Steering problem

planesailing

Merry Christmas to you all! I have a steering problem with my 242 fiesta vee. It has the mercruiser 5.7 efi and bravo 3. Towards the end of the season my steering became a little jerky. I topped up the power steering fluid as it was a little low and bled the system on the advice of this forum which seemed to work however I popped down the boat yesterday to check on it and noticed that the steering was very hard despite there being plenty of fluid in it. Doesn't appear as though the power steering is working at all. Is this a pump fault or an actuator fault or something else? I also noticed that the belt that drives the pump doesn't start spinning until about 30 seconds after the engine is started. Is this normal??? Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated as always! Many thanks, Jon.

Black_Diamond

Pumps rarely go bad, I'd be looking at the actuator and the pivot points.  

planesailing

Is the actuator a big and expensive job to fix?!

aero3113

How is the tension on the belt? It could be loose.

F1100

Your belt is slipping, adjust the tension/and or replace the belt as well

TonyWalker

We had a similar problem.  Jerky steering etc.  The steering gear piston turned out to be the cause.  It finally started to leak.  Had it replaced.  No problems since then.

planesailing

I'm back down the boat tomorrow so I'll check the belt tension. I'll also check the steering gear piston for signs of fluid leak. Was it a big and expensive job to replace Tony?

TonyWalker

Good question.  We were on the USA/Canada loop.  6000 miles worth of gas, dock fees, treats etc.  At the time it was just a line item on the expense list.

rasbury

when I die, I want to come back as Tony Walker.....

TonyWalker

To answer part of planesailing's question, yes it was a bear to replace.  The fasteners for both ends of the failed piston were hopelessly corroded from the several years of salt water environment and refused to budge.  Because of the hammering and banging that was going on in the engine room, I went to the forward bunk to hide.  Then I heard what sounded like a jack hammer.  The mechanic wound up sawing the piston rod in two so he could get more leverage and angles on the stuck nuts.  That was the ticket.  Little by little they came free and they had the replacement installed in about 10 minutes.

pault1216

One other consideration is the age of the steering cable. I have had 2 start to 'freeze up' apparently from the grease inside getting dried out and stiff.