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New Steering cable for 1978 Johnson 70?

S

sobro

New member
Hi - first time poster, long time lurker... Anyway, I have just purchased a 1978 Ebko Tri hull that came with a '78 Johnson 70. So far, it floats and it runs pretty well, but the steering is stiff...as in I need two hands and a wide berth to turn. I've read that I will probably need to replace the cable/assembly. So, I am wondering if (1) is there any way to grease/lubricate this mechanism to prolong it's life and (2) how do I go about finding a new one if need be. Also, are they difficult to change? I have attached a picture of a very similar boat - hopefully you can see enough to get an idea of what I am working with. Thanks
 
Hi Sobro. There are a limited number of things that can be the cause of your problems. I would suggest a few trouble shooting steps, which you may have done but haven't listed.
1) Disconnect the cable steering from the motor and see if the motor turns freely. You do not have to remove the steering cable from the tilt tube to do this. Simply disconnect the arm between the motor and steering cable where it exits the tilt tube on the left of the motor (When viewed from the rear, you cannot see it in the photo you have posted) If the motor is stiff to turn the fauly may not lie completely with the cable. You need to grease the relevant rotation points on the motor. There are few

2) With the steering cable still disconnected from the motor, but still in the tilt tube, turn the steering wheel and see if you get resistance, sticking or binding. If you do the you're getting there. Turn the wheel so that the metal rod on the end of steering cable which extends on the left of the tilt tube is out all the way. Grease this section with multi purpose grease and then turn the wheel so that this piece goes into and out of the tilt tube repeatedly. You're trying to work grease into the tilt tube, which if often where a steering cable seizes due to a lack of maintenance a constant exposure to water.... You should feel the cable start to loosen. I did this a number of times on my boat and it worked like a dream after doing it a few times and then re doing it every two weeks for two months and it's now smooth and silky.

If this still doesn't work you may need to remove the steering mechanism in the helm. this is sadly something Ispe don't know anything about.

P.s in before doing the above i trust you checked the cable for kinks, cuts, very sharp bends and obvious signs of external pinching on the cable. If not try that. If you have a cut or external crimp you want to replace the cab;e as it's only a matter of time before the stress causes it to break or seize completely.

Lastly a small trick that a lot of people forget. The trim tab a prop if designed to change angle to somewhat overcome the rotational force exerted on a motor by the spinning of the prop. You could also try to loosen the trim tab adjust and re-tighten. This however doesn't make hug differences to the steering but can a long way to making a lot smoother. This often helps if the steering is smooth in one direction and stiff in another one.

If the worst comes to worst and you have to redo the cable there is some great advice under the teleflex section on this site. The thing that you may find very annoying depending on your setup is that sometimes you need to remove the motor from the transom to remove the cable from the tilt tube......

I have photo's but for some reason can't load them if you need further help let me know.

Good luck
 
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Sorry another thing.... if your standing in the boat facing the motor there is sometimes a grease nipple on the tilt tube which can be used to put grease directly into the tilt tube...
 
Keithm18 said:
Sorry another thing.... if your standing in the boat facing the motor there is sometimes a grease nipple on the tilt tube which can be used to put grease directly into the tilt tube...
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Hi! Thanks for all of the great advice. I am going to be back up to the lake in about 10 days or so and I'll give it a try...hopefully the boat hasn't sank by then haha! If I still need some help I will let you know as well as post some better pics. Happy boating!
 
100_2118.jpg

Ok - here is a pic of the steering cable. I will try and upload some more. Any thoughts on this?
 
This picture mainly shows the "tilt tube" the cable would enter on the left and there should be a big nut, where it enters the tilt tube. There is a rod that exits the right hand side of the tilt tube (you can see a smallpiece of it in this picture) which connects to the piece of metal that is connected to the middle of the motor (which you can also see in this picture)

On the middle of the tilt tube, behind and under the piece in the middle of the picture you should find a grease nipple. on the tilt tube. Use this to put grease into the tilt tube. If this is not present or possible, you want to grease the rod that exits the tilt tube on the right. Turn the motor so that this tube is all the way out. Clean old grease off it and make sure it's nice and smooth. grease the rod and work it back and forth, in and out of the tilt tube. Repeat this a efew times.

you can remove the cable completely by undoing the nut on the left of the tilt tube, not seen in your picture, sometime the transom is not wide enough to allow this to happen without removing the motor.

let me know how you go
 
Keithm18 said:
This picture mainly shows the "tilt tube" the cable would enter on the left and there should be a big nut, where it enters the tilt tube. There is a rod that exits the right hand side of the tilt tube (you can see a smallpiece of it in this picture) which connects to the piece of metal that is connected to the middle of the motor (which you can also see in this picture)

On the middle of the tilt tube, behind and under the piece in the middle of the picture you should find a grease nipple. on the tilt tube. Use this to put grease into the tilt tube. If this is not present or possible, you want to grease the rod that exits the tilt tube on the right. Turn the motor so that this tube is all the way out. Clean old grease off it and make sure it's nice and smooth. grease the rod and work it back and forth, in and out of the tilt tube. Repeat this a efew times.

you can remove the cable completely by undoing the nut on the left of the tilt tube, not seen in your picture, sometime the transom is not wide enough to allow this to happen without removing the motor.

let me know how you go
Click to expand...

Update: I cleaned and greased,and it seems that everything is a bit smoother, though not quite at the "butter" stage yet. Hopefully with some more use it will loosen up.

Also, I was wondering how to determine the volume of water that should be exiting the water discharge tube at the top right rear of the motor. Right now I have a small thin stream, so I wasn't sure if I should expect more or not. It seems to be a pretty thin tube, so perhaps I am expecting too much here?

Thanks again for all of the help so far! :)
 
Hi Glad to hear you are making progress with the steering. Have you checked the entire cable inside the boat from the motor to the wheel to make sure there are no sharp bends or places where the casing has been damaged therefore binding on the cable?

In relation to the water discharges tube, this is also known as the Telltale. When the motor is running the stream should be constant when the motor is at idle. It should also get harder when the motor revs increase. This stream is there to tell you that water is circulating through the motor. There is an impellor inside the water pump which is driven by the drive shaft between the motor and gear case. If you do not know how old the impellor is I would recommend dropping the lower unit and replacing the Impellor and water pump if required. there a number of posts on this site and a lot of videos on youtube explaining how this should be done.
 
Keithm18 said:
Hi Glad to hear you are making progress with the steering. Have you checked the entire cable inside the boat from the motor to the wheel to make sure there are no sharp bends or places where the casing has been damaged therefore binding on the cable?

In relation to the water discharges tube, this is also known as the Telltale. When the motor is running the stream should be constant when the motor is at idle. It should also get harder when the motor revs increase. This stream is there to tell you that water is circulating through the motor. There is an impellor inside the water pump which is driven by the drive shaft between the motor and gear case. If you do not know how old the impellor is I would recommend dropping the lower unit and replacing the Impellor and water pump if required. there a number of posts on this site and a lot of videos on youtube explaining how this should be done.
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Yes - I checked for bends, etc., but didn't see any. I'm hoping that it smooths out a little over time. Otherwise, it's probably just old and needs replaced. Concerning the telltale, it seems to be a somewhat light stream, but I think that it does increase a little when I am out running on the lake. The actual diameter of the discharge isn't very large, so I'm not quite sure what it's supposed look like during a best case scenario. On this particular motor I also have the two little holes on the shaft of the motor - they are always discharging water. Is there a difference between A) the tube that runs up through the cowling of the motor and B) the two little holes on the shaft of the motor (ie primary vs secondary)? You can see what I'm talking about in the picture at top. Thanks!
 
Hi The telltale should always have water coming out of it and the stream should be fairly strong. My motor is a 90HP and it only discharges water from the two holes at the top of the shaft under two conditions:

1) When the motor is warm (Meaning that the thermostats are open) and at motor is at idle (Meaning low water pressure in the motor) there is sometimes a small amount of water or mist from these holes.

2) When the motor is at higher speeds or WOT the water pressure rises to such a point that it opens what are called the poppet valves to allow the water pressure to drop by letting the excess water exit here.

If there is a lot of water coming from these holes when the engine is cool or at idle it may mean that the motor has no thermostats or they are stuck open or the poppet valves are not installed correctly or worn. the danger with this is two fold 1) If there are no thermostats the motor may run too cool which means it's doesn't burn the fuel correctly 2) Water may be exiting the block without circulating properly.

I would also remove the thermostat cover and clean and inspect the thermostats and poppet valves. this can be tricky and look at out for corroded bolts and springs that may try to escape when you remove the cover.

I would really suggest looking for your motor on you tube you may find an example of the motor running and be able to compare it to yours. Alternatively post a video of the tell tale stream or the water exiting the holes so that myself and others on the forum can advise if this is normal or not.
 
I will post a video when I have a chance - most likely in a few weeks when I get back up there. Thanks again for all of your help!
 
Keithm18 said:
Here's a link to a re-done 78 showing the tell-tale stream with no water from the exhaust holes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWiwS7FX1pE
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Ha- thanks! I just found that one myself! I would say that the stream on the video is similar to mine, but perhaps just a little fuller. If the thermostat(s) have been removed, and there was water exiting the two small holes, would that reduce the amount of water coming from the tell-tale? FYI - I am working on having someone send me a video...let's cross our fingers.
 
Hi I am not 100% sure of the design of the waterflow channels. When the motor is cold the thermostats re-circulate the same water through the motor until it reaches the required temperature. When they open it allows the warm/hot water to exit the engine through the exhaust which is in the prop. At high engine speeds the poppets open to relieve additional pressure as described earlier.

If there is a constant high rate of water exiting the top two holes at all times, it may be down to poppets oe thermostats that are stuck open or missing. Either way i would imagine that may have some effect on the pressure of the water flow from the tell tale, but to what degree I cannot say.

What I can say is that if you do not know when last the water pump/impellor was done I would highly suggest replacing it. A failing or warn impellor would have a weak flow from the tell tale. The impellor is made from rubber and they wear and perish over time. Some guys replace every 100 Hours or at least once a season. If it fails your motor can cook itself very quickly and sometimes with very little to no warning.
 
Keithm18 said:
Hi I am not 100% sure of the design of the waterflow channels. When the motor is cold the thermostats re-circulate the same water through the motor until it reaches the required temperature. When they open it allows the warm/hot water to exit the engine through the exhaust which is in the prop. At high engine speeds the poppets open to relieve additional pressure as described earlier.

If there is a constant high rate of water exiting the top two holes at all times, it may be down to poppets oe thermostats that are stuck open or missing. Either way i would imagine that may have some effect on the pressure of the water flow from the tell tale, but to what degree I cannot say.

What I can say is that if you do not know when last the water pump/impellor was done I would highly suggest replacing it. A failing or warn impellor would have a weak flow from the tell tale. The impellor is made from rubber and they wear and perish over time. Some guys replace every 100 Hours or at least once a season. If it fails your motor can cook itself very quickly and sometimes with very little to no warning.
Click to expand...

I was able to acquire a video of the motor as it was idling. As I said, it seems that the tell-tale is a little on the weak side while the two ports on the shaft are spewing a bit more water than they should.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGuh8HbivX8&feature=youtu.be

Tell me what you think!

Thanks
 
Hi there, nice video.

I'm not sure if the motor was hot or cold in this vid, either way in my view there is a lot of water from the ports while the engine is just above idle.

i would suggest checking the thermostat and poppet valve for correct operation.

in addition your telltale is very weak and i would suggest replacing the water pump or at least the impellor as well as i am pretty sure it's worn or damaged.
 
Keithm18 said:
Hi there, nice video.

I'm not sure if the motor was hot or cold in this vid, either way in my view there is a lot of water from the ports while the engine is just above idle.

i would suggest checking the thermostat and poppet valve for correct operation.

in addition your telltale is very weak and i would suggest replacing the water pump or at least the impellor as well as i am pretty sure it's worn or damaged.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! The motor (I believe) had just been started. I didn't actually take the video, but I'm guessing that is the case. Since I've never actually ordered marine parts before, can you direct me to a good source?
 
Hi Sobro. As it happens this site is also an online parts supplier. At the top of this page is a link called boat engine parts. It a very easy site to navigate and you should easily be able to find what you're looking for.

If you have the exact model number of your motor it makes it easier, but you can also find the parts using the year of manufacture and the horsepower. I have pasted the link that will get to the point where you need to confirm your model number, there seems to be one with or without power trim. Should be no difference in the water pump or thermostats. http://www.marineengine.com/parts/johnson-evinrude-parts.php?year=1978&hp=70

the water pump and impellor can be found in the "gearcase section" and the thermostat, poppet etc can be found in the "cylinder head" section.

let me know if you need anything else
 
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