helm rather than the cable. It just seems odd how it was all of a sudden....I disconnected the motor from the cable and it turns freely.

My money is still on the cable but I thought I would see if it could be something else before I replaced it again. Its kind of pain to change since it has to be run through the hull.

Thanks

kimcrwbr1 said:

Do you grease the cable yearly at the motor? It is part of preventive maintenance. Is that for the 50hp motor? Sometimes it is easier to lift the motor off the transom and slide the cable out, clean the tube out good and grease the cable good and put it back together.

Click to expand...

Yes its a Johnson 50 and yes I grease it every season....sometimes twice. I don't remove the motor as you suggest but I may do that before I replace the cable to see if it helps.

I also plan to disconnect it from the helm and see if it still sticks...