frozen steering

[eaglesfanguy]

hey folks.I was wondering have any of yall experienced your steering freez up?I have an 18 ft lugana sea ray ,with a 115 merc. Well when i went to do try outs i couldnt get the steering wheel to move the motor.I greased the fittings and still nothing.
I was wondering if anyone had any tips to fix this .
I have been manually moving the steering rod from the motor via 3lb maul and some degreasers. It seems the grease has hardened.
I was told you put high pressure air into the grease fittings and that will blow out the old crap . but 120 psi isnt done a thing.

If there is any marine place you guys recomend id be apprieciative of it.But mainly im trying an at home fix.

thansk for any help you can give me
steve

[YakandSurf]

Its been many years since I worked at a marina but I remember a boat came in with a simular problem. His steering cables where all rusted inside and would not allow the cable to pass thur. Should be ease to check. Disconect the cable on the engine side and then try the steering wheel. If the cable does not move. Replace them. If they move a little you may try using some cable oil sold for motercycles for a temporary fix but still will need to be replaced.
Hope your problem is this simple.

Robert

[eaglesfanguy]

I dissconneted the cable from the motor and it moved smoothly.So now im going to heat up the actuator and see if i cant melt the old grease and heat the sleeve till its movable..
Thanks for the help

[kapoc]

I'm in norfolk if you need help gimme a pm and I'll shoot you some #'s and we'll see if we can get you up and running again


Mike