My steering is very stiff. It takes 20lbs of force to move the wheel, and when i tried the emergency tiller, i had to use my legs to move it. I have put WD 40 in all the right places, and i have loosened knobs etc. But no help. The auto pilot seems to work fine, and the rudder moves when I move the wheel, the chain has lubricant,it just takes a lot of work to make it move. My wheel is 27 inches,any ideas???
Ehrich Rose
Sv Kahuna
NS30U #391
Hernando Beach Florida
It sounds like it might be bent?
Arawak n33/41#
James P. Moores
Perhaps obvious but worth double checking if you’re new to the boat.
1. WD40 is not a lube yet many use it as such. WD means water displacement, real grease may be what is needed here. There’s a grease cup on the rudder shaft accessible from down in the engine compartment. Some owners have replaced it with a zerks type grease fitting enabling one to hit it with a grease gun. Others have gone a bit farther by adding a grease line to that fitting so they can accomplish the lube job from an open lazarett.
2. Silly as it sounds check the wheel shaft brake adjustment knob. If that’s holding too tight the wheel will be hard to turn.
Ed Strazzini
s/v PELICAN
N33 #36
Deltaville, VA
Hi Ehrich, is it possible that there’s no grease between the rudder post and the rudder tube. If so the little grease cup needs to be filled up and turned to get grease in there. I give that cup a half turn every time I find myself in one of the lockers.
Ron
Ron & Diane Schryver
“Alpha Waves” 1987 NS30U #393
Georgian Bay Midland ON
"Auto Pilot works fine" I would disconnect the auto pilot and see what happens... A auto pilot would have to deal with the same force so it is odd to be working at all
.
Could it be that the autopilot clutch is not disengaging? On our boat, it is very difficult to steer the boat manually with the autopilot engaged.
David Young
Bay Cat, 30U #402
Suttons Bay, MI
USA
Thanks for the responses…i checked the grease cup, there was grease on it…i packed it as much as I could…i will get more grease, since it looks pretty dirty…the steering was like this before I attached auto pilot…so that is not it…looking at manual, perhaps the wheel brake is stuck it turns but neither tightens or loosens wheel…i will disassemble tomorrow…perhaps rudder is bent…but no way to tell…i will keep working issue…then maybe bring in the pros…
Ehrich Rose
SV Kahuna
NS 30U 1987 #391
Hernando Beach Florida
Ehrich Rose
SV Kahuna
1987 NS 30U #391
Hernando Beach Florida
Just curious how often everyone deals with that grease cup? I finally got the courage to open mine up and the grease looked like it was from 1987. I think the concept is you have to screw in the cup every once in a while to grease the rudder post shaft. I did a full cups-worth today after cleaning out the old grease and repacked it. I’m guessing I’ll give it a twist every month just to keep oozing grease into the shaft.
Any advice?
Thanks,
Bob Gehrman
NS30U #396 “Quickbeam”
Baltimore, Maryland
Once a month is about right Bob. That’s the frequency I’ve been using for many, many, many plus 1/2 a many years (1 many = 10 years).
Ron
Ron & Diane Schryver
“Alpha Waves” 1987 NS30U #393
Georgian Bay Midland ON