Yamaha F90 Rusted Bolts on Steering Bracket

T

Tortuga

New member
Hi everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve posted but with the kids grown and the job winding down I again have time to get the boat back out.

When doing my annual maintenance I noticed that the steering bracket bolts on my Yamaha F90 are pretty rusted:

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I used a wire brush on my dremel to see if this is anything beyond surface rust, and it looks like there is still plenty of bolt intact:

IMG_1309.sized.jpg

But, I wanted to share with the team to see if anyone has experienced this, and what your recommendations are. Replacing the bolts requires removing the power head etc so I’m not inclined to do that unless needed. The motor is a 2008, with about 350 hours.

In person time, the engine is as old as the difference in this kid from this:

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to this:

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Thanks for any advice or suggestions!

Matt
 
If you don't need to remove the bolts, I'd leave them alone. It's likely that the only rusted part is the part you can see.

However, if you do have to remove those bolts, it's going to be a real PITA.
 
No worry there. wire brush and clean surface rust, then clean dry and apply a Rustolium primer and then spray matching (their silver is almost a perfect match)

Also spray the color coat along the edges of where you see the rust.

I have removed these nuts without removing the power head. First the one to the steering link. It can be a bit tedious. Then you can remove the nuts. The bolts are studs into the casting.
 
I have some bolts/nuts that look like that on a 6 year old Yamaha. I figured they corroded because the sea water never got properly washed off since these bolts/nuts are under the cowling. The bolts/nuts worried me, so after changing the oil, I left the cowling off for a couple of years.

Later when I took the boat to a very experienced mechanic up here in Anacortes, he told me not to worry about the bolts/nuts. They might not look right, but it was fine. He could get them off if he needed to. He said I might potentially do more harm by leaving the cowling off (something about water getting in the engine while reversing).

I put the cowling back on and haven't worried since.
 
My father, who was a pipe fitter, gave me some very good advise when I was young. He told me to put Coppercoat or other anti seize coating on every nut and bolt you install or fix. This has been my standard procedure here on the ranch, fixing machinery, vehicles and my toys like my boat. I rarely have problems removing a bolt, even exposed to salt water if I applied Coppercoat.
 
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