Steering cable replacement completed.

[Gdespradel]

I believe my cable was 17' but I'm not 100% sure. Like previously stated, it will be displayed on the cable.

I have a 2003 sea ray 240 sundeck and the reference that the steering cable has is cc17915 teleflex 21561, this confuses me since this reference is 15 feet, someone has changed it

 

[Blueone]

2004 270 Sundeck had stiff steering. It was nearly frozen when I first came in contact with it, and after disconnecting the clevis and cotter pin and greasing it, it would reluctantly turn, but it wasn't right and stiff enough to be dangerous.
Looking at the cable, the length, 17 feet, was stamped on it, as was the Teleflex brand.

I called Teleflex, who also goes by or was acquired by Seastar, and they recommended their new high performance upper duper ninja Teflon coated easy turn cable. My part number was 15417. The better cable was only a few bucks more. I could have gotten a complete new helm for only anther $30, but mine was tight and solid. he cable was about $135 plus shipping.

Four screws hold on the vinyl cover inside the door in front of the helm. The ol' one bedroom apartment. Four more bolts hold on the cable to the rack. Maybe 7/16?

At the stern, I laid a life vest for padding over the plastic engine cover on the petite little 496, sprawled my ample carcass over it, and removed the cotter pin and clevis and pulled the cable out towards the starboard side. That's boat talk for you shore bound folks. It is also the only direction the cable will side out.

I attached some stout nylon string to the steering bar to use as a fish tape, and pulled it out towards the front. Along the way, I went through some gloves and band aids. There is a glom of silicone just aft of the throttle lever, accessible through the sink door, and I drilled that out with a step drill bit. You need room to pull the big nut from the steering bar through there. While we are mentioning the steering bar, there is a flat indentation on the housing that is slides in to for use as a wrench holding spot. Use it, not channel locks on the outer housing. You don't want to crush or deform the housing and make the steering worse.

Snaking the new cable back rough is much easier with a helper. One to tug on the fish string, and one to wiggle and guide through the tight spots. This isn't complicated, just requires minor patience.
The entire job start to finish took a leisurely 1.5 hours. It takes longer to tow it to the dealer and drop it off. A smaller boat might be easier, a giant cruiser with twins might suck with Biblical severity.

The steering turns with a pinky now. Super easy. I am thrilled with it, and glad that I tackled it. I just wanted to share my experience in case any of you were thinking about that project.

All that and not a single pic

 

[Bill Krasnor]

I replaced my steering cable on my 2002 240 Sundeck probably back in 2019. If you have questions about the project, let me know. I matched the length on the old one and got the new one with extra teflon. I had to unbolt the water tank and turn it to get the old one out and insert the new one. I provided pictures back in 2019 (see above in this thread).

 

[KEN MCDONOUGH]

our 290 was impossible without taking a bunch of stuff out so I just cut it. Big pair of bolt cutters went right through it.

Hi , I'm new here and was reading this, I have a new to me 2001 290DA and I have to replace the steering cable , is there anything special I will need or any tips anyone can give me as to how to access everything and fish the new cable through? Any help is appreciated !

 

[Strecker25]

Hi , I'm new here and was reading this, I have a new to me 2001 290DA and I have to replace the steering cable , is there anything special I will need or any tips anyone can give me as to how to access everything and fish the new cable through? Any help is appreciated !

just make sure you get the right cable, there are a couple styles so I removed my old one first to get the dimensions of the rack. You could unbolt it and measure too if you don't want to remove it before the new parts are in.

Other than that its just bloody knuckles and fiberglass shards in your arms Take out as many panels as you can, you can remove the entire fiberglass assembly that holds the shifters by removing the 4-6 screws. No need to disconnect anything, just move it out of the way so you can get your head in there.

The hardest part is pushing it through the sealant and into the engine room. It will be a huge silicone blob so you might have to poke through it with a screwdriver. Once its through, the rest is a pretty straightforward R&R

 

[KEN MCDONOUGH]

just make sure you get the right cable, there are a couple styles so I removed my old one first to get the dimensions of the rack. You could unbolt it and measure too if you don't want to remove it before the new parts are in.

Other than that its just bloody knuckles and fiberglass shards in your arms Take out as many panels as you can, you can remove the entire fiberglass assembly that holds the shifters by removing the 4-6 screws. No need to disconnect anything, just move it out of the way so you can get your head in there.

The hardest part is pushing it through the sealant and into the engine room. It will be a huge silicone blob so you might have to poke through it with a screwdriver. Once its through, the rest is a pretty straightforward R&R

I unfortunately have to replace the helm as well, the steering was getting tight at the end of the season last year and I guess over the winter it completely seized , I checked the engines, drives and got everything ready to have it splashed , the marina put it in the water ,I pushed myself off of the dock so I could take it to my slip and found I had no steering , tried to use the throttles to get me over to the slip but it didn't work well with the current and wind so I tried tugging on the steering wheel to break it free but instead broke the helm. I ordered a new helm and 17 ft cable since the parts manual says its a 16.5 . Thanks for the heads up about the silicone blob I would have never guessed that and how did you get to the back of the helm where the cable connects ?

 

[Strecker25]

I unfortunately have to replace the helm as well, the steering was getting tight at the end of the season last year and I guess over the winter it completely seized , I checked the engines, drives and got everything ready to have it splashed , the marina put it in the water ,I pushed myself off of the dock so I could take it to my slip and found I had no steering , tried to use the throttles to get me over to the slip but it didn't work well with the current and wind so I tried tugging on the steering wheel to break it free but instead broke the helm. I ordered a new helm and 17 ft cable since the parts manual says its a 16.5 . Thanks for the heads up about the silicone blob I would have never guessed that and how did you get to the back of the helm where the cable connects ?

A combination of sticking my arms into that fuse panel opening and taking the two switch panels out and hanging them to the side

 

[KEN MCDONOUGH]

A combination of sticking my arms into that fuse panel opening and taking the two switch panels out and hanging them to the side

OK ,thank you very much for your help ! This is a great community of people with lots of knowledge , like I said I'm new but I've read tons on here .

 

[Rizzman]

I just converted my 330DA to hydraulic steering because the cable was practically seized up and to replace it I would have had to remove the starboard side fuel tank. My cable went from under the dash down through a hole that ran it under the upper half of the deck thru aluminum clamps all the way back. There was no way to pull it out or get to it without pulling the fuel tank out and there was no way that was happening. It was a major pain but I was able to run two Sea Star 3/8" hard plastic lines from helm to stearn and was not able to route the same as the cable. We had to cut the cable off and leave in there for ever more. Hydraulic steering is so much easier and smoother once it is installed.