How to change a steering cable.

[jwanck11]

Thanks for the info regarding the length! As to the "other" post... I am choosing to ignore that one (for now!)

[jwanck11]

Well, first snag. The markings on the cable have worn off. Does anyone know what the cable length is on an 04 22i?

[jwanck11]

OK. So the steering cable is replaced in my 22i. Please note that the directions by Lee were different in some respects to what I went through. Note in the 22i, this was NOT an easy job. Before you get started, I would think you might consider whether this is something that you want to tackle. It took me several hours to do.

The first step is to remove the steering rack from under the helm as described in Lee's post and then remove the two "covers" down by the drivers left foot. There were 2 screws in each. Apologies, the first pict si turned on its side.

[jwanck11]

The next step was to loosen the 1 1/8" nut in the stern under the access panel. It is possible to get a full sized wrench in the space under there, but be warned it is a reach and is not an easy space to work in. Unfortunately, the nut would not back off. The entire assembly spun.

At this point I cut the cable right in the middle of the access opening. I also taped a rope to the cut end and pulled the cable up through the helm. This left a rope to pull the new line back toward the rudder when the time came.

The pictures show first what you will find when opening the access panel and the second is after I took the assembly (using a 1" ratchet)off of the mount. This was necessary so that I could get the cable out in order to free the 1 1/8" nut.

[jwanck11]

Now I removed the cable from the rudder. In order to do this, I had to use 2 ratchets. One ratchet is anchored to the floor of the boat to resist while the other ratchet was used to back out the bolt. Even with the rudder fully toward me, this is a looong reach.

This is where some folks might consider allowing a dealer to finish the job having saved a bit of coin on the tear out.

With the cable out, I had to use a vice and some Liquid Wrench to get the 1 1/8" nut to back off.

[jwanck11]

Now it was time to pull the new cable through the boat. I taped the cable to the rope and fed the cable in from the helm through the access panel back toward the stern. One nice thing about the direct drive is that you can open the motor hood for easier fishing. It was a small victory. There are a lot of cables and things in the way, so I took my time.

[jwanck11]

It was time for re-assembly, but when I went to feed the cable back through the sleeve, it was seriously sticky. There was nasty gunk build up inside of the sleeve and the new cable was not going through. Off to the store to buy some gunk cleaner and marine grease.

[jwanck11]

The reassembly went fairly smoothly after everything was cleaned. I put the bolt back into the mount, then attached the cable to the rudder. There was a fair amount of cable left over Although I replaced it with the same length (17') so I just fed the extra down into the bilge making sure that nothing bound and that there were no tight turns.

Set the rudder straight and reattached the rack... just in time to get the cover back on.

Steering is smooth as butter. but man am I paying the price.

[lohe]

Nice update for the I boats I just did mine on a 98 21i. I was doing some other projects at the same time so I had the gas tank carpet off. I found it easier to unscrew the tank and stick a section of 2x4 to lift the tank up a few inches for more working room. Also on the rudder there is a zerk/grease fitting if you didn't you should get a grease gun and fill it. Mine had almost no grease in it and made noise, after greasing it noise stopped and made it even easier to turn the wheel. Also on mine it had a pin that atached the cable to the rudder so it was a little easier to remove I cut my old cable in the engine bay section and attached the new cable and pulled it through to the helm that way.

[KonaKing]

The reassembly went fairly smoothly after everything was cleaned. I put the bolt back into the mount, then attached the cable to the rudder. There was a fair amount of cable left over Although I replaced it with the same length (17') so I just fed the extra down into the bilge making sure that nothing bound and that there were no tight turns.

Set the rudder straight and reattached the rack... just in time to get the cover back on.

Steering is smooth as butter. but man am I paying the price.

Hey J what cover is that ?

[Ptown]

Just did mine last night on an 06 22V. Took a couple hours with no cutting of the existing cable. We also unscrewed the gas tank and wedged some wood underneath to give us more room to pull the old cable through. We had to remove a couple cooling water hoses just to acces the 1 1/8" nut. After we accessed that, it was a biotch to back that nut off, but once we got that everything went fairly smoothly, just like the original instructions (ran the new cable over the gas tank). My stepdad turned the wheel and was worried that the wheel wasn't connect to the rudder, that's how smooth it was. Awesome.

[jwanck11]

Hey J what cover is that ?

That is the one from the disaster relief part of the Tige Store for the 22i. I do like it however, it does not cover the deck like my old one.

I made a PVC support system under the cover to stop the pooling that was happening. I suspect, for those that store outside as I do, that pooling is an issue that others are dealing with... I will post up what it is with dimensions in another thread.

Ptown: the difference is almost better than a cold beer on a hot day.

[TigeTrojan]

My steering cable project will start soon. I was going to let the shop do it, but when I found out how much it would cost and read about everyone doing it here I changed my mind pretty quickly. I will let everyone know how it goes.

jwanck11- how much cable did you have left over? I have an 04 21i so if 17' was big on you, how much less should I go?

[zad0030]

My steering cable project will start soon. I was going to let the shop do it, but when I found out how much it would cost and read about everyone doing it here I changed my mind pretty quickly. I will let everyone know how it goes.

jwanck11- how much cable did you have left over? I have an 04 21i so if 17' was big on you, how much less should I go?

I put a 18' on my 21i.

[spyderwebb]

Well, I replaced the cable yesterday and everything was going pretty smoothly until it came to feeding the new cable from the helm foot area through the area directly above the gas tank. This two foot stretch where it runs above the gas tank and comes out in the area where you can remove the flooring was really tight.

I even loosened and disconnected the gas tank in an effort to slide it back to create addtional room, but that didn't really help. Initially I had taped the rod end together (as suggested) so it wouldn't slide open, and I tied 1/4 rope to the end which I had fished through the area with a stick to work as a guide and to pull the cable through.

Finally, after hours of trying to get it on my own with no luck my son got off work and gave me a hand. Together we were able to get it, the extra set of eyes and hands really helped.

The 1 1/8" nut on the end of the rod would not fit between the tank and the front helm area of the flooring (the gap was only about an 1"). We even tried using a broom handle to expand the area, but it just wasn't enough. Finally with careful manipulation, and looking through the narrow gap with a flash light, and using sticks to move the end of the cable we were able to slide it over to the gap in between the gas tank and the side wall on the drivers side of the boat which was about an 1 1/2" wide, then we were able to pull it the rest of the way through.

The rest was basically a breeze after this. Wrapped the job up in about another hour, put everything back together and it turns smooth and easy as sliding a knife through warm butter. I'm sure this is the way Tige intended the wheel to turn originally (with 1 finger), well worth the effort though part of it was a PIA!!!