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I successfully removed the old cable in my 2007 Ski Nautique. I had tied a rope to the old cable, and I pulled it through towards the helm. I attached the rope to the stern end of the new cable. I advanced the cable through the hole at the helm while a friend kept tension on the rope from the engine compartment. The cable got stuck somewhere between the hole at the bow and the engine compartment. I pushed and he pulled, but it didn't move. I pulled it back and it moved freely.Then I took a lot of slack in the cable while I was under the deck so I could rotate the cable (it's pretty stiff and has a natural curve that I thought could send it in the wrong direction). No luck. I pulled it out and tried again. I had placed duct tape over the coupling nut and the tape remained intact. I got my flexible fiber optic camera to see what was going on, but couldn't really see. Then the camera ran out of juice. Any suggestions? Thought about removing the in-floor cooler, but it looks tightly attached (glued?). I'm suspicious that the rope (<1/4" nylon) is in between 2 wires/cables just forward of the engine compartment, so it's found a "false" path, or a path only a small rope can use. So I thought about pulling a larger rope through and attaching it to the new cable. I'm really at a loss. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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I ran into this same problem. At the tiller end of the cable where you have the rope attached. Note that the cable itself will slide in and out of the outer sheath. To start up front, you need to slide it into the sheath as far as it will go. When you're feeding the cable through, don't pull on the rope for the first couple of feet. All that will do is extend the cable back out and prevent it from making the turn. Push the cable from the helm side and keep just enough tension on the rope to keep it from wadding up inside the cable tube. Once you get past the turn, you can use the rope the rest of the way. Make sense?
-Charles -
Thank you for such a quick reply. I was able to advance the new cable into the hole with the cable fully inside of the outer sheath. On my first try, I pushed the sheath into the hole with little or no tension on the rope, so I don't think the cable was extended/pulled out. The straight part (rod + sheath) made it through the hole with some maneuvering and brute force. I'm not sure if you are referring to the "turn" as where the cable/rod + sheath enters the hole (necessarily at an angle aimed towards the stern) or another "turn" under the floor that I can't see. I had the feeling that after the difficult maneuver to get the straight part into and through the hole, then the complete assembly maybe curved (it has a "natural" curve since it was shipped coiled up) and then followed the wrong path. I felt freedom of movement once the rod assembly was through the hole and I was able to advance and retract the assembly (sheath + cable) about 1.5 to 2 feet, but it stopped and couldn't be pushed by me or pulled (by the rope) toward the stern after moving aft (hopefully) about 1.5 to 2 feet. I guessed that it coiled or turned under the floor somewhere, so we put gentle traction on the rope while I pushed. Still got stuck. I hear what you are saying about pulling on the rope which pulls the cable out. Maybe I need to lock/block the gear/mechanism in the helm assembly so it won't allow the cable to extend when the rope is pulled?Comment
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OK, you're doing everything right. Any chance the boat is equipped with a heater? If so, those hoses run through the same tunnel and MUST be removed before the steering cable nut will pass through. At the factory, the steering cable is installed prior to the heater. Outside of that, is there ANYTHING else in the tunnel that might have been added later?
-CharlesComment
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On my 06 I simply ran the replacement cable down the outside and tucked it behind the components and then routed the cable under the seat behind the garbage can and made a swoop to align with the rudder arm.
Very quick to install the replacement this way. And full disclosure I needed to remove the driver side ballast tank to get down low enough to attach the new cable.
Cable works perfect a year and a half later no issues!
2006 SANTE - Bull in a China Shop - Central ILComment
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Thanks to all for the suggestions above. We had success today!! I changed several variables, so I'm not sure which one did the trick. First, we juiced up the camera, but that never really helped. Next, we removed the new cable from the entry point in the floor in the bow where we left it yesterday. We attached 2 ropes to the aft end of the 1/4" guide rope and pulled them both into the bow using the 1/4" guide rope. I wanted a thicker/stronger rope to pull the cable towards the stern, and I wanted another "backup" rope in case the rope we pulled broke or the knot came untied (probably overkill, but it seemed like there were rough spots under the floor fraying the original 1/4" rope. Losing the guide rope would have been a disaster. Pulling 2 ropes into the bow was as easy as pulling 1, so why not have a little insurance?). With a backup rope in place, we felt much more confident to pull the cable more forcefully toward the stern. Yesterday, I had duct taped the coupling nut on the cable/rod junction to help "streamline" it to get through any narrow spots. Maybe there was too much duct tape on it, so I reduced it a lot. I reintroduced the rod and the cable into the hole in the floor of the bow (nearly impossible) and had my friend put tension on the (thicker) rope in the stern immediately in order to make sure that rod/cable continued pointing toward the stern (the cable has a natural bend that probably created a loop under the floorboards yesterday when we weren't as confident to apply lots of tension). He kept strong tension while I forced more and more cable into the hole in the floor in the bow. It passed through to the engine compartment first try! There's no sugarcoating this. It's a total PITA. Working under the bow in very tight spaces with small clearances and sharp edges causing bloody hands, arms, and forehead; hard flotation foam falling into eyes, ear canals, and mouth; forcing a stiff cable with a natural bend on a straight path blindly under the floor between the cooler and stringer where the throttle cable, bilge pump hose, and gate cable (?) travel. Really?? I don't want to get out my lane (I'm not a boat designer), but I hope there's a really good reason this cable couldn't have travelled through the gunnel or had some kind of conduit to travel through under the floorboards. Or maybe give us some kind of access through the floor or cooler. Hopefully, the other cables, ducts, hoses and wires are still intact after this s**tshow. Get ready for cussing, gagging on hard flotation foam, bleeding, and a rotator cuff strain from holding your arm in an awkward position while shoving a stiff cable blindly into a tiny hole. Good luck! BTW, with all the grunting, cussing, "push harder," "I can't get it in the hole," and cries of "Yes, yes, YES!" when it finally passed through, the folks on the next dock over were getting pretty curious
I recommend starting this only with a good sense of humor and plenty of beers.
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Yes! Glad you got it through there. You're going to be shocked at how great the boat drives with the new cable. You'll wonder why you didn't replace it sooner.
-CharlesComment
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Thank you Charles for your advice, support, and enthusiasm. I find that this forum renews my faith in humanity. Anonymous people helping anonymous people thousands of miles away, probably never to meet. This is the definition of "reciprocal altruism," a glue that keeps civil society functioning. Sorry to philosophize on a boat maintenance website, but I am truly grateful.Comment
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Well done. You'll love the improvement.
JQComment
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