HELP PLEASE! Steering question on 02 SSV

[CaM2816]

towards the end of last summer i noticed the steering on my 02ssv got really stiff. I tried to grease the zirk fitting where the steering shaft is but nothing happened. Does anybody know what could be happening or how to fix this? How easy should it be to turn the steering wheel?

Thanks

[h2oman]

This can be caused by water in the bilge getting into the steering cable. The only solution I have found to work is to replace the steering cable. Sometimes the rudder requires lubricant (through the grease fitting) but usually it is the cable.

When removing the cable - tie a rope to the end of the cable at the rudder and pull it through as you pull out the cable. Once through, tie the rope to the rudder end of the new cable and pull it back through. Pulling it out is harder than putting the new one back in on that model. As the non-flexible end goes through the passage next to the center storage and the driver area it gets caught up and has to be forced through. The cutout hole it goes through makes it kind of tight. (I ended up cutting off the non-flexible end of the old cable, taping the rope very well to the last 3ft of the old cable and pulling it through.) Just make sure the rope goes all the way through so the new installation goes easy.

Once I put in the new cable I was able to turn the wheel with ease.

Good luck.