Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Hard steering issue Smokercraft 2240 Merc. 5.0 mpi

M

madmac71

New member
I purchased this boat about 4 years ago, when I got it home and put it in the steering was very stiff. I just dealt with it. When i decided to fix it this year I didn't know how big of a pain in the ass it was going be. I started with a new p/s pump, so at 600-700 $ from Merc. I decided to go with a reman from NAPA. when I separated the tank from the pump the old pump has the exact number as the reman, I used the original pumps pressure relief valve. This didn't fix the issue so I went through and insured all the hoses where clear and not collapsed. My next step was to try the steering cylinder, the local marina had a new take off from a crate motor that he sold me for 200$. still no fix. When I had the cylinder off I checked the cables and the stern movement, no issues were found, everything moves freely. Does anybody have any idea of what could be the issue. The only thing that I can figure is if someone already tried this but didn't change the pressure relief valve from the original pump and I have the wrong one now. The pump that I took of the boat has the same pressure valve part number as the one that came with the reman pump, but I still used my original one. Does anyone know what the part number of the relief valve should be?? please help!
 
You say the steering cable moves smoothly, do you mean smoothly THRU the guide tube or freely when yo remove the nut from the steering cable?
 
Bt Doctur said:
You say the steering cable moves smoothly, do you mean smoothly THRU the guide tube or freely when yo remove the nut from the steering cable?
Click to expand...
If I understand the question right then the answer is yes to both. When I leave the cable connected to the cylinder but unpinned from the end of the cylinder housing it moves freely and when I disconnect it from the big nut and remove it from the cylinder housing it still moves freely.
 
I too have battled mightily with the PS on my 5.0. In my case it was blowing return lines--the oil cooler was (?) somehow getting closed up when it got hot--the oil flowed freely when cold. Go figure...

Tell you what I'd do if I was you: I'd take the dam PS off completely and run without it. I ran mine a while with the belt off the pump and it wasn't hard to steer at all. (PS was an option, like it used to be in cars.) To counter the torque steer in the steering, loosen the bolt holding the trim/ sacrificial tab on and rotate it. (It doesn't move too far, so a bit of grinding might be required.)

Jeff

PS: The steering in my old 28 foot Bayliner, with a Volvo-Penta, drive was dead neutral at cruising speed--and that was a lot more boat than my present 10 footer. With about 20 degrees of tab I could take my hand off the wheel as we went down the river.
 
fastjeff said:
I too have battled mightily with the PS on my 5.0. In my case it was blowing return lines--the oil cooler was (?) somehow getting closed up when it got hot--the oil flowed freely when cold. Go figure...

Tell you what I'd do if I was you: I'd take the dam PS off completely and run without it. I ran mine a while with the belt off the pump and it wasn't hard to steer at all. (PS was an option, like it used to be in cars.) To counter the torque steer in the steering, loosen the bolt holding the trim/ sacrificial tab on and rotate it. (It doesn't move too far, so a bit of grinding might be required.)

Jeff

PS: The steering in my old 28 foot Bayliner, with a Volvo-Penta, drive was dead neutral at cruising speed--and that was a lot more boat than my present 10 footer. With about 20 degrees of tab I could take my hand off the wheel as we went down the river.
Click to expand...


Thanks but I can't take it off due it being a single serpentine belt that runs everything.
I have been doing some more reading on this and I am leaning towards a possible bad steering cable, now that I understand how P/S actuator works I going to do a pump pressure test and manually activate the actuator with out the cable in it. thanks again.
 
Ugh I ripped out all the power steering jank and put in hydraulic. I know that's no help to you but you might want to consider this at some time in the future.
 
Back
Top