Vibration in Steering Wheel and Helm

[TayTay]

So I have noticed over the last few months that the steering wheel and helm vibrate a little bit when I am pulling a rider out of the water. Well yesterday one time it rattled and vibrated really bad. It felt like the whole thing was going to fall apart. Any ideas what might be causing that or anything to check? Thanks!

[Blackntan90]

Tay, this might sound crazy, but on mine the same thing has happend and I was able to crawl under the dash with a flashlight and have my wife take off like pulling someone up, the helm mounting screws had backed off a little- I was just grabbing things while she accelerated, until the noise stopped. Give it a try- you never know...

[saltare inverts]

Duct tape always works. Just playing, I have no idea.

[KY Steve]

Could the vibration and your water leak issue be a problem with your bearing/seals on the rudder shaft?

I sometimes get a vibration when I power up fast and make the turn to pick up a downed skier. I assume its cavitation with the prop because it only happens when the boat is in a strong turn with the throttle down.

[Salty87]

Could the vibration and your water leak issue be a problem with your bearing/seals on the rudder shaft?

do you have dripless shaft seal? they can leak if the alignment is off.

[michael hunter]

I 2nd what KYSteve said check your drive train .

[TayTay]

do you have dripless shaft seal? they can leak if the alignment is off.

I do beleive I have a dripless shaft seal, but it is not dripless right now, haha. So on my other post I was asking if it may be the seal, but if you may think it is allignment then how do I check that, or does the shop check that? Thanks for any info. Also when I was out last night, there were 4 of us in the boat, not pulling anybody, it didn't vibrate at all. It seems to do it, mainly when I am towing somebody or a tube.

[Salty87]

i have a pss seal, not sure what you have. the pss seal has clamps around the rubber pieces and also a collar on the drive shaft. any of those can get loose. it's doubtful but you might have trash between the 2 mating surfaces, worth checking. or, the mating surfaces may be out of alignment.....push the rubber boot toward the stern and you'll see a gap open up where the mating surfaces are. the collar on the drive shaft compresses the boot. the mating surfaces need to be clean and straight to keep water out.

if your alignment is off, it's possible that the mating surfaces won't be in full contact throughout the revolution. i have no idea how to align a v drive.

[TayTay]

So it ended up just needing the packing adjusted. I took it to a shop here in town they did it for me. I dont know much about that stuff so I didn't want to mess with it. Regardless, the issue is fixed now.

[pecanflyboy]

This was copied from the Moomba forum:

http://www.moomba.com/msgboard/showthread.php?p=140629#post140629


Originally Posted by Brian Raymond
The "chatter" that is felt is caused by turbulent water passing the rudder under certain conditions. This will vibrate the cable inside the sheathing up to the rack at the helm. This makes the gear mesh between the helm and cable also vibrate. This is common on the rack steering system. Brian Raymond

I was in the process of starting a new thread, when I found this one in a search. I'm having the same problem.

Background: 125 hours, 2001 Mobius. Just replaced the steering cable with the Teleflex SSC15418 (I'd recommend the SSC15419 19' cable, as the 18' cable was 10" shorter than the original). This cable makes the steering feel like butter...very nice.

Condition: Full throttle, loaded boat, rudder near center. Turbulence or cavitation on the rudder is transmitted from the rudder, to the cable, to the rack, and into the helm. I can actually feel the vibration in the cable when I reach beneath the dash. It feels like a rattle or chatter.

Causes?: It may be just the cavitation, as Brian has said, and it may be normal. However, it is unnerving. I worry that there is too much slop or play in the steering cable clamp block and/or in the clevis where the cable attaches to the rudder control horn. I was able to replicate the feel by moving the clamp block against it's stops where it hits the cast mounting. I don't know if this is what I'm feeling in the helm, or if it is just a vibration coming up from the rudder.

Can anyone confirm that this is a normal condition? I really don't want to spend the $$ on a new clamp block and clevis only to find out that it's not a problem.

Jimmy

[cadunkle]

I sometimes get a vibration when I power up fast and make the turn to pick up a downed skier. I assume its cavitation with the prop because it only happens when the boat is in a strong turn with the throttle down.

Please don't power turn (www.nopowerturns.com), it ruins the water for anyone else trying to use it as well as throws rollers down the section you'll be riding over shortly.

[Jetlink]

Friends don't let friends power turn.