problem with my steering and outdrive.

[machzrcr]

my out drive hasn't been wanting to steel to the port side very well it takes a long time to make a left hand turn and often kicks out my auto pilot because of it. I checked and i do have power steering fluid and loosened the belt on the power steering pump and it turns freely. And ideas on things to look at? sound like the rams going bad? probably going to pull the boat to check things out

and having a problem with the outdrive not always wanting to go into reverse. any ideas on this?

motor is a gm 350. and the outdrive is a volvo penta 290 dp. And everything is on my 2860 trophy.

also if anyone knows a mobile mechanic who may be able to come look at things with me to help find the problem and i can pay for his knowledge and let me do the work to it that would be awesome! i am docked in pultneyville and if i pull the boat it will be in ontario.

joe

[borderline 350]

Dear Joe,

Call Hank @ L & M at Port Bay. Pull the boat & ask for an estimate and that will tell you what direction to take. At this time of year everyone has a backlog. Your patience and wallet will get strained. Try to keep your sanity as Volvo Marine parts are VERY expensive. All outdrive parts are expensive, but Volvo is one step above everyone on pricing parts. Start with Hank as he is honest and has the intestinal fortitude,knowledge & attitude to complete the job.

Sincerely,

Jet-X Boat Bill

[tangler]

I have the same engine arangement that you describe, a (305 gm) though. Your shifting problem is most likley the shifter cable. I replaced mine myself with little difficulty. You will have to remove the old one first to measure it, ( i believe it is a 3300 series cable). My marine supply dude had it on the shelf. You will need an extra set of hands to feed the new cable into the shifter housing, but not a really tough job. Made a world of difference how my engine shifted. The steering problem however may be a bit tougher to tackle (sorry). If its fighting only one side you MAY have a bad power steering unit, haven't fought this war yet. BUT i will tell u this: find someone u trust first, then make sure they've worked on volvos before you give it to them, they have nothing in common with mercruiser outdrives. And yes they are more expensive to repair. Good luck, JUSTIN.

[machzrcr]

thanks ill have to look into the shift cable and see if that helps!

[Gill-T]

Get the shift cable looked at. Could be electronic shift assist switch or idle set to high also.

[machzrcr]

well an update on this problem. Yesterday i had a mechanic down at the boat and we messed with the power steering pump unhooked a hose and made sure it was pumping fluid and it sure was. and loosed up the power steering pump belt a little because it was really tight! and other than that couldnt find a problem. So we decided to take a look at the outdrive itsself so today i pullled the boat out of the water.

and i found out that there is a locking piece which makes the outdrive not kick up when in reverse and you pull on it a little so you can lift it up manually. and it kind of looks like there was a little metal piece in there that if you hit something would bend and allow the outdrive to kick up on its own. Well anyway that piece was all bent up and the locking piece was not facing forward and was lodged against the bracket for the trim cylinders. and the outdrive was sitting on this bracket. So i lifted the outdrive moved the piece back bent the metal piece back to somewhat wat it was originally looking like and put some gas in the boat and went out in the lake and everything worked mint!!

THere is a tube that sticks out directly behind the bracket that extends outwards when put in reverse and when the bracket was sideways that tube would hit it and not allow me to shift into reverse! so i killed both my problems with that piece! so if it happens again i know where to look.

and if someone does a little search hopefully this will help them as well!

thanks for the replies!

Joe!

[lakebound88]

joe, didnt you pull your drive this past spring? Did you make sure the nut on the cable was on the same spot on the threads? I know that can affect if. I had an issue the other day along the same lines. But it slipped into forward on its own at high idle on warm up...scared me but just the rocker arm on the drive/frictions from oil drew the gear into place.. All systems good now.

[machzrcr]

ya we did we measured the amount of cable past the nut and put the nut on the same distance as when we pulled the drive off.

i figured out the problem though i dunno if you read the last post i made about the locking mechanism. and while it was out of the water i did pull the cover off and made sure that the nut didn't loosen up as well and made sure everything in there looked like it was shifting as it was suppose to.