Steering wheel very stiff

The wheel/rudder on my E38 is very hard to turn, as if the brake is on. Cable lubed and alignment is fine. I have a newer E38-200 manual that shows two grease fittings, but I find only one, on the shaft tube. Anyone else have this or a solution? Occurred after 10,000 miles of offshore sailing, no damage that I know of.

Hi Touchrain,

There are a few things I do on our E30+ to keep the wheel turning smoothly, and they are likely similar on your E38. Most important I think is to liberally grease the rudder post--the top zerc fitting is hard to see on ours, almost behind the post and the lower one is underneath the floorboard which is held in by three screws, but it is there. Next, oil lubrication of the cable under the cockpit floor helps. I also check cable tension--if too tight the wheel won't turn easily; if too loose, the cables could slip off the sheaves. While down there I check to ensure the two sheaves are running smoothly and I lubricate the bushings there. I understand that these bushings can wear, but I don't have any experience with that, but that could be part of your problem. Next I remove the compass on the pedestal and lubricate the chain in the pedestal with oil, being careful not to get any oil on the area where the brake pads rest. Finally, I spray some silicone lubricant in the gap/joint where the wheel shaft enters the pedestal, but not too much to not get it on the brake pads inside.

If you've done all that and the wheel/rudder still doesn't turn as it should, is it possible that you have a bent rudder post or similar problem?

Good luck, hope you get it solved!

Frank

What Frank said.... and, that top zerk on the rudder shaft is a bear to get a grease gun on (on our boat).
Maybe another 38 owner can post up a picture of it?

Loren

The only time the wheel on our 38 was stiff was when I way overtightened the cables. So the first thing I would try would be to back off each turnbuckle four or so half turns and see whether that helps.

You folks are so fast. Hardly had time for dinner. Having had the boat for 10 years, I've done each a few times, but it's undoubtedly time to do them methodically. Thanks. Now if I can just find that odd sized 7 inch cleat we broke between Hawaii and Sitka ...

Did someone say "zerk"?

I hope this reply triggers a response from Loren, 'cuz we have paired boats...



I've attached a picture of the location of the zerk (zerc?) fitting location for the rudder tube on an O-34. Loren mentioned a 'top zerk' and I'm hoping that doesn't imply a 'bottom zerk', 'cuz there isn't one on this O-34.



Yes, greasing this fitting is a [insert female dog description], as it requires a gymnastic-squeeze into a very small cavity, but what doesn't on a boat?



All the steps/procedures listed previously will help...a lot, as they all attempt to address friction and tension potential. 'Less is Best' certainly applies in this instance.



Good luck and please remember to weigh into this thread with your results.

At one point, I discovered the bronze cover of my rudder post (on the cockpit sole) to be secretly binding against the top of the rudder post. Made the cover very hard to get off.

The binding was caused by loose bolts in the upper rudder post assembly. The post was wobbling and contacting the cover, which caused stiff steering.

Also replace those cables

The steering cables themselves work harden badly, and can also contribute to this problem.

Also are you sure the break is not on? I have seen a number of all kinds of units have mechanical difficulties that disconnect the breaking mechanism from the break itself, and the break is always on.

For instance: Brake Pad Holder and Pad screwed off end of the control shaft, brake pad separated from brake pad holder and wedged between holder and wheel shaft, etc. Check that out too.

Sounds like a good time to go through the entire system and make any changes that seem necessary.

Guy

A friend with an E34 had this problem a few months ago and it turned out to be a loose pin in one of the sheaves where the cable turns at the base of the pedestal. The sheave was askew causing binding. I suspect you've already inspected that, so this won't be much help for you. I thought it worth posting because some owners may not be aware of this type of failure.

Sheave bushing notes

Regarding those sheave bushings, there are some earlier threads with pictures.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...p-on-Yacht-specialties-pedestal&referrerid=28

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...son-Olson-34-failure-of-wheel-steering-system

Note that these referenced the Yacht Specialties gear that Ericson was using until about 1990.

Loren

ps: just added a (poor) photo of the grease fitting that is on the upper bearing collar. My camera autofocus was not happy with the ambient lighting and I was working from a rather difficult-to-access area in the back of the boat.

Loren's and my setups are similar, but I don't think I have a zerk fitting on the upper collar (I do have a zerk on the rudder post tube). There is a bushing inside the upper collar that contains the top of the rudder post. The nuts visible on the collar hold the four machine screws around the access plate on the cockpit floor.

According to a boat mechanic, I can grease the upper collar just by taking off the nuts and sliding the collar down a few inches.

However, I need to confirm (again) I don't have an upper zerk.

Thanks all. Here is an update. I got to the boat today and greased the fitting on the collar, although that was probably not the problem. It did not take much grease. I pulled the binnacle, several frozen bolts so I resorted to an impact driver, and greased both bearings on the wheel shaft, which had frozen bolts as plugs. That made a big difference. Much easier to turn. While I was there, I also greased the chain. Monday, I will oil cables an sheaves below.

Steering Guru's help

Hi guys,
After a great evening sail yesterday, we arrived back at the dock to find I could turn the wheel right just fine, but not at all to the left. Luckily only right turns were necessary and we docked successfully. After peering into the lazerette, I found one of my spare dock lines had inserted itself between the cable and a pulley, causing it to bind. I was able to turn the wheel to the right and free it, but I also noticed that the same cable had slipped off the next pulley in line under the wheel. How do I release the tension on the cable to route it back over the pulley? I think there was a bolt on the back end of where the cable terminates, but are there any things to keep in mind when re-attaching everything, like tension, etc? The ring bolt on the termination end looked like it might be tricky.

Thanks!
Dean

Yes, you can just loosen the cable by the tension adjustment nuts at the termination in the quadrant. Once back on the idlers, retighten the cables to "fairly tight". There should be just a bit of slack in the wheel as you begin to turn it. The idea is not to stress the chain, cables, sheaves unduly with a bar-tight setup.

Steering cable tension is something I adjust frequently with a turn on the nuts to keep things just so.

Putting stuff in any locker that leads to the rudder post means a possible tangle, so I built a bag that fits into the hatch opening to contain the contents.

Macgyro said:

Hi guys,
After a great evening sail yesterday, we arrived back at the dock to find I could turn the wheel right just fine, but not at all to the left. Luckily only right turns were necessary and we docked successfully. After peering into the lazerette, I found one of my spare dock lines had inserted itself between the cable and a pulley, causing it to bind. I was able to turn the wheel to the right and free it, but I also noticed that the same cable had slipped off the next pulley in line under the wheel. How do I release the tension on the cable to route it back over the pulley? I think there was a bolt on the back end of where the cable terminates, but are there any things to keep in mind when re-attaching everything, like tension, etc? The ring bolt on the termination end looked like it might be tricky.

Thanks!
Dean

Click to expand...

You will have to back off the tension and this was discussed in some earlier threads. Then check the sheaves for wobble in their bearings.

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?4006-Steering-Cable-Adjustment

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...p-on-Yacht-specialties-pedestal&referrerid=28

The quadrant in your steering may or may not look like mine, referenced in an older thread, but it's likely similar.

Regards,

Loren

Marvelous Bag

Christian Williams said:

Yes, you can just loosen the cable by the tension adjustment nuts at the termination in the quadrant. Once back on the idlers, retighten the cables to "fairly tight". There should be just a bit of slack in the wheel as you begin to turn it. The idea is not to stress the chain, cables, sheaves unduly with a bar-tight setup.

Steering cable tension is something I adjust frequently with a turn on the nuts to keep things just so.

Putting stuff in any locker that leads to the rudder post means a possible tangle, so I built a bag that fits into the hatch opening to contain the contents.
View attachment 15223

Click to expand...

That bag looks absolutely marvelous. I think that will move up to number 3 on the project list. For now, I'll just tuck things in properly and check before each sail. Thanks for the info everyone , I think I'll tackle that project (steering cable) later this week.

Dean

Thank goodness for this site as I get older. I have stiff steering again and wanted to remind myself of the possibilities. Did a search. I had completely forgotten that I had even posted the question. My son is coming by soon and we WILL go through the entire system. BTW, greasing helped last time, but not this time. Thanks, everyone.

Touchrain said:

The wheel/rudder on my E38 is very hard to turn, as if the brake is on. Cable lubed and alignment is fine. I have a newer E38-200 manual that shows two grease fittings, but I find only one, on the shaft tube. Anyone else have this or a solution? Occurred after 10,000 miles of offshore sailing, no damage that I know of.

Click to expand...

Don’t forget to lube the steering wheel shaft as well.

We went crazy lubricating everything else, readjusting cables etc. etc. …Turned out the steering wheel shaft was in need of attention as well. Got it moving easily with a generous soaking of WD-40 that penetrated in nicely.