Hard steering 700LX 90hp

[Ron Hines]

Hey Nitro members,

I've greased the steering block on the motor buy I still have a real tough time turning the boat! Any ideals? Help!





Ron
http://[email protected]

 

[Frank Daniel]

The grease has gone bad inside the cable housing. I've heard of people taking them apart, cleaning and regreasing them however, I wouldn't recommend it. The safe thing to do is replace the cables.

Do it right away. A broken steering cable is life threatening.

God Bless.

Frank

 

[Staci Matheis]

Thinking of the simplest possible reason.....



If the motor isn't trimmed properly, the steering is difficult. That would only be if you're running.....

 

[Michael Lyons]

I just replaced my steering cable with a Timeplex. There's was the original equipment for my "95 Nitro 160TF. I also trird to lube up the cables, no go. $170.00. Tie the new to the old when/if you pull the new one, or have someone who has done this before assist. Mine wouldn't loosen up.



Michael

 

[James D.]

ron,



i have the 115hp on my lx700 which should be similar. from the advice above i agree that a new steering cable is in order. a lot of bad things can happen if you lose steering.



one other thing that may be related is the procedure to put the grease in the steering housing. I read in the merc manual that you should first turn the motor the direction such that the steering piston rod is fully inside the steering housing and then add the grease thru the zerk fitting. otherwise, the steering piston rod will have to work against the grease inside the housing when turning the direction which inserts the piston rod. don't know if this is related to your problem or not, but it is a good thing to be aware of when performing maintenance.



jd

 

[John McManus]

 

[John McManus]

My friend, what you ultimately need to do to get adequate steering in your boat is to change your helm. Your boat was not manufactured with NFB steering(No Feedback)and this is why your having problems. Nitro puts in a real cheap setup will the smaller boats and you can play with trim tabs and hydrofoils all you want, but you need to upgrade your steering to NFB and if you really want to get crazy, hydraulic is superb!!!Most likely you have the Teleflex " The Rack" rack and pinion system in your boat. You need to go to a Teleflex NFB rack and pinion helm. You do not have to change the entire system by the way. The rack cables are the same on both. You just need to remove the steering wheel and exchange the helms. This is definately your problem.

 

[Michael Lyons]

I have the Teleplex vice timeplex. Rack and pinion steering, Was going to update to NFB and/or rotary from the rack and pinion and everyone I talked to said stay with what the boat came with, it was designed for that type of steering. Thiswas several dealers, fellow boat owners and Teleplex rep.

 

[John McManus]

If I had stayed with what the boat came with I'd still be dealing with what this poor guy is dealing with. I changed out the helm and it made a world of difference. The original steering system in the smaller boats has such torque pull without the NFB helm that it is actually dangerous to keep the same steering. I don't care what the Teleflex dealer or the Nitro dealer has to say. The NFB helm is the answer!!!

 

[N82Fish]

I know this was a long time ago but what size cable did you use and how did you remove the cable?

 

[JDReel]

I know this was a long time ago but what size cable did you use and how did you remove the cable?

Did you ever figure out what size cable for the 700 lx?