210 Sticking Steering

[SeaRay]

I have a 1999 Searay 210BR. I replaced the steering cable about 3 years ago because it was getting stiff to turn. It has been working fine but the last couple of times out I have noticed that the steering is "sticky".

It is generally smooth and will turn easy but occasionally it will catch and stop on something. If I just quit turning, and maybe slightly go in the opposite direction, it will free it up and turn just fine again. It is way easier to just stop and reverse slightly, than try to force it past the spot where it stops.

It turns with no issues out of the water on the trailer.

Any ideas on where to look for the problem?

Thanks in advance

 

[scoflaw]

Probably the helm unit.

 

[Leardriver]

Disconnect the pin at the back of the engine, so that the cable is unhooked. Try the steering wheel like that and see if it is smooth. Then turn the drive back and forth and check for impingement. That should help narrow down the source of the stickiness.

 

[SeaRay]

The problem is that out of the water, I guess when there is no load on it, the whole system steers fine. So disconnecting it, to separate the sources, really won't help.

 

[SeaRay]

Scoflaw was correct. The issue was in the helm.

I have the tilt steering with the rack and pinion gearing. The tilt steering mechanism has 2 bolts that clamp down some clam shell type brackets to the pinion shaft coming out of the dash. One of the bolts goes through a hole in the shaft.

Those bolts worked loose and were catching internally when I turned the wheel. I should have pulled this apart sooner...It went from bad to worse and finally completely locked up while we were out on the water. I had no steering at all. Which was bad when we are doing S-Turns while pulling a tube...

I was able to pull it apart, find the problem and get it back together on the water - luckily I had all the right tools with me.

I didn't need to replace any parts, just tighten bolts. It is a fairly complicated assembly and took a while to figure what needed to come apart and how, but I was just glad to get her going again and not have to deal with getting the boat off the lake with no steering.