From: Mike (Original Message) Sent: 2/25/2003 8:27 PM
I got good news and bad news. The good news is my stiff, and nearly frozen, steering was due to crud inside the tilt tube or steering tube or whatever you call it. The cable is free as can be. The bad news is, I'm waiting another season before upgrading to hydraulic steering. It's a money thing.
About that tube. It is the hollow tube with threaded ends upon which the motor tilts. The steering cable nut attaches to one side. When I got the cable out, finally, there was some pretty stiff crud packed around it in the tube. I cleaned and polished everything, including the bore of the tube, and put it back together with some grease on all the moving parts. I was surprised to see that the grease zerks for the tilt pivot did not feed a little grease into the tube as well. I expected to find a hole or two to allow the grease to get in and lube the cable mechanism. If the only grease that the sliding cable end gets is what I smeared on there, then it is probably best to pull the cable out more frequently than once a year. Is there some way to freshen the grease in there that I am missing? I also figured there should be some lip seals or wipers of some sort, but the ends of the tube are open to the elements. Weird. Who invented this stuff?
She spins easy now. I can go lock to lock with one finger spinning a spoke of the wheel.
Mike
From: LesLampman Sent: 2/26/2003 7:00 AM
Mike,
There is a seal on the port end of the tilt tube; the starboard end is covered by the cable nut.
Honda’s main concern regarding the tilt tube zerk fittings (from a manufacturer’s standpoint) is that the tilt tube itself is lubricated so that there isn’t an issue with the motor tilting (or not). Maintenance on the cable is up to the owner (or his/her mechanic). Remember, Honda has no idea what kind of steering is going to be used on the engine; if it is hydraulic there is a solid stainless shaft going through the tilt tube, if the engine is one of a pair (as on the TomCat) there isn’t anything going through the tilt tube and having grease feeding in there wouldn’t be a good thing.
Les
From: Mike Sent: 2/26/2003 8:36 PM
Aha! I don't have one of them seals. It must be housed in a nut of some sort that threads onto the port end of the tube? I'll take a look at the local marine store. It seems I saw some nuts on the rack with a little zerk fitting in them. Would that be the deal?
Thanks, Les. It really bugged me to see the one end of that tube without any protection.
Mike
From: LesLampman Sent: 2/27/2003 11:36 AM
Mike,
The big nut on the port side has an o-ring inside it; there aren’t any exposed threads on which to mount one of those nuts with zerk fittings. One end is not unprotected.
Les
I got good news and bad news. The good news is my stiff, and nearly frozen, steering was due to crud inside the tilt tube or steering tube or whatever you call it. The cable is free as can be. The bad news is, I'm waiting another season before upgrading to hydraulic steering. It's a money thing.
About that tube. It is the hollow tube with threaded ends upon which the motor tilts. The steering cable nut attaches to one side. When I got the cable out, finally, there was some pretty stiff crud packed around it in the tube. I cleaned and polished everything, including the bore of the tube, and put it back together with some grease on all the moving parts. I was surprised to see that the grease zerks for the tilt pivot did not feed a little grease into the tube as well. I expected to find a hole or two to allow the grease to get in and lube the cable mechanism. If the only grease that the sliding cable end gets is what I smeared on there, then it is probably best to pull the cable out more frequently than once a year. Is there some way to freshen the grease in there that I am missing? I also figured there should be some lip seals or wipers of some sort, but the ends of the tube are open to the elements. Weird. Who invented this stuff?
She spins easy now. I can go lock to lock with one finger spinning a spoke of the wheel.
Mike
From: LesLampman Sent: 2/26/2003 7:00 AM
Mike,
There is a seal on the port end of the tilt tube; the starboard end is covered by the cable nut.
Honda’s main concern regarding the tilt tube zerk fittings (from a manufacturer’s standpoint) is that the tilt tube itself is lubricated so that there isn’t an issue with the motor tilting (or not). Maintenance on the cable is up to the owner (or his/her mechanic). Remember, Honda has no idea what kind of steering is going to be used on the engine; if it is hydraulic there is a solid stainless shaft going through the tilt tube, if the engine is one of a pair (as on the TomCat) there isn’t anything going through the tilt tube and having grease feeding in there wouldn’t be a good thing.
Les
From: Mike Sent: 2/26/2003 8:36 PM
Aha! I don't have one of them seals. It must be housed in a nut of some sort that threads onto the port end of the tube? I'll take a look at the local marine store. It seems I saw some nuts on the rack with a little zerk fitting in them. Would that be the deal?
Thanks, Les. It really bugged me to see the one end of that tube without any protection.
Mike
From: LesLampman Sent: 2/27/2003 11:36 AM
Mike,
The big nut on the port side has an o-ring inside it; there aren’t any exposed threads on which to mount one of those nuts with zerk fittings. One end is not unprotected.
Les