Turning to the left problems 1999 21v

[Yankees39]

So last summer when turning to he left hard it felt like my wheel skipped a tooth. I have posted about this previously and some thoughts where my cable slipped a tooth inside the gears of the helm ( not sure if I am explaining that correctly). The two biggest problems since this has happened is 1st the steering wheel is "out of alignment" and 2nd the boat is able to make a good hard turn to the right but turning to the left it can't turn half as tight as it can to the right.

Up to this point I have put up with it since it still functions and gets us out on the river. I had the day off and decided I would take the back plate off of the helm and take a look. Everything looked normal so I decided what the heck lets pull out the steering cable and see if we can get the wheel in alignment. This part was easy.

My biggest question is as I went under the boat to move the rudder back and forth and to get straight ( so I can put it back together with a straight aligned wheel) I noticed the rudder only turns about half the distance to the left (top photo. That is all the way that it will turn in that direction) vs to the right (see 2nd photo below) it has a hard stop both ways. I crawled back and looked at the rudder in the engine bay to see if Debri was stoping the rudder from turning more but there wasn't anything. Are there gears/ teeth in the rudder internals that could have slipped last year and that's my problem? The teeth jumped and it's basically turned to much one way?



Is this normal to account for the turbulent flow coming off of the prop? I'm not exaggerating that the boat turn radius to the left is twice as large as to the right. I have a couple friends with ski boats and theirs don't turn nearly this wide to the left it is a lot more equal or radius to the right.

Thanks in advance for any ideas! Sorry for the sideways photos.

[ATTACH]

[cbath]

Time for a new cable, it will come with all the internals at the helm.


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[lee]

By looking at your top two pictures, I would think your cable is not centered. It is going to far in one direction and not far enough in the other.

[Yankees39]

One thing I might add is when I took the top two pictures I had unattached the steering cable from the helm. I pulled the round thing out in picture 3 and had the cable just hanging there. Then I moved the rudder back and forth so at this time the cable was not hooked up to the helm.

[lee]

I would then look inside the boat and see what is restricting the movement of the rudder.

[h2o-ski]

My rudder turns more to the right than the left and that should be by design for reasons you mentioned. However compared to your pics mine turns more to the left and less to the right. I wonder if the rudder shaft slipped a little on assembly that connects to the steering cable.

[Yankees39]

Lee I have reached down and looked all around where the steering cable connects to the rudder shaft and it does not come into contact with anything. In the rudder assembly is there a key that keeps the rudder from turning to far to the left or right? If so I wonder if that moved on and shifting the turning radius.

H2O After reading up this morning on the internet I was thinking the same thing that something in the rudder assembly or like you said the rudder shaft slipped on the assembly. I was trying to find drawings or a diagram of the rudder assembly but have struck out so far for this specific model. Seems pretty straight forward outside of the fact that it is nearly impossible to get both hands down there since it is a v Drive =(

I guess i might just start taking things apart to see what i can figure out. That's a tough pill to swallow because i rather not make it worse or break something since the boat is functional as is but i do need to get it to be able to turn tighter to the left.

Just to be clear the boat isnt hard to turn left or right it just wont turn left nearly as sharp as right.

[IDBoating]

In that first photo, there's what appears to be a crack running down the starboard side of your rudder. I hope I'm wrong; there's no similar mark on the port side. That wouldn't account for your steering problems, but it's sure not something I'd ignore.

[Yankees39]

ID I hope that picture didn't get your blood pressure up (when i first read you reply mine went up for a split second till i looked at the picture) and good spot but there isn't a crack. The top of the rudder had some water on it from being out on Saturday and when i was moving the rudder back and forth the water dripped down and the picture angle makes it look like there is a crack.

[IDBoating]

Glad to hear that! I studied that photo for a long time... it looked exactly like a crack, with the "spreading stain" appearance that you get from a crack that is oozing its moisture onto the surrounding surface. I thought of the water dripping down possibility, but something about the lighting just made me worry. Glad it's OK, sorry for the false alarm!

[lee]

You need to get inside the boat and someone outside the boat turning the rudder. Watch the rudder from the inside and see what is stopping its movement.

[KoolAid]

The other thing is to check the rod casing portion of the cable that is on the mount on the floor to see if it has slid forward. Its underneath the engine oil pan and has four bolts that clamp the rod. That would reduce the throw of the tiller arm one direction because it would allow the opposite side to go further. Also your center of steering wheel would no longer be in the correct orientation. I bet you this is the issue.

[Yankees39]

Kool Aid - that's a interesting thought I'm not exactly sure what your referring to ( boats are still fairly new to me) but I will try to look up some pictures or diagrams and check that out. This is one of the few times I had a DD and not a Vdrive �� It's real hard to get back there and really see anything.

[lee]

Kool Aid - that's a interesting thought I'm not exactly sure what your referring to ( boats are still fairly new to me) but I will try to look up some pictures or diagrams and check that out. This is one of the few times I had a DD and not a Vdrive �� It's real hard to get back there and really see anything.

If you remove the rear port side panel you should be able to see and reach the rudder from the inside.

[KoolAid]

cable end.jpg

Just so you know what I'm talking about. I really wonder if that rod has slipped/moved in the mount. I just don't recall too much about the older rotary systems.