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frozen steering cable

The best one is to keep it lubed enough that you don't get into the current situation.

You need to find out where it is frozen first. I've found the best tool is heat as long as you are away from the plastic jacket.

If it is really bad, I'd be inclined to get the sawzall out and just replace it.
 
I went through that with Miss Nancy and found that it was cheaper to replace the whole system then to replace the cable. Of course the problem was the company which made the old system had been out of busness for a good number of years and the only cables available were on ebay.
 
yea mark i know but the cable was frozen when i bought it and after 2 years of redoing the whole boat she is ready to go except for the cables and the budget is blown. can't wait till next season for her maiden voyage, just trying to loosen em up to make it through stripper season
 
I the OLD DAYS, we used a fitting that seals over the end of morotcycle cables where the inner wire exited the jacket and with a can of spray lube and that little straw that comes with the can, you can force feed some juice into the jacket and keep it lubed. I remember this because....when I went to Harbor Freight in Brick last week, THEY SELL THAT SAME LITTLE FITTING.....$4.00 ( automotive section)
 
I have used tygon tubing and air presure (5-10lbs) to force mystery oil up or down various type of cables to free them up. if you can get to a free end with a configuation where the cable end is smaller than the cover try to slip over some tubing and clamp down on the cable housing and fill the tube with some oil and let the air try to push the oil down the cable.
I acutually use a 1/4" ball valve attached to a small in-line oiler (also from harbor freight) attached to tygon tubing that slips over my throtle and shift cables and lubricate from the engines to the bridge. Also you can try using some PB Blaster lubricant (got it at NAPA), it is pretty good at getting thru rust, removing moisture and actually will wick uphill.

good luck
Mike
 
We have used so much PB Blaster in the last 5 years that I start to feel queezy when I smell it. I buy a can whenever I see a deal on it...Lately, Lowe's. The ideas listed all will work well but if you have no opportunity to get air pressure out there, that little gizmo may work for you. Funny thing is, I got one over 40 years ago as a 16year old kid who rode a motorcycle. China was a REALLY foreign country then. The one I saw in HF WAS IDENTICAL right down to the gold color and rubber boot clamp screw. Addiitionally, you don't really need to disconnect anything. Just clip it on, tighten the seal screw and spray
 
Stripper season - well that explains why the budget is at zero!

Try the approaches above. Diesel oil will free up a lot of things given enough time, and is cheaper than the aerosols. Sometimes a torch can help thru the extra expansion it can induce. Above all be careful. And make sure the end result leave everything intact. A "friend of a friend" went thru the cable replacement on an outdrive a while back. Forgot to finish the job. Long story short - the link between the tiller arm and the cable separated - loss of steering resulted - and he wound up with a bill he had to turn into his insurance agent.
 
capemaydiamond said:
yea mark i know but the cable was frozen when i bought it and after 2 years of redoing the whole boat she is ready to go except for the cables and the budget is blown. can't wait till next season for her maiden voyage, just trying to loosen em up to make it through stripper season
Click to expand...

I thought you could go see strippers any time you want, as long as you have enough dollar bills. If you mean Striped Bass, aka Rockfish there's only one P in the spelling.
 
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