Loose steering

denwatson

denwatson

Member
Aug 3, 2010
74
California Delta
Boat Info
2007 240 Sundeck and before that 1988 Sea Ray Sorrento 23
Engines
350 MAG MPI BravoIII and before that 5.0 Merc 260 with Alpha drive
I am experiencing what can only be described as "loose or sloppy steering" on my 2007 240 SD, 350MPI, Bravo III. My mechanic says "oh they are all like that". I don't think a boat with 170 hours should have a worn out steering parts. I have seen some blogging about the gimbal being the culprit. Anyone else have experience with this problem or better yet a solution?
 
Been there done that...probably a worn gimbal ring. Does the outdrive move from side to side whith out the steering wheel moving?
 
Well my brand new 185 sport did and obviously continues to have a slop wheel. It is annoying.
 
I will check for outdrive side to side movement. Thanks.
 
Cut and pasted from my Merc Bravo manual:


Gimbal Ring Clamping Screws - Retorque to 40 ft. lb. (54 N·m)
End of first boating season and thereafter, every 100 hours of operation or once yearly, whichever occurs first.
 
Yeah I have seen that. I totally disagree. This is a very common and expensive problem......keep 'em tight!
 
Had this boat for over 2years, and I keep learning more "routine maintenance items" all the time: Jenny zinc, water filter, gimbal bolt, potti filter.. I am making one big list so I can keep up.
 
Got in the wat yesterday to check these bolts. They were both pretty loose. I was able to snug one up pretty good, but the other one did not want to tighten. It appeared the threads are weak. It seemed that with the drive turned sideways, I may be able to remove the bolt and replace with a slightly smaller bolt with a nut behind it so I can get it tight enough till the end of the season when I pull it out and can reevaluate the situation. Can aNyone with a drive out of the water see if this looks doable? I am so not ready for the boating season to be over!
 
Not doable. It is a U-bolt. See it here in the center of the pic below the gimbal ring.

t.jpg
 
Quint, mine appears to be 2bolts. I could feel the end of the bolt on the backside of the gimbal. It appeared to stick out about a quarter inch. Maybe the u bolt is the upgrade?
 
I also have some slop in my steering but outdrives are OK. That way from day one.
 
Not sure about it. I have a Bravo drive and you have alphas?
 
My '05 Bravo3 has about 260 hrs. and it has about 3"-4" of play in the steering. I did not notice that much movement in the outdrive when I tried to move it by hand while someone held the steering wheel straight. I had a mechanic from the marina take a look at it just to be sure it wasn't the gimble ring. He said that it was not a real problem. I just had very sloppy steering and that if it were him he would just get used to it and deal with it. But, if I wanted, he would be happy to take my money to rectify the "problem". He said he would have to replace the steering box behind the engine which would easily be at least $1000 for the day.
I choose to live with it.
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I have a 2005 240 Select. New outdrive, its tight, doesnt move around at all, but my steering has slop in it (more so it seems when idle).

So.. is it the steering box? Does anyone have any more details on steering wheel slop? It feels annoying to me.

Thanks for the help.
 
From what I read, a certain amount is normal, but has anyone done any modifications that make it so that the wheel doesn't have slop?
 
Quint4 said:
Been there done that...probably a worn gimbal ring. Does the outdrive move from side to side whith out the steering wheel moving?
Click to expand...

My port drive has excessive side-to-side movement. I didn't get much of an answer from the mechanic as to the problem but this is likely it. Is it a dangerous situation to continue to use until the boat gets pulled?
 
Wante to look at the old thread nd this is what I got???????????????????????

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