Steering Slop?

jeffk

jeffk

New Member
Apr 28, 2009
273
Sarasota, Florida
Boat Info
2006 300 Sundancer
Engines
5.0L Mercruiser w/Bravo III
I have a 2006 300 w/ 5.0 BIII

I have a little slop that I believe is excessive. I had the Admiral turn the wheel, slop to slop, while I was watching the cylinder behind the engines. The shaft going through the cylinder was loose, approx 1/2" left to right. Is there an adjustment to remove this slop?
 
There is an adjustment, not sure where myself, but I know it can only be adjusted so much before replacing.

You just bought this boat didn't you ? Was this not caught in the survey? Maybe the dealer can help.
 
Sorry, there is no adjustment on the power assist Mercruiser steering for the BIII. There are some possibilities of what is wrong:

1. The casing for the steering cable might be loose relative to the cable itself. Think about the adjustment of bicycle handbrakes. If the casing is loose and can slide back and forth, the brake handle will have excessive squeeze. On the BIII, the steering cable casing is held onto the the piston rack with a 1" (1.125"?) cap nut at the transom. This sometimes backs off creating slop in the steering. To diagnose, have someone turn the wheel while you watch the cable casing at the cap nut. If the cable moves at all, the cap nut has loosened. This can be repaired by getting a big wrench on the cap nut. There is also a flat on the steering piston, get a wrench on that. The flats on the steering piston must remain vertical! So turn the cap nut and hold the piston rod steady.

2. The next possibility is that the gimbal ring pin and gimbal ring may be shot. The gimbal ring is the outer ring on the drive assembly that allows the drive to go up and down, was well as port/starbard. At the top of the ring there is a large stainless steel ping that is held into the ring. This pin goes up into the outer part of the transom assembly. this is where the drive swings P/S. The pin has a large square head that is placed in the ring. The ring is split and a large u-bolt is used to squeeze the ring together clamping the pin in place. Over time the u-bolt deteriorates, or loosens, and the pin begins to pound the socket to bits. The you get slop in your steering. To check with the boat out of the water. Stand behind the drive and swing the drive port to starboard. Watch the top of the ring carefully. If the ring turns before the pin begins to turn, there is your steering slop.


Go to Quint4's excellent post on the topic for how to repair this problem:

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17425

3. The final possibility is a failure in the rack and pinion mechanism under the helm.

Henry
 
It seems like #1, I can see the shaft with the wrench flats moving in the sleeve of the actuator, but not the sleeve with the nut.

1. The casing for the steering cable might be loose relative to the cable itself. Think about the adjustment of bicycle handbrakes. If the casing is loose and can slide back and forth, the brake handle will have excessive squeeze. On the BIII, the steering cable casing is held onto the the piston rack with a 1" (1.125"?) cap nut at the transom. This sometimes backs off creating slop in the steering. To diagnose, have someone turn the wheel while you watch the cable casing at the cap nut. If the cable moves at all, the cap nut has loosened. This can be repaired by getting a big wrench on the cap nut. There is also a flat on the steering piston, get a wrench on that. The flats on the steering piston must remain vertical! So turn the cap nut and hold the piston rod steady.
 
Sorry Jeff, I think you just described a good connection. It should be the cable housing that moves in and out under the cap nut. Sorry if that wasn't clear enough. If the only thing that moves is the piston, that's the way its supposed to work.

Henry
 
Thanks Henry, I see approx 1/2" of the band over the shaft moving in the actuator. I guess it is normal, but 1/2" there is about 3-4" in the wheel.
 
A little "slop" is normal. I replaced the ENTIRE system in my AJ, only to find that a few inches of play in the steering wheel was normal.
You have another post for slop in the throttle as well. Didn't the surveyor pick up on these issues???
 
No, the surveyor didn't pick up on the slop of either the Port throttle or the steering.
 
I was just reading the feed...I seem to have the same issues on my Sundeck 240...some good points to check myself. Cheers
 
When I had my 280, I chased the sloppy steering down for a while and eventually found it to be the U-joint in the tilt steering column at the helm. I removed the wheel, then the boot that covers the column, and it was as simple as moving the steering shaft back and forth to see that the bolt in the u-joint was loose and needed snugged up. Make sure you have the steering wheel centered prior to starting so that you can put it back on straight. It did take some force to remove the wheel, likely because it had been on there 15 years at the time I did this repair.
 
Had same issue - turned out to be the steering tiller arms were toast. The pins being stainless were fine. The square in the tiller arms were more like oval. Had 9 inches of drive slop with 3/4 of a turn in the steering wheel. My steering was hard from the day I bought the boat and the surveyor along with the broker stated it was normal. When this happened 2 seasons ago, replaced transom assemblies and upgraded steering to SeaStar hydraulic. Wow, what a difference. Got the pumb with the AP included (bonus). Great upgrade if you are planning to keep the boat for a while.
 
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