98 196 steering wheel free play

[Calisdad]

first off, thank you for thee add. My newly acquired 98 196 with 394hrs seems to have about 6" of free play and is pretty stiff to turn as well. I am replacing the cable..will that also take care of the free play?

[ArmourNautique]

first off, thank you for thee add. My newly acquired 98 196 with 394hrs seems to have about 6" of free play and is pretty stiff to turn as well. I am replacing the cable..will that also take care of the free play?

I had similar issues with my 226 last year. Replacing the cable took care of stiffness and play. Well worth the $ to replace. U will love the outcome.


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[charlesml3]

first off, thank you for thee add. My newly acquired 98 196 with 394hrs seems to have about 6" of free play and is pretty stiff to turn as well. I am replacing the cable..will that also take care of the free play?

Most likely, but let's do some more troubleshooting before we move on to the fix.

- Disconnect the cable at the tiller arm on the rudder. Now move the steering wheel. Is it still stiff? If so, it's the cable. If not, it's the rudder stuffing box.

- Now on to the free-play issue. This could be the cable or the steering wheel gear that engages the rack up under the dash. You need to examine this carefully for signs of excessive wear. It's pretty rare for these to go bad. It takes thousands of hours to wear one out. If you replace the cable and the problem persists, it's the gear on the end of the steering wheel post. I've also seen this excessive play come from the steering cable rack bolts getting loose. Not sure how they got loose on that boat, but they were. Since the rack wasn't engaging the wheel gear fully, there was a LOT of play in the steering wheel.

-Charles

[Calisdad]

Thank you for the responses. I'm going to start removing everything so I can do an inspection. I can't imagine that the helm gear is worn that much.

[NautiqueJeff]

Here's a full write-up on the steering cable replacement in a 1998 Ski Nautique. Enjoy!

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...8-ski-nautique

[Calisdad]

Nautique Jeff, you are the man. Rudder and steering wheel are great. Pulled the old cable out and ordered a new one. I should have remembered to shorten the cable before pulling it. It was a real pia to get it through the hull.

[NautiqueJeff]

You'll love the results!

[peteSki]

Worth checking your tilt steering assembly as well. On both Nautiques I've owned, some of the play was in the universal joint within the mechanism. I found the small screws that hold the steering shaft had come loose so it added some play. Plus I find those units just get sloppy over the years, my guess is because most people push on the steering wheel when they get up and down from the drivers seat and that ends up wrecking the tilt mechanism. Fortunately they are not too expensive and not too bad to change out... easier than the cable that's for sure! When I had my 97 ski a few years back, I changed the cable, tilt mechanism and even the steering shaft that has the gears on it. Rudder was in good shape and it was soooo smooth to drive after so you'll no doubt see a huge change once you're done!

[NautiqueJeff]

Good point! I did that on mine as well because I wanted all of the slop gone.

[Calisdad]

Mission accomplished I replaced the cable and wasn't happy with the helm slop. I attempted to shim up the shaft and tighten things up to no avail. I replaced the helm and wow! Better than new. Thanks for all your help in saving a ton of $$$.

[StagNW]

Bringing this back! After reading this it dawned on me the helm may be part of my hard steering issues. Basically if feels fine with no load, but under load it takes two hands to turn the wheel.

I checked the rudder, and it doesn't appear there is a zerk fitting for grease. Am I missing it?



The previous owner replaced the cable, its manufactured by Seastar Solutions USA. Do they make them for Nautique? Edit: they obviously make them for Nautique a since I have one, but do they manufacture factory parts for Nautique?
He told me it was a factory part, I couldn't find a number on it.

I pulled the helm parts as well, the U joint portion has significant slop, and the intermediate shaft that the cable bolts to is dry and when I spin it, it gets "resistance" in spots. They appear to be original!








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[Calisdad]

That's the exact helm I have. I was able to tighten up all the hardwear on it and got it to tighten up a little, but I still wasn't happy with the slop. I ordered a brand new helm and wow! what a difference...smooth and tight. The plastic bearings just below the snap ring were wore out. I recently ordered some new bearings from Grainger to rebuild my old helm and if it all works out I will share with you the part# or offer to exchange your old one for a small fee.

[StagNW]

That's the exact helm I have. I was able to tighten up all the hardwear on it and got it to tighten up a little, but I still wasn't happy with the slop. I ordered a brand new helm and wow! what a difference...smooth and tight. The plastic bearings just below the snap ring were wore out. I recently ordered some new bearings from Grainger to rebuild my old helm and if it all works out I will share with you the part# or offer to exchange your old one for a small fee.

That sounds reasonable to me!


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[keithh2oskier]

Calisdad I would be interested if you have the part numbers to rebuild the helm. My ski buddies helm is wore out with a lot of slop and if it just takes a few parts to rebuild that would be a cool trick.


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[Calisdad]

I received the parts from Grainger last night. They are freakin perfect!!! All ya need to do is trim one down about 1/8" and you're good to go. The original bushings are too short and leave a section of shaft that is without a bearing... so I trimmed one just enough to allow everything to go back together. Make sure to replace both bearings... just remove the top snap ring and pull the shaft out through the bottom and you'll figure it out. You get 5 bearings per pack. I have 3 left over if someone wants me to mail a couple let me know✌️
Go to Grainger.com I wish I hadn't installed a new helm... the parts were around $15 shipped vs $180 for a new helm

IGUS Polymer Flanged Clip Bearing with 3/4" Inside Dia. and 13/16" Outside Dia.

• Item # 2NCG9
• Mfr. Model # MYI-12-12
• Catalog Page # N/A
• UNSPSC # 31171506