I/O Steering issue...

ArkBoater

New member
Hey gang! I hope ya'll can help me.

I have a 1989 cheetah 1650LS with an I/O 3.0L Mercruiser in it. My boat is fairly easy to steer to the left and right out of the water (although I can detect a little more resistance when turning to the right) and it's the same way at idle in the water. When going at a decent speed all the way to WOT, it turns fine to the left but is incredibly hard to turn to the right. I mean it takes two strong hands to turn it back to the right. I bought to boat from a family friend who has had the boat since new and he said he put a new steering cable in it 2 summers ago. Anyway, could this cable
be bad?
Any help would be GREAT! :thankyou2:
 

Bt Doctur

Super Moderator
Staff member
do you have power steering? if not ,you may need to adjust the "trim tab" to compensate for the prop torque. loosen the allen and adjust to the right.
 

ArkBoater

New member
do you have power steering? if not ,you may need to adjust the "trim tab" to compensate for the prop torque. loosen the allen and adjust to the right.
Thanks BT. No, I do not have power steering and I have already messed with the trim tab and it was no help. When turning to the right, I mean it is HARD to turn. I'm talking its almost not turnable. Like something is in a bind.
 

Bt Doctur

Super Moderator
Staff member
could try disconnecting the cable from the steering arm and apply a pushing action on that end and try to turn the wheel. it might be the helm unit binding.as far as the trim tab issue ,how far have you tried to turn it, 1/2 inch,1 inch,etc?
i have operated the same engines and have not had a problem with torque.
 

ArkBoater

New member
could try disconnecting the cable from the steering arm and apply a pushing action on that end and try to turn the wheel. it might be the helm unit binding.as far as the trim tab issue ,how far have you tried to turn it, 1/2 inch,1 inch,etc?
i have operated the same engines and have not had a problem with torque.

So the helm unit can bind huh. Hmmm I really don't think I need a new cable because the previous owner put a new one on it about 3 summers ago. Usually they last longer than that. I'll have to take the cable off at the arm and try it. That does sound like something it might be. I mean turning to the left is a one hand job when under power, but if I want to turn to the right, its a two hand job and its still REALLY, REALLY hard to turn to the right. So hard that I pretty much plan while driving not to make right hand turns unless I absolutely have to. Also, (thinking about the helm) I just remembered this. When I'm turning to the right, there is some kind of a squeaking noise (like metal on metal that needs grease to explain the sound) coming from the helm. It's not coming from the engine end of the cable so maybe it is something up there. I'm not the most mechanically inclined person so does anyone have any type of pictures or a detailed description of what to check at the helm end? Thanks gang!!

Jared
 

mrfixit

New member
sorry i don't have any pictures, but it would defanitly start by checking the helm, i would start with unhooking the steering cable at the helm and see if it makes a difference, if it does then It would tell you that you need a steering helm on your console. based on it making the noise i would say chances are good that is the problem.
hope this helps.
 

ArkBoater

New member
Thanks for the reply. But I sold the boat Tuesday so it's someone elses problem now. :D I told them about it and they drove it so I guess they don't care. :D
 

Doc

Liquid Addiction
Staff member
Thanks for the reply. But I sold the boat Tuesday so it's someone elses problem now. :D I told them about it and they drove it so I guess they don't care. :D
So, are you planning on replacing your boat with a BIGGER one? We all get that two foot itiss ....where we just have to have a bigger boat and two foot more is all we need. :D
 

ArkBoater

New member
So, are you planning on replacing your boat with a BIGGER one? We all get that two foot itiss ....where we just have to have a bigger boat and two foot more is all we need. :D
Not quite yet. My wife is in graduate school and will be going full time in the Fall (09), Spring (10), Summer (10), Fall (10) so I knew we wouldn't get to use the boat next summer at all so I figured the beginning of this summer would be a beter time to sell it than the end. Plus I got $900 more than I paid for it 3 years ago so I think I made out pretty well. :D
 

rlk

New member
sorry i don't have any pictures, but it would defanitly start by checking the helm, i would start with unhooking the steering cable at the helm and see if it makes a difference, if it does then It would tell you that you need a steering helm on your console. based on it making the noise i would say chances are good that is the problem.
hope this helps.

I know you have already sold the boat, but I had a similar problem on my last i/o. If I tilted the outdrive up some, the problem went away. It was only hard to turn to the right when the outdrive was all the way down. If the new owner complains, tell him to try this.

Bob
 
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