Stiff Steering

[Talulah]

The steering had become progressively stiffer.
I suspected the rudder bearing. Mainly because I have come across several boats where the rudder stock gets so stiff in the bronze bearing that the bronze housing itself turns in the hull whilst the stock seizes in the bearing.
Our Najad suffered from this problem and a couple of years ago we dropped the rudder. Cleaned it all up and fibreglassed the bearing back in the hull.
Attached are some images of another Najad with the same problem.
Not wishing to drop the rudder again I dismantled the rudder parts as far as I could and then squirted carb cleaner in whilst moving the rudder back and forth. The rudder wasn't that stiff but I cleaned it up, regreased it and put it back together. Using the emergency tiller on the stock I could push the rudder back and forth at ease.
However, once the steering cables were re-attached I could barely move the rudder with the emergency tiller. Not a problem with the wheel.
Disconnect the cables and the rudder moved freely again.
So next I suspected the 2 sets of turning pulleys. The guy who replaced the steering cable 18 months ago had dismantled the pulleys to feed the new cable through and left out a spacer. So i thought maybe the pulley wheels were rubbing against each other. Hence, dismantled these, regreased, reassembled but still the same issue. Image attached of pulleys.
Steering still stiff.
So took wheel off and tried turning the shaft that the wheel mounts on by hand. Couldn't do it. The leverage of the wheel meant it turned easily enough but without the wheel on I could just how stiff it was.
Dismantled the binnacle top. Drifted out the shaft. Cleaned everything up, regreased, reassembled etc. Steering now sorted. Completely free to move with both wheel and emergency tiller.
One of the main factors for sorting this out was because the Autopilot ram has to put on even more load than the emergency tiller and I could tell it was consuming a lot of amps. Freeing the steering is essential to avoid excess wear on all the connecting parts.
Surprising how just a small amount of old grease can cause so much friction.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Very informative Edward, the steering is something which only gets looked at when something goes wrong, an often overlooked essential bit of equipment. This should make people a little more aware.

Galagriel has rod steering, no nasty cables to worry about.

 

[pvb]

The greasing points on the wheel spindle are pretty inaccessible, and are usually ignored. I've tried to grease mine a couple of times, but it's not easy.

 

[Elessar]

5* post

proper PBO.

and a great "stitch in time" reminder.

 

[auditdata]

Snap! I did a similar job working on everything within the steering system to eventually discover it was in the steering wheel shaft. I should have diagnosed it earlier as the helm was stiff immediately i.e. even a millimetre turn of the helm was stiff. Now it is all fixed I realise if it was the rudder bearing the helm would still move a fraction before becoming stiff. The root cause was the swelling of the nylon bushes. This apparently is exacerbated by trying to lubricate them as they take on oil and swell. I replaced mine with new ones from Lewmar but have since been told I could have left them in situ and used fine sandpaper to ream them out. There are more photos here and article here

 

[Neil_Y]

I had a similar problem 12 years ago on a Bav 390 with whitlock wheel steering.

Nowadays I would look at replacing bronze and especially nylon or delrin with the latest materials from Maritex, I'm possibly biased but haven't come across a better material yet for high load low speed applications.

 

[Richard10002]

If the cables run in a conduit, the conduit may be gummed up, or the cable fraying. On my Whitlock gear, I eventually found a way of running 3 in 1 oil down the conduit, then spraying a liquid grease which thickens after exposure to air for a while.

Made a massive difference!

 

[johnphilip]

Seizure

Our Whitlock cobra steering was well overdue a grease-up. Access to the pinion and top quadrant is by removing the binnacle compass and cover plate. Whoops! one of the M5 bolts sheared rather than come out of the alloy casting of the pedestal.
Scratched head and retreated to bar.
Used cheapskate Dremel substitute mini cutting wheel to slot the inside of the casting allowing good application of WD40 luckily with grips on the two threads that remained above the casting it now undid.
IMPORTANT LESSON when reassembling use an anti-seize compound or at least grease to prevent future problem. I only hope that this does assist in the marine environment.

 

[mcframe]

Very informative Edward, the steering is something which only gets looked at when something goes wrong, an often overlooked essential bit of equipment. This should make people a little more aware.

Galagriel has rod steering, no nasty cables to worry about.

I've got a tiller - and the rudder post passes through the aft cabin, about 4" from my feet.

When I don't tie the tiller off properly, and hear squeaking at night, then it's time to dribble some 3-in-1 down it ;-)