Hydraulic steering a little stiff, normal or not?

[Captain TJ]

So we have our new to us Sailfish with twin 250 Yami's on her. After a long day on the water my shoulders hurt for a week plus due to the workout of turning the wheel back and forth to maintain course in rough water. The steering feels a little too stiff for what we have but I have no prior experience with twin outboards. We don't power assist but it's like a seastar hydraulic system I believe. My big boat with the same steering system but turning rudders is 10+ times easier to turn. It does not seem to require excessive turns of the wheel for full turn either direction so it doesn't appear to have air in the system.

Is this common on a sailfish or should I be looking for a kinked line somewhere? We love our boat and I'm getting to know her as I work out some of the kinks of a new used boat.

Also going to be looking into autopilot within the next year so noiw I have to start researching the options for that as well. I will want to go with Furuno to match my plotter combo unit.

 

[seasick]

It shouldn't be that hard to turn. Is it a lot harder to turn in one direction as opposed to the opposite direction? Does the wheel shudder at all when turning?

 

[SkunkBoat]

quick check...disconnect motors from steering and see if they move VERY easily by hand. Fingers crossed they move easy...
The grease in the swivel bracket can dry up and bind especially the top. Once it does, your new grease never gets to the bushing. If its a problem, you have to dissolve out the old grease with WD40 or the like. Remove the zerk fittings and spray and wiggle... drill a hole and add a zerk up top too. I did that on my 20 yr old Yammies and difference was dramatic.. Regrease from bottom until grease come out top...if it doesn't, grease in the new top zerk.

Worst case you need a new bushing....not easy.. did it once on an old suzuki. The manual would have you take the whole motor head off but I did it with the motor hanging on a lift, removed from the the shock mounts, pulled out the swivel rod, cleaned up, changed bushing/washers, added a zerk up top.

 

[Captain TJ]

No shudder when turning. As for the grease in the bushing I haven't looked there but that will be on my list of investigative ideas. Thanks for the ideas, I will check that next.

 

[seasick]

No shudder when turning. As for the grease in the bushing I haven't looked there but that will be on my list of investigative ideas. Thanks for the ideas, I will check that next.

On some yamis you have to look hard to see the grease fitting on the turn bushing casting. It often gets overlooked.
You might be able to test for binding without disconnecting the tie rod. Most setups will have a little side to side play. Get a good hold on one motor and try to turn it ( and the other motor with it). You should be able to tell if there is a binding issue.

 

[Meanwhile]

quick check...disconnect motors from steering and see if they move VERY easily by hand. Fingers crossed they move easy...
The grease in the swivel bracket can dry up and bind especially the top. Once it does, your new grease never gets to the bushing. If its a problem, you have to dissolve out the old grease with WD40 or the like. Remove the zerk fittings and spray and wiggle... drill a hole and add a zerk up top too. I did that on my 20 yr old Yammies and difference was dramatic.. Regrease from bottom until grease come out top...if it doesn't, grease in the new top zerk.

Worst case you need a new bushing....not easy.. did it once on an old suzuki. The manual would have you take the whole motor head off but I did it with the motor hanging on a lift, removed from the the shock mounts, pulled out the swivel rod, cleaned up, changed bushing/washers, added a zerk up top.

Any chance of a photo of exactly where you added a zerk? That is a great idea.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Any chance of a photo of exactly where you added a zerk? That is a great idea.

no picture and I don't have the yammies anymore but here's a diagram. You are pretty much limited by the angle that you can get a drill in there that will be perpendicular to the bushing.


I used the open hole to spray in WD40 and even used a nylon zip tie pushed in & out to loosen dry grease. Since I needed a hole to clean out the old, I added a zerk to it.
I think the reason they only have a bottom zerk is that they want the new grease to push out the old grease. By having a top zerk, you could push old grease down and trap it in the space between zerks.(not good!). So Ideally, you use the bottom until grease comes out the top.

Something to be aware of...if you are pumping in grease and it is not coming out the top or not coming out at all, you can get a pressure lock...and turning the motor will become very difficult. To unlock you have to remove the zerk... as you loosen it, it will pop out from the pressure and grease will squirt out.

This will happen if there is dry grease at the top. If grease is only coming out of the bottom end, you have a dry grease problem.

 

[georgemjr]

Very informative, thank you. Although you may have just added to my to-do list, it sounds like a winter project I will have to tackle!

 

[Parthery]

Pray you don't ever need part #5. A couple years back, I needed it on a 225 OX66. Had to be cast and come from Japan. Took almost 8 weeks to get here.

 

[Captain TJ]

Definitely more to look into. Thanks for the info. Time to get ready to go elk hunting so this may get back burnered for a bit.