Mahe 36: Rudders - Steering

[Seastream]

As I suspected, tnx. Any idea how to minimize play in the steering? I see no obvious adjustment points there. Also, presuming most pix in your recent posts are recent themselves, HOW do you keep your boat so clean? Store it in a hospital operating room when not in use? It looks like it belongs on a showroom floor.

[Cotemar]

Seastream,
Have someone at the helm while you are in each engine room. Give them commands to move the wheel 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 inches both ways and watch for any little movement.
At some point you should see the loose part in the steering.

I only have 2 inches of play on the outside diameter of my wheel. Same as when she was new.

I keep my engine room as clean as my dinning room table. This way I know of any issues, if I see one drop of fluid. Makes finding problems, easy peasy.

[rabbi]

I have the same issue with play in the steering. At least mine is similar to the problem that MKB53 is referring to (The nut holding the outer Teleflex cable in place requires a collar.

[Cotemar]

Here are a few more FP rudder post to tiller connection and helm steering cable pictures.

Check these screws to make sure they are tight at least once a year.

I pulled the all the allen screws out and put blue loctite on all the threads.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by Seastream

As I suspected, tnx. Any idea how to minimize play in the steering? I see no obvious adjustment points there.

Excessive steering play bothered me for a while, too. Over the last few weeks squeaking sounds from both rudder tubes appeared causing fear of a worn rudder bearing.

So today i found the time to investigate. Here is what i found on my boat. Sorry, no pics.

In Cotemars's pics you can see the steering rod connected to the cable on oe side andthe tiller on the other. At first the onnection between the rod and the tiller was not as tight as it could be. Not much play but a little and an easy fix: just tighten the screw.
The bigger part of the play came from the connection between the cable and the rod-holding tube. even with a tight nut at the connection between the cable and the rod tube there was still significant play. I could see the end of the cable move back and forth. The nut was already at the maximum so i needed a suiteable washer. Inner diameter 16mm, out diameter 20mm. Its thickness depends on play, in my case around 10mm. I happened to find a large hose connector in locker my where i could saw a 10mm piece off. It was only 16x19 mm but seems to work ok.

I took off the nut, disconnected the rod from the tiller and slid the rod back through the tube.
That way the washer can be slid over the rod up to the collar at the end of the cable. Reassembled everything and the play was mostly gone. There is still some play involved, around 8cm at the end of the wheel but that is just a fraction of what it was before.


The squeaking noise that has appeared over the last few weeks came from the rudder tubes. Every little movement caused a loud squeak, very annoying at anchor in some swell. The lower rudder bearings showed no significant play and the upper bearings don't get much load so i wondered what could be wrong.
It turned out not to be the rudder bearings but instead it was just the top cap of the rudder tube holding the rudd stock. The tube is not 100% aligned with the rudder stock so there is a little pressure on these caps. But they are not intended as bearings so they started to squeak. I cleaned the rudder stock, added some teflon lubricant and all is well again.
I thought about normal grease or silicone but i have noclue about the material of the cap and maybe it startsto swell, making it even tighter.

All noise is gone now. Steering was not tight before but now its very light.

[Time Traveler]

Currently dropping rudders on Mahe #93 to service the bearings. Fretted for a couple week: spherical bearing in a spherical housing -- what's needed to pull the bottom bearing and how to do it, or does the entire bearing housing need to come out.

Custom Yacht Services (US distributer of the JP3 bearings) couldn't help much with the disassembly question. But here's a video that finally solved the riddle.

https://vimeo.com/199082713

For just a few seconds, you get a clear view of the lower bearing, from below, with the rudder stock out. Then the star of the video just twists the spherical inner bearing 90 degrees and draws it down and out through the oblong hole in the bottom of the bearing housing.

No brainer once you see it. Sure cheered me up and hope that helps others.

[VanIsle]

Originally Posted by 1rkghost

Sizes below

JP3 confirm bearings as 10.14.04 and 10.13.03, both at 34mm ID.

With kind regards,

David Loughborough,
Custom Yacht Outfitters,
JP3USA.

USA jp3
10.14.04- $228.90
10.13.03-$268.80
50% deposit on order, 50% due on completion.
Does not include S&H, 6% duty.

You can get them from FP.
If you just need the ball bearings the set for one side(one lower and one upper bearing) is our ref 1040392 and is priced 145€ exvat
If you need the complete bearing + housing the upper one is 1046979 and is priced 176€exvat, the lower one is our ref 1046981 and priced 212€ exvat

I know its been asked before, but can anyone confirm which part number is for the JP3 lower bearing? And is that for the plastic bearing alone, without the housing? Time to service/replace ours.