Steering bush

[BBCJ73]

Hi.
I have a J73 and the steering stainless shaft that goes through a bush in the round seal thing has gone tight in the bush .
I have just removed the shaft.There seems to be a bush in there .Should it have a seal on the shaft ?
Or just one bush. I think the shaft is about 19mm.
Thanks

[djm]

The alloy has probably "grown around the bush, tightening it on the shaft. So you will have to remove the bush and remove the oxidised ali, looks like powder coming out. There is a "O" ring seal in front of the bush, you may rescue this or replace. Reassembly is just the opposite, o ring first then bush. If bush is loose either sealastic or epoxy to hold in. Shaft should move freely with just a little interference from the o ring as it seals on shaft.
Good Boating.

[CBBR]

ludowici sell the bushes and o rings 

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=mulfords&fb=1&gl=nz&hq=mulfords&hnear=Christchurch&cid=16922216783556798845

they have several offices around the country

[BBCJ73]

Thanks djm for the info.
Yes . I just got the bushes out they had been squeezed in with corrosion. It had two bushes in-line on each shaft with a gap between them of about 4mm between. I did not have any O ring in there at all that I could see.Maybe it was between the bushes and now gone ? If the O ring is not between two bushes what would hold it in place ?
Do you know where I can buy replacement parts ?
Regards Andrew

[CBBR]

Thanks djm for the info.
Yes . I just got the bushes out they had been squeezed in with corrosion. It had two bushes in-line on each shaft with a gap between them of about 4mm between. I did not have any O ring in there at all that I could see.Maybe it was between the bushes and now gone ? If the O ring is not between two bushes what would hold it in place ?
Do you know where I can buy replacement parts ?
Regards Andrew

Ludowici Mulford Engineering Plastics
18 Sonter Road, Wigram Park, Christchurch City, Canterbury

[wrongway2]

Alternate solution to the problem is to:

Remove steering shaft, not so easy on a close coupled 773 or 753, but you have to remove it any.

Run a 19 mm expandable reamer through the existing bush until you recover clearance.

Same can be done to the reverse bushes ( 750 770).


The binding tends to happen more often on the reverse shaft as normal use of steeering shaft maintains clearance by wearing the bush away!

[BBCJ73]

Thanks Ben.
I received the bushes overnight to Auckland.Great !

Wrongway2.
Good idea to fix the problem.Thanks.
The boat steering was a bit tight last time I used but had not used it for quite a while now and then found it to be Real Tight !I had already taken the bushes out.So I have just cleaned out the hole and painted inside it with PA10.

Does anyone have details on the O ring ? Does the the O ring just go in behind the bush and is retained by nothing ?
The bush size is 1" O/D x 3/4" I/D. Anyone know what size O rings ?
Thanks all for you help !