Binnacle Bushings

[Kevin]

The steering on our 1983 P40, Casi Cielo, has been getting tighter and tighter.  We hauled her out today for other routine bottom work and I started puttering with the steering.  Long story short – the shaft that the steering wheel is attached to was extremely tight.  Rudder itself turns from side to side very easily once freed from the cables.  The steering shaft appears to have two plastic-type bushings front and aft with the gear for the chain in between.  It’s these two bushings, especially the one on the aft end of the binnacle, that appear to be responsible for the tight steering.

 

So, the question:  Has anyone else had this problema, and if yes then how was it fixed?  Is there a source for new bushings?  How are the old ones removed and new ones pressed back in?  Any and all help and donation are appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin Muiman

SV Casi Cielo

[psherwood]

I don't want to look any more foolish than I normally do, but, is there
any way the steering damper (I don't know what the technically correct
name is) could have gotten tightened and somehow stuck? By "damper" I'm
talking about the clamp mechanism you can hand-tighten by turning the
knob on the starboard side of the binnacle.

Phil
s/v Cynosure
Seattle (not stormy) / San Carlos (bienvenido TS Newton)

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[Matthew Davidson]

Kevin

Since our boat had a cockpit fire... I have disassembled and repaired just about everything including the entire binnacle. 

The bushings you refer to are a super easy fix. You will have to pull the shaft and get the old bushings out! It was not hard... From what I remember... Requires disassembly of the top of your binnacle. Knock out some roll pins... the only hard part was getting the shaft out once the locking pin is removed. Kind of a rotate and pull action. I may have used a plastic hammer to pound on the nut to drive the shaft out. Once you get the top off of your assembly... it will be self evident on how the take it apart. Remeber teh sequence to put it back together!!!

 

I have some round stock of UHMW (Ultra-High Molecular Weight) plastic I purchased from Rem-Stock at Laird Plastics in seattle. White Virgin UHMW... not black recycle stuff. This is all you need. I took a chunk of this along with the parts to a machine shop and had two bushings made. UHMW is self lubricating and is really great stuff for bushings of this type of service. NO-LUBE required!!! A good machinist will be able to turn this in a matter of 1/2 and hour once he has all of the measurements. You may want to pull the entire binnacle and take it to the shop so there is not mix up. 

Good luck!!!

[Steve Binari]

Kevin,

 

Do you have the Merriman Yacht Specialties pedestal?  I posted a pdf on this pedestal's disassembly a while ago.  You can find it by searching the Passport site. 

 

I ordered replacement bushings for this pedestal fromDrillspot.com.

 

Igus

MYI-12-12

Flanged Bearing, 3/4 IDx3/4 In L, Pk 5

SKU: 483474

 

Igus

MYI-07-07

Flanged Bearing, 7/16 IDx7/16 In L, Pk 5

SKU: 522080

 

I agree with Phil, though.  It seems unlikely that these bushings are your problem, but you will have to disassemble it to find out for sure.  You will learn a lot by removing the compass and looking inside the pedestal.  Please let us know what you learn!

 

Steve

s/v Albireo

P40, #57, 1984

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[Steve Binari]

Oops!  After hitting send, I realized that I was referring to the wrong bushings!

 

Sorry,

Steve

 

From: passpor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:passpor...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2016 5:24 PM
To: Passport Owners
Subject: [Passport] Binnacle Bushings

 

The steering on our 1983 P40, Casi Cielo, has been getting tighter and tighter.  We hauled her out today for other routine bottom work and I started puttering with the steering.  Long story short – the shaft that the steering wheel is attached to was extremely tight.  Rudder itself turns from side to side very easily once freed from the cables.  The steering shaft appears to have two plastic-type bushings front and aft with the gear for the chain in between.  It’s these two bushings, especially the one on the aft end of the binnacle, that appear to be responsible for the tight steering.

--

[Kevin]

After isolating the wheel shaft from the chain it was obvious that the two bushings are the reason for the tight steering.  I've removed both bushings (came out easily once set screws were removed) and will have new ones machined as Matthew recommended.  Appreciate the input from other Passport owners.

Kevin

[Kevin]

Attached is a pic of the cleaned up shaft and new bushing (on the left).  I'll rebuild the binnacle this week and will post a status update later.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/nu71ubm12d5r957/AADLHHuM9ggm_76Jdxv6VxwWa