Steering Noise

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36041
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Steering Noise

Post by 36041 »

All,

Dream Catcher is now happily bobbing at anchor in Green Turtle, Abacos. On the crossing over, we developed a little noise at one particular angle in our steering. The noise appears to be coming from the steering box and it sounded like a little click. It also felt like there might have been just the tiniest bit of resistance at the time of the click, but at the time, the ride was pretty rough and I couldn't be sure.

The noise went away after several hours and obviously, we still have steering or I wouldn't be sitting here writing, but I was wondering if anyone has an idea of what it might have (or continue to) been? Could we be looking at the beginning of the end for our Whitlock box? All ideas are appreciated.

Regards,
Tom
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by thinwater »

Could it be a glitch in the autopilot belt? You will feel it, even with the autopilot off. Very common and very easy to fix.
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Page 83 »

The whitlock is dirt-simple and easy enough to trouble-shoot. Clicking could be a link in the chain, a burr in the cable or something intermittantly in contact with a wire clamp. A cheap stethoscope would help you isolate the noise.
I agree with Thinwater; the most likely culprit is the wheel drive. Before I ended up replacing mine, it was doing a LOT of clicking, but it kept on ticking.

p.s. Siesta is at George Town; I'll be back down in February. PM me if I can bring you some boat-trinkets.
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by 36041 »

Guys,

I've removed the autopilot and the noise is still there. I broke out my Dr. Tom stethoscope and I can clearly hear the noise originating from the steering box. It doesn't seem to be getting any worse, so I will probably wait until we are further down island to pull it a part and see if it can serviced.

As an aside, I did take the time to make sure my emergency tiller steering setup was ready to go at a moments notice and it took me thirty minutes to get the screw on cap off over top the rudder post. Any other PDQ-ers doing some serious sailing may want to check theirs out before they need it in an emergency. Just a thought.

Later,
Tom
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Lady of the Lake »

There was no emergency tiller with our PDQ when we bought her used. Anyone have any idea where I can get one or if one can be fabricated?

In fact, there is no deck plate access over the rudder post to even use an emergency tiller on our vessel.

Sam
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Allezcat »

Sam,

Allezcat (hull#10) has a crude emerg tiller made of stainless pipe. Its outer diameter is slightly smaller than the ID of the rudder post. There is a hole in the deck over each rudder post to accomodate the tiller pipe which slides into the rudder post. The tiller pipe has a slot which then fits over a bolt near the top of the rudder post. The holes have covers made of starboard screwed to the deck. I have used the tiller twice after bending and jamming a rudder, disconnecting the tie rod, and steering with the good rudder. It works very well. If you need photos, let me know.

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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Lady of the Lake »

Photos would be greatly appreciated. Interestingly, there are no deck holes above my rudder posts. I wonder if there are any other older hulls (we are 15) that did not have the holes for the emergency tiller. Maybe they were added later?

Sam
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Sunshine »

FYI, SUNSHINE {34002) has a deck plate over each rudder post. I don't know if she came from the factory with them or if a PO installed them. The tiller is long since gone. I'd guess that most metal shops should be able to make a tiller.
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by 36041 »

All,

I've found the problem. The noise is coming from the steering box, but only because the steering cable is binding up a tad where it exits the red tubing just in front of the starboard steering quadrant. The noise is just a little play in the box caused when the cable starts to develop some serious friction near straight center on the helm. I took some silicon and really coated the cables where they exit their cover and after ten minutes or so of working it back and forth the noise and the tension in the wheel has gone away.

The cable itself doesn't look overly worn, but there was quite a build up of salt not only on the cables, but also the quadrant itself. I spent an hour cleaning everything out with fresh water and then applying the silicone, but I guess only time will tell if this is a solution or just a band-aid patch.

Thanks for all the input.

Regards,
Tom
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Page 83 »

Congrats, Tom. James replaced Page 83's steering last Fall; the parts are available from teleflex; I listed them here a while ago. The conduit has to come from them, but you can source the cable anywhere. If there were some way to tell that the conduit isn't significantly worn, replacing the wire cable would be _fairly_ simple. Best of luck.
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Re: Steering Noise - Steering Deck Plates

Post by maxicrom »

Our boat came with little fiberglass circles glued over the rudder post holes (with 5200 or "52 million" as I prefer to call it when trying to remove the stuff!). I've replaced the glued down covers with small Py-Hi access covers. I only had to enlarge the hole a bit for the smallest size. They're water tight and open easily to access the rudder posts.

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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Allezcat »

Sam
Attached are photos of Emerg tiller on Allezcat. The covers are a plastic material similar to starboard.
If you need more photos or dimensions let me know
Chet
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Attachments
Rudder Stock & Pin.jpg
Rudder Stock & Pin.jpg (19.22 KiB) Viewed 17416 times
Emerg Steering Cover.jpg
Emerg Steering Cover.jpg (144.95 KiB) Viewed 17432 times
Emerg Tiller Slot.jpg
Emerg Tiller Slot.jpg (90.91 KiB) Viewed 17415 times
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by alan kayser »

Great photos. My emergency tiller looks exactly like that. Before I replaced my steering cables I decided to try the tiller. The weld at the 90 degree angle broke with minim effort. I took it to a metal fabricator and had it rewelded. I would say the tiller had never been tried because the weld was defective, there was no penetration in the joint.
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Page 83 »

Note to self: dig out emergency tiller and try it.
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Re: Steering Noise

Post by Lady of the Lake »

Anyone else out there NOT have the thru deck penetrations for the emergency tiller?

James, any idea why hull #15 would be different in this respect?

Thanks,
Sam
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