Yamaha 15hp steering arm

[starrzo]

Hi guys,

I just had my (new to me) Orkney Coastliner 14 out for the first time yesterday and it was great.

I wondered if I could get a little advice about the steering arm on my motor. I noticed some brown crap on and around the arm so I cleaned it up. Now I notice if I move the steering full one side to the other the arm comes out brown and mucky again.

I've seen people (on youtube) greasing these arms. Is there any way I can clean the inners of mine and should I grease it?

Here is a quick video to show you. I cleaned the arm spotlessly then moved the steering on side to the other and you can see the brown: Steering arm

Cheers.

 

[QBhoy]

Yeah. Take the ram out the tube…clean it through with a rag. Clean the ram up. Grease and back together.
what you’ve described happens when folk just spray wd40 or similar in there. Mixed with salt water..you get corrosion to the tube inners.

 

[starrzo]

Yeah. Take the ram out the tube…clean it through with a rag. Clean the ram up. Grease and back together.
what you’ve described happens when folk just spray wd40 or similar in there. Mixed with salt water..you get corrosion to the tube inners.

I’ll do just that, thanks @QBhoy
Any recommendation in the grease I should get?

Cheers.

 

[QBhoy]

I’ll do just that, thanks @QBhoy
Any recommendation in the grease I should get?

Cheers.

Personally…I use the Quicksilver extreme grease. Covers lots of boat grease requirements. Great stuff. Is there a grease nipple on the steering tube ? If so…keep her fresh with grease.

 

[starrzo]

Personally…I use the Quicksilver extreme grease. Covers lots of boat grease requirements. Great stuff. Is there a grease nipple on the steering tube ? If so…keep her fresh with grease.

I don’t think so; it’s a fairly basic two stroke 15hp Yamaha with no powered tilt or trim. I don’t think there is a steering grease nipple but I’ll manually remove and clean/grease like you described to keep it fresh.

 

[starrzo]

Personally…I use the Quicksilver extreme grease. Covers lots of boat grease requirements. Great stuff. Is there a grease nipple on the steering tube ? If so…keep her fresh with grease.

I had a look at my manual and it does show two spots that should be greased. I expected to find nipples here but there are actually just holes. How would I be supposed to grease those if there are no nipples do you think?

Photos attached.

 

[starrzo]

On closer inspection those holes as indicated by the manual seem to be for greasing the tilt (I think). I am confused as to how you would grease holes though? There’s another one for the cover latch that’s just a hole too.

Back to the steering arm. The hole that the cable is too close to the motor to allow me to just pull it out. I suspect I’d need to either disconnect and bring the cable right out from the steering wheel to the motor, or lift the motor off? ? Don’t really fancy doing either ?

Would just greasing what I can manage to access be sufficient do you reckon?

Thanks!

 

[QBhoy]

Not familiar with that set up. But I can see an earth strap there in first picture. Maybe tidy that up a little and test it’s continuity

 

[starrzo]

Not familiar with that set up. But I can see an earth strap there in first picture. Maybe tidy that up a little and test it’s continuity

Continuity is fine, getting a nice solid beep

 

[starrzo]

Not familiar with that set up. But I can see an earth strap there in first picture. Maybe tidy that up a little and test it’s continuity

Got this all sorted. I moved the outboard to one side which allowed me to pull the steering rod out from the tilt tube. Cleaned all the old grease off and used a drill with a long piece of cable with fine grit sandpaper wrapped around to smooth out the inners of the tilt tube, along with some sprays of carb cleaner and blue roll to mop up.

I lightly re-greased the steering tube with Yamalube “lical” and put it all back together. I did discover that the far side of the tilt tube should be sealed off with a plastic cap and O ring which is missing so I’ve ordered that. The steering is lovely and light now at the wheel.

Oh and I got a grease gun and blasted the grease points per the manual, including the motor “turn” hinge which should assist the steering further.

Thanks for your help.