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steering rod stuck in tilt tube

T

timbotison

New member
90 HP Yamaha. Steering rod is frozen in tilt tube. Cable nut is removed so nothing holding the rod in the tube except its own stubborness! I have bathed it in PB Blaster, heated it with a torch, put a block of wood on the end and hit it with as much force as I feel is safe to avoid damage (which is quite a bit, as it is stainless and with the wood block I don't think I can really hurt it). I have been working on this off and on for several days and still it will not budge. Odd that only a few weeks ago I had the boat out and steering felt fine. At any rate, anyone have any additional suggestions?
 
Beat the thing out. Forget about the block of wood. The cable will need to be replaced anyway. Just be careful not to mushroom the end so it will fit through the tilt tube.
 
Remove the tube from the motor.--------Split the tube with a grinder.-------------------Perhaps salvage the cable.------------Replace the tube and intall a steering cable ( new or existing ) into it.
 
DON'T hit the end of the rod with a hammer or it will NEVER come out.
How much heat?
A little propane torch might not be enough?
 
I am not hitting it with the wood, I am holding a piece of wood against the end of the rod to prevent mushrooming it while hitting it with a 5 lb sledge. If I can get it out the cable is fine, I replaced it only a couple months ago. If I can't get it out then I will need to do what racerone describes, which is the big job I am trying to avoid. As for heat, yes I am using just a hand held propane torch with a friend hammering at the same time after soaking with PB Blaster. I also let out a string of four letter words at the top of my lungs, that did not work either.
 
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One method that can free stuck bolts etc is to drill a hole (or holes) through the tube/casing etc into he stuck area and use that to insert penetrating oil. Let it soak, apply heat, cool, add more oil etc. Once it is free you can either fill up the holes with epoxy metal or thread the hole and insert a grub screw with Locktite as a hole filler. Maybe in your case even add an extra grease zerk.
 
Most people use regular marine grease to lube the steering.
After a while it dries out and you get a stuck cable.
I use any kind of oil.
Even trans fluid works.
Clean the cable, extend it all the way and get all the gunk out.'
Clean the tube with a tube brush. Northern Tool has/had a good selection.
Then coat the cable with oil and reinstall.
Then as you use the boat, a can of WD or any spray lube will keep it free.
The same goes or the kingpin, Marine grease sets up and your fighting a hard turning motor.
I use a thin white lithium grease. I grease about every 3rd trip.
I had to add extra grease fittings because the previous owner didn't grease anything.
 
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Thanks, Jerry. But the problem at this point is not that simple....I have a steering rod (the stainless part at the end of the cable) absolutely frozen solid in the tilt tube. PB Blaster, heat and hammering have not gotten it to budge. I am going to take aliboy's suggestion and drill a small hole in the steel tilt tube and spray the PB in that way to see if it will help free it up. If it works I will then drill the hole larger and tap it and install a zerk fitting to prevent this from happening in the future. I was a little reluctant to do this because I am concerned that when the bit pops through the tilt tube it will hit and damage the stainless rod, but at this point I have nothing to lose because it doesn't look like it will come out any other way. Will post an update afterward. Thanks to all!
 
Stop. The cable is trashed. Drilling holes is not going to get this apart. Cut the cable on the attaching side and bang it out the opposite way. If you cannot get it out, purchase a new tilt tube. Support the engine to unload the tube and feed the new one through.

You can spray all the Blaster you want. You can heat it all you want. The dirt and grease on the steering cable had bound up in the tilt tube and wedged itself fast.

If you are able to get this apart with out having to change the tilt tube, borrow a reem and clean the tube. See if you can get some 2-4-C grease from Mercury or Quick Silver.
 
I'm not sure I have the knowledge or tools to replace the tube myself. On this engine (90 HP Yamaha) it appears that the tube is integral to the engine mounting bracket and the only way to replace it is to remove the engine entirely and replace the entire bracket. This is beyond my ability. But maybe I am not looking at it right.

But it does make sense that the rod may come out the other way, so I guess it's time to sacrifice the cable, cut it off and bang in the other direction and hope that all I end up having to do is clean the tube and replace the steering cable.
 
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So far everyone has advised using heat and brute impact force to free this and it hasn't worked, so lets go the other direction- use a large c-clamp and some ingenuity to apply direct force, and then freeze the tilt tube with Walters Cold Shock. allow a couple of minutes for the Cold Shock to fracture, and then assist the clamps' pressure with a good lick with your hammer.
 
it should not be this hard to remove if it was working a few weeks ago...its a good possibility that something bent the rod...if that happened then when you turned the steering you moved the bent part into the tube...and if thats the case the part that got bent was on the left hand side of the motor as looked at from the rear of the motor...then banging on it from that side forced the bent into a worse locked status...if thats the case then it will never come out banging on that same side..if thats the case then you gotta bang on from the other side...if that means cutting the cable then so be it...you probably looking at buying the whole thing anyway..
 
Rod is not bent, boat has not moved since the last time the motor turned and it is under a canopy. I think it is just old dry grease mixed with a little dirt that has now rolled on itself and is wedged in there. pounding only making the wedge tighter as suggested by Chris at Dockside Marine. Regardless of the reason it seems unlikely that more force on the port side will move it out to starboard. Been busy with work so have not done anything since the last couple comments were posted but I am leaning towards cutting cable and trying to move it out the other way, maybe save the tube and replace only the cable. If not then the tilt tube also will be replaced. Will post the final when its done.
 
Docksidemarineservices said:
Stop. The cable is trashed. Drilling holes is not going to get this apart. Cut the cable on the attaching side and bang it out the opposite way. If you cannot get it out, purchase a new tilt tube. Support the engine to unload the tube and feed the new one through.

You can spray all the Blaster you want. You can heat it all you want. The dirt and grease on the steering cable had bound up in the tilt tube and wedged itself fast.

If you are able to get this apart with out having to change the tilt tube, borrow a reem and clean the tube. See if you can get some 2-4-C grease from Mercury or Quick Silver.
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So after taking a Holiday break went back at the stuck steering rod issue. Decided there was nothing to lose by putting a pipe wrench on the end sticking out the port side (just starboard of where the steering arm connector from the motor attaches to the rod) since this region never gets drawn into the tube during normal operation anyway, and any teeth marks could be taken off with emory cloth. So with one person applying heat and the other applying torque with the pipe wrench we finally got the rod to twist ever so slightly. From there is was just a matter of continuing to twist back and forth while adding copious amounts of PB Blaster and eventually it started to move horizontally and then out. About two hours from the time we started using the wrench until we had worked it out. Smoothed out the rod with emory cloth, reemed the tube and it's back together and turning smooth. Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions. In the end it was all your advice plus being too stubborn to give up and also walking away from it for awhile that got the job done for the price of 3 cans of PB Blaster and a can of propane!
 
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