Trouble with steering cable and bar

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RayJ

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I bought a brand new 1752 Weldbilt with a 70hp Yamaha 4stroke last July.I haven't used it much.About three weeks ago,I went fishing with my wife.We were idling and I hit a stump.After that,the boat was very hard to steer.I took it back to the dealer and he said I bent the bar the connects to the steering cable.He also said that was very rare for that bar to be bent.I paid 275.00 to replace the cable and bar.The second time I used it,I was idling and bumped several stumps.The bar bends again.This is supposed to be a duck boat.I ought to be able to hit a stump at idle speed without tearing anything up.It's back at the dealer now.So any ideas?They put the boats together themselves.The have. Hull and add steering wheel,gun box,etc...A duck boat and motor shouldn't bend the steering bar on every stump should it?I'm thinking maybe it's either a faulty part or they put the motor on wrong.If so,I want it fixed and my 275.00 back.It indeed I'm at fault,I'll pay for it and go on.It's a brand new boat and motor.I'm just very frustrated right now.I've had some other issues with the trolling motor coming loose and that's not fixed yet. How easy is it to bend that part?I've had several boats in the past and have never done that on any of them and they've been through some rough stuff.I like the rig overall,it's good for hunting and fishing,nothing fancy.I'm just tired of running back and forth to the dealer with a new boat.
 
Something's wrong there. Post a couple pictures of the steering set-up. This may help. It is hard to imagine the circumstances that would ruin a cable AND a drag link, just from a small kick-up.
 
Boat2fast said:
Something's wrong there. Post a couple pictures of the steering set-up. This may help. It is hard to imagine the circumstances that would ruin a cable AND a drag link, just from a small kick-up.
Exactly my point. I've been driving boats 30+ years and have hit more stumps than I care to remember and have never bent a drag link.
 
It's at the dealer now so I can't post pics yet. There is a problem somewhere . I've hit thousands of stumps over the past 25 years and have never had this happen , and twice in four trips.I hope I can get the 275.00 that I already paid him back but that may not happen.
 
I said in my first post the second time I had it out after repair it happened but actually it was the third.Two times in four trips.
 
Actually,I don't think it was the drag link that bent.It was the steel bar that connects to the steering cable that slides in and out of a cylinder.The drag link is connected on top of the bar by a nut and bolt.I think that's right . I'm not sure what that bar is called but it looks hard to bend.
 
Either way, I don't think you should have been having any kinds of problems. They should make it right.
 
huntinfool said:
Either way, I don't think you should have been having any kinds of problems. They should make it right.
I agree and hope that is the case .
 
Was it the actual steering bar (Drag link) or the plate that the drag link attaches to at the front of the engine?
As soon as you post photos things will get clearer and the speculation will probably go away.
You may have an uphill battle on this.
No engine manufacturer engineers engines to be able to randomly strike objects. The valving in the trim system will trigger the impact relief valve to allow the engine to swing up and over whatever you hit but there is never a guarantee that damage will not be done as a result of the impact. All the manufacturers do is try to design parts to fail (bend/break) in a sequence that will minimize the chance of you being injured during the impact. This should be outlined in your Owners Manual and Warranty statement.
Same as a car in that respect.
BTW - in an area of known submerged objects never haul butt through that area. If you hit one hard enough and fast enough and the engine comes off the back of the boat the steering cable will sometimes hold the engine and swing it up and back into the boat with you....usually the engine is still running and producing thrust when this happens and its usually never a good outcome.
 
Pappy said:
Was it the actual steering bar (Drag link) or the plate that the drag link attaches to at the front of the engine?
As soon as you post photos things will get clearer and the speculation will probably go away.
You may have an uphill battle on this.
No engine manufacturer engineers engines to be able to randomly strike objects. The valving in the trim system will trigger the impact relief valve to allow the engine to swing up and over whatever you hit but there is never a guarantee that damage will not be done as a result of the impact. All the manufacturers do is try to design parts to fail (bend/break) in a sequence that will minimize the chance of you being injured during the impact. This should be outlined in your Owners Manual and Warranty statement.
Same as a car in that respect.
BTW - in an area of known submerged objects never haul butt through that area. If you hit one hard enough and fast enough and the engine comes off the back of the boat the steering cable will sometimes hold the engine and swing it up and back into the boat with you....usually the engine is still running and producing thrust when this happens and its usually never a good outcome.
it was the bar that attaches to the steering cable. It slides in and out of a cylinder when the steering wheel turns . I'm not sure what it's called.It happened twice and both times at idle speed,under 10mph and probably less. I'm not sure exactly what caused it.I'm a Christian and an honest man.If I indeed caused the damage then I'm willing to pay the costs.My good friend talked with a boat mechanic and he said that it would be almost impossible to bend that bar by bumping a stump.I'm certainly no expert so I just hope the dealer is an honest man.I want whatever is right to prevail,whatever that may be.
 
The bar that protrudes from the steering tube on the front of the engine? It is a long bar that slides in and out of a tube as you turn the wheel. On the end is a flat with a hole in it. If this is what you are talking about then you are correct. That is part of the steering cable.
The drag link I spoke of attaches to this (at that flat with the hole in it) and then to a plate dead center on the engine above the steering tube that the cable slides in and out of.
About the only way this could bend is to have a mechanical obstruction somewhere along its path of travel that it has to be forced past.
Get a photo up of what you are talking about. Point a finger at the exact part you are talking about so we can make sure.
 
Only thing I can think of that can bend either one of those is obstructions...like either the cable end or the link hitting the transom, fuel filler neck, tree, etc. Beyond that, I can honestly say I've never seen one bend-ever. I have bent one myself (the cable end...with the flat part) at the lake on a brand new boat that was sold, by using the jackplate to lower the engine while it was turned full left/cable fully extended and the end hit the top of the filler neck and bent it. Also bent up the filler neck. Embarassing to admit it, but the old saying is "learn from your mistakes" or something like that. I should be a genius by now. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I'm not that gifted.
 
Those parts are AWFULLY thick and hard to bend!

Unless he had some kind of thin, home-made version. The steering link bar on my Evinrudes, you could jump up and down on them, and it would not bend. Made of forged stainless steel.

But maybe this is some kind of thin link bar, made to protect the engine?

Sounds very fishy to me...

-TH
 
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1395842459.561221.jpgit is the bar the slides in and out of the cylinder.It is probably 3/8" solid steel.
 
Okay. The photo you loaded and sent to us is of a twin engine/single cylinder hydraulic steering set up. If you have a single engine this is not correct.
But, if you have a single engine hydraulic steering set up then chances are it is a Sea Star system. If it is then the cylinder will probably be mounted to the
engine and the bar that slides through it will be stationary. The cylinder will move on the bar. If this is the case then you want to look at what the bar can contact
when the engine is tilted to the max. There should be something in the splash well or on the transom that the bar hits.
When your engine strikes a submerged object the engine as I stated earlier will swing up and over the object. It will tilt up. Look for the contact point. Or, when you get it back...look for what they moved. They will possibly raise your engine one hole as well to move the steering up and away so look for that also.
 
Pappy,you are correct. That is not exactly like mine but I was just trying to show what bent.It is the bar that slides in and out of that catamaran cylinder.
I went by the shop yesterday and they haven't looked at it yetThey are covered up with workHe seems to want to know what caused it as I do so it won't happen again.There has to be a contact point like you say, possibly when trimmed up ..
 
Also, on mine the bar moves in and out of the cylinder .i know that for sure .
 

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