Bravo outdrive slop
 

Okay so i had some steering issues lately that i posted, 496HO w/Bravo X on a 2006 Adavantage 28 sport cat. I was very low on PS fluid, bilge had PS fluid in the bottom, leaked somewhere but could not find the leak. Added fluid, so far no fluid loss and i have been out boating several times and have no idea where or why the fluid leaked out. Steering still has some slop. 1" in steering wheel without it "catching" to turn outdrive. Wife turned the wheel while i watched in the bilge.Steering ram did not extend until wife turned steering wheel about 1" and then it caught.

You can move the outdrive by hand left and right several inches without the steering wheel moving. You cannot move the outdrive up or down at all.When I am driving the boat it feels loose especially when trimmed up and when i am driving fast I must keep wheel turned 1/2 turn to the left to keep it straight and when I suddenly de-celerate it wants to turn right

112 hours...had the boat 2 years with no steering issues till now. Can a gimbal get worn out so fast? If so do you replace just the bearing or the whole shebang?

So, what do you think..are there any bolts that I can tighten or check...heard not to tighten gimbal bolts but have to ask anyway? Pics are great if you have them.

Where the steering cable comes into the steering arm assembly it is threaded. Can i tighten that connection to see if the steering wheel slop goes away?

Is there such thing as having "air" in the line from such low PS fluid and then adding some that will give me any issues?

Last thing..if I add a single ram I assume I should get this issue fixed first...just asking to make sure I dont have to do anything unnecessary $$$$.

Thanks for your input. Dave

Sounds like a gimbal to me.

Sounds like to me that you either have a bad steering cable or rack/pinion system bad or your gimble ring is bad, hope that it is the steering system. You can change that out in the boat. If it is the gimble ring motor has to come out and transom assy has to come off back of boat to replace ring, and they are about $900 just for the part. Good luck

Probably has a worn out swivel shaft on the gimbal ring. pull the gimal ring and send it in to jrmarine they have them waiting when yours arrives for a couple hundred bucks . just changed out 1 on the nova and did it all from the transom never had to get in the boat ..good luck & if you hit a snag shoot me a P.M.




http://www.jrmarine.com/products/gimbal_repair.htm

second that engine does not need to come out of boat. Air in the power steering lines will not cause that problem on your set up the steering is power asstist the cable is hooked to the steering arm. and yes you will ned to get the gimball ring repaired even if you are going to put external steering on the boat

its a sucky job but not really as bad as it looks once you tear into it , JR has a exchange program & gimbals ready to ship when yours hits the door ...good luck

Have someone move the drive left to right and back and look inside the boat and watch the steering system while moving the drive. I know the wheel doesn't move but does the steering ram move?? Sounds like a steering system issue. If the upper gimbal pin were worn out I believe that you would get up and down movement as well as side to side. When you say you can't move the drive up and down can you elaborate? The trim/tilt rams hold the drive from moving vertically but if the gimbal is worn you should get movement around the upper pin when lifting up on the skeg, a knocking sound or visual movement.

You don't need to go boating anymore until the steering is fixed.

I cannot move the drive up or down by lifting on the skeg. It will move some left or right...i will climb into engine compartment to see if the steering rams are moving when this happens left and right. The boat only has 122 hours of easy to moderate driving.

Look at the top of the gimbal ring as your moving the drive side to side you will see that the square shaft is now rounded out , the gimbal is alum and will wear b4 that steel bolt ever gets a wear mark in it ... u will find the fork on top is solid but the gimbal is rounded out ..:drink:

So howd ya make out Dave ??