Sloppy Steering and Tilt/ Trim Tab Issue

Green Mountain Grady

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
63
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Location
Burlington, VT
Hi All,
After a rough boating year we finally got our 1991 Tournament 225 relaunched on July 3rd with a new used engine (put a 2008 Yamaha f250 on her) and had a bunch of work done over the winter. The number one issue I'm having is steering. A new O ring was put in at the helm station as I was getting some fluid leakage and now my steering is horrid. Where it used to be one crank of the wheel its now 4 and the helm just isn't responding well. It's the same steering assembly as was on the boat for my 2001 OX66 which died. Any thoughts ideas would be much appreciated!
My other issue is the tilt/ trim tab button on the Yamaha 704 binnacle station. From the switch on the engine, I can raise/ lower the engine with no issues but from the binnacle I can only lower not raise. Is this an electrical connection, is it a bad switch in the binnacle, is the binnacle shot? Luckily the Lake Champlain water level is so high its not a huge concern right now but it will be as the summer progresses. Thanks for the help!
 

artodea

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2014
Messages
87
Reaction score
3
Points
8
Location
Boston Northshore
It sounds like your steering system has air in it - was it properly bled when you re-powered? If there is no air the helm may need to be rebuilt, which means you micht as well just get a new one.
The trim switch is an easy fix - you can either buy a replacement switch (about $70 from a dealer or $20 for an aftermarket) or take yours apart and clean it. Here's one guy's method in a youtube video: https://youtu.be/G5GV3az9k0Q

Good luck!