Stiff outboard pivot tube/swivel case

[poiu]

My Honda 50 outboard's pivot tube has been getting stiffer and stiffer. I used to be able to free it up with a quick blast of a butane torch, but that doesn't do the trick anymore.

There is a grease nipple/zirk at the top and bottom. I have tried greasing there and clean grease squeezes out. It doesn't help.

I expect what has happened is that the grease has solidified inside, maybe with a bit of corrosion mixed in. I should really pull it apart and clean it properly, but I dare not touch it. It is a major task of surgery to strip it and there are corroded expensive parts that will most probably break if I do try to pull it apart, so I would rather not. The plan is to get a few more years out of it before repairs become uneconomic and I have to get a new one.

So how do I deal with that old grease? I thought I might fill up a grease gun with something and try to flush it out. Is there a magic solvent that dissolves old grease well and allow me to fill it up with new again?

Any other suggestions?

[poiu]

Which of the following would work best?

Boiling water
Toluene
Petrol
Diesel

Any others?

[Empty Pockets]

Just did it in my Honda 90. Expensive PIA, but after seeing what was in there, it wasn't going to fix itself. In my case, it was a lot of salt that was hard as a rock, and corrosion of the tube. Bite the bullet...

[gjordan]

You might try one of the products that are used to remove salt build up inside engine blocks. Might be worth a try??? Good Luck. _____Grant.

[poiu]

Originally Posted by gjordan

You might try one of the products that are used to remove salt build up inside engine blocks. Might be worth a try??? Good Luck. _____Grant.

There is so much old, hard grease in there that the acid products I think you are referring to are not going to get in and I suspect the problem is hard grease and corrosion and salt rather than salt on its own.