Wheel Steering cables /system on 2004 Bene 373, Self destructing?

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Kinsale373

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I experienced a sharp intake of breath when removing the access panel to run some wiring through the steering binacle on my bene 373. A double run of steel steering cable comes fron the Quadrant and turns up at 90 Deg to the wheel over two pulleys. When I removed the plywood access panel in the aft cabin, I noticed appoximately an egg cup full of very fine metal dust. It looks like it been sanded off something. It does look like Aluminium casting material. I can't see where it is coming from. The Boat has the Bene System for turning the wheel at 90 Dec to make acces to the cockpit from the transom easier. The Turning mechanism seems perfectly free. Turning the wheel seems perfectly free and no rough spots.

How does the Steel steering cable attach to the Steering Wheel. Is it just a friction fit over a pulley wheel , or some other mechanism to prevent slip ?

Just wondering if anyone has experience of a similar issue before I go pulling things apart ? Has anyone stripped down one of these systems

Regards, Kinsale 373
 
Kinsale373 said:
How does the Steel steering cable attach to the Steering Wheel. Is it just a friction fit over a pulley wheel , or some other mechanism to prevent slip ?
Click to expand...

I believe the two cables attach to the ends of a U-shaped piece of chain which runs on a sprocket on the steering wheel shaft.
 
Ok , I can visualise that, I might have some wear on the Sprocket, although Id expect both sprocket and chain to to be made fron steel rather than Aluminium or Alloy.

Thanks for the info , Kinsale 373
 
Our First 38s5 has exactly what PVB describes , the sprocket and chain are steel. The wheel locking mechanism is aluminium and this relies on friction so could produce dust..
 
Check if the steel cables touch the inside of the vertical steering column at some point, if the two pulleys are not perfectly positioned, the wires go stiff/slack all the time, the slack moments might make the wire touch the internal wall of the column.
 
Further to my earlier reply. There is an aluminium casting, the main body of the mechanism, and this carries the wheel shaft in bearings. The bearings could have failed and be wearing the casting. Our make is Goiot and I have a sectional drawing of it. You are welcome to a copy if you want it. Send me an email address.
 
Sorry to be no help what so ever and jump on the back of this thread but I was about to start a thread about lubing my steering cables. I have the same steering set up as you on a Ben 343 although its the twin rudder set up so a little more wire.
My question is are your stainless steel wires lubricated or do you leave them dry, I cant decide if I should oil them or not, they never were by previous owner.
 
tyce said:
Sorry to be no help what so ever and jump on the back of this thread but I was about to start a thread about lubing my steering cables. I have the same steering set up as you on a Ben 343 although its the twin rudder set up so a little more wire.
My question is are your stainless steel wires lubricated or do you leave them dry, I cant decide if I should oil them or not, they never were by previous owner.
Click to expand...

They don't need lubricating in theory, unless they run in conduits. However, I don't see any harm in lightly oiling or greasing the sections of the cable which run over sheaves.
 
Thanks for all the useful info and ideas guys.
I found a couple of U Tube Maintenance clips where they advocate lubricating the cables by rubbing on oil with a tissue paper. If you have any burs on the wire it will grab the tissue and youll see the damage easily. Im going to lube my cables , seems to make sense.

Ill try the magent idea , nice one ,!

Once this weather goes through Ill get back to the boat and take a good look. Im hoping it just a little wear on the turning shieves at the bottom of the pedestal.

Thanks again for the useful suggestions.


Kinsale 373
 
We had to replace one of the two pulleys as the retaining lip on one side had been ground away and the cable slipped off. The issue was that the hinge that the pulleys swivel on had got stiff when under strain.
 
Rupert W ,
From the discussions , im thinking along the lines that my issue is probably with one of the lower pulleys. Ill look more closely this coming week. Getting them out doesn't look to be too big a job, Thanks for the input .
Regards Kinsale 373
 
It’s quite easy - just a split pin on the hinge. The pulley replacements are standard agricultural parts at about a fifth of the price of ordering through Jeanneau. Main thing to look for is uneven wear - ours had almost become knife sharp.
 
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