Which part is this?

I own a speedboat that is powered by a 5 liter V8 Mercruiser with 200bhp.


Yesterday when trying it out for the 1st time this season, 2 things happened:


1 - the boat was always trying to turn left and the steering wheel was offering a lot of resistance because of that
2 - after an afternoon out, when reaching the Marina the part highlighted in this picture http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1977230/GOPR0917.JPG started smoking a bit and making a grinding noise, like metal on metal.


Any idea what that part is? It's got an OIL cap on top, but not sure if it's the oil tank.
I'm also not sure if the 2 issues are related. It is an old boat, but the engine has just been fixed a couple of months ago.


Any hints will be highly appreciated.


Thanks

Most definitely a bearing gone in the pulley. But I think you should put your question in the mericrusier section for people who know.

The part is the power steering pump...first check the fluid level

Thank you so much for your help.

I checked it out and it was completely dry!

I got a new bottle of ATF and it's steers like a hot knife slicing through butter.

Thanks!

Show's what I know about Mercruiser's

Now you need to find the power steering leak......