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Hey all, I know this has been covered a couple times here but I wanted to post how I went about replacing my steering cable on my 2003 SAN 210 as I never came across the way I did it. Don't know if it's any better or easier as I've never done one before, but it seemed to make sense in my head and it worked out pretty well.
For those who need to replace their steering cable and don't want to pay the dealer HUNDREDS of dollars in labor, you have to have some patience and a second helper makes it a little easier, but it's well worth the savings. I bought my cable from NP.com and used the 10% discount code, came out to be around $185 or something close to that.
-Remove the kick-panel under the dash.
-Remove starboard bow seat cushion.
-Carefully cut any cable ties holding any other wires or cable to the steering cable under the dash. Disconnect the 4 bolts holding the rack to the helm/steering shaft (7/16" socket) and carefully guide the rack out the front of the boat so the cable has as straight of a line as possible when it comes time to start pulling it.
-Remove the dividers between the engine compartment and the hard tank locker on the starboard side for better access to the rudder tiller arm.
-Disconnect the end of the steering cable from the tiller arm (9/16" socket on the nut & 5/8" open end on the head of the bolt), and the large nut (1-1/8" open end wrench I believe it was) holding the steering cable to the pivoting guide shaft. It's hard to get a full swing with the big wrench as there's limited room, takes a few minutes.
-Slide the cable forward enough to clear the engine mount, then pull up on the end of the cable and slide it back a little so the end is now pointing upward as much as possible and accessible.
-I bought a 10' piece of 1/2" PVC, drilled a 1/4" hole through it about 1" from the end. Cost was around $2.50 at the local hardware store.
-Lay it in the sun for a little while to soften it up a bit so it's flexible. Slide the end with the 1/4" hole over the end of the steering cable, align the hole in the PVC to the hole in the end of the cable that attaches to the tiller arm and use a 1/4"-20 x 1" pan head screw to bolt them together. The screw won't tighten completely, but it's enough to hold it in place.
-This is where a second person helps, but have someone pull the cable from the front while you bend and guide the PVC down through the bottom of the hull. The steering cable is stiff, so is the PVC, so it follows the same line going out as well as coming back in with the new cable. For those unaware, the cable runs through a guide tube in the center of the boat and is not accessible. If you don't attach SOMETHING to the end of the old cable when you pull it out, it'll only be shear luck you'll get the new cable back in it and routed like the factory does.
-Once the end of the cable with the PVC attached comes out under the starboard bow seat, remove the bolt, remove the old cable, and install the new cable into the PVC and reinstall the bolt.
-Start pushing the new cable through, it'll take a little finagling to get the large nut down into the passage and into the guide tube, but a couple good push/pulls and twists back and forth and it popped through.
-As the PVC gets back to the engine area guide it up and out until the end is accessible to remove the 1/4" bolt holding the cable. Remove the bolt and PVC, reinstall the cable same as the old one came apart. I packed the inside of the large nut with grease before I reinstalled it, that's where the cable rod enters/exits the sheathing so I thought it would be a good idea.
THE HARD PART IS DONE!
-Re-route the rack back under the dash, bolt into place and turn the wheel to witness the buttery feeling you've been missing for so long!
Be sure to check:
-The rudder is straight when the steering wheel is straight.
-The wheel turns equally in both directions.
I had to remove my steering wheel to re-spline it AND adjust the pivoting guide tube before the tiller arm 1/4" to get everything perfect (wasn't perfect before). Rudder's straight, steering wheel's straight and turns equally in both directions.
Hope this helps anyone on the fence, it's not a quick job but it's very satisfying doing it yourself and saving like $400!
Matt
For those who need to replace their steering cable and don't want to pay the dealer HUNDREDS of dollars in labor, you have to have some patience and a second helper makes it a little easier, but it's well worth the savings. I bought my cable from NP.com and used the 10% discount code, came out to be around $185 or something close to that.
-Remove the kick-panel under the dash.
-Remove starboard bow seat cushion.
-Carefully cut any cable ties holding any other wires or cable to the steering cable under the dash. Disconnect the 4 bolts holding the rack to the helm/steering shaft (7/16" socket) and carefully guide the rack out the front of the boat so the cable has as straight of a line as possible when it comes time to start pulling it.
-Remove the dividers between the engine compartment and the hard tank locker on the starboard side for better access to the rudder tiller arm.
-Disconnect the end of the steering cable from the tiller arm (9/16" socket on the nut & 5/8" open end on the head of the bolt), and the large nut (1-1/8" open end wrench I believe it was) holding the steering cable to the pivoting guide shaft. It's hard to get a full swing with the big wrench as there's limited room, takes a few minutes.
-Slide the cable forward enough to clear the engine mount, then pull up on the end of the cable and slide it back a little so the end is now pointing upward as much as possible and accessible.
-I bought a 10' piece of 1/2" PVC, drilled a 1/4" hole through it about 1" from the end. Cost was around $2.50 at the local hardware store.
-Lay it in the sun for a little while to soften it up a bit so it's flexible. Slide the end with the 1/4" hole over the end of the steering cable, align the hole in the PVC to the hole in the end of the cable that attaches to the tiller arm and use a 1/4"-20 x 1" pan head screw to bolt them together. The screw won't tighten completely, but it's enough to hold it in place.
-This is where a second person helps, but have someone pull the cable from the front while you bend and guide the PVC down through the bottom of the hull. The steering cable is stiff, so is the PVC, so it follows the same line going out as well as coming back in with the new cable. For those unaware, the cable runs through a guide tube in the center of the boat and is not accessible. If you don't attach SOMETHING to the end of the old cable when you pull it out, it'll only be shear luck you'll get the new cable back in it and routed like the factory does.
-Once the end of the cable with the PVC attached comes out under the starboard bow seat, remove the bolt, remove the old cable, and install the new cable into the PVC and reinstall the bolt.
-Start pushing the new cable through, it'll take a little finagling to get the large nut down into the passage and into the guide tube, but a couple good push/pulls and twists back and forth and it popped through.
-As the PVC gets back to the engine area guide it up and out until the end is accessible to remove the 1/4" bolt holding the cable. Remove the bolt and PVC, reinstall the cable same as the old one came apart. I packed the inside of the large nut with grease before I reinstalled it, that's where the cable rod enters/exits the sheathing so I thought it would be a good idea.
THE HARD PART IS DONE!
-Re-route the rack back under the dash, bolt into place and turn the wheel to witness the buttery feeling you've been missing for so long!
Be sure to check:
-The rudder is straight when the steering wheel is straight.
-The wheel turns equally in both directions.
I had to remove my steering wheel to re-spline it AND adjust the pivoting guide tube before the tiller arm 1/4" to get everything perfect (wasn't perfect before). Rudder's straight, steering wheel's straight and turns equally in both directions.
Hope this helps anyone on the fence, it's not a quick job but it's very satisfying doing it yourself and saving like $400!
Matt
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