How to remove / grease the helm of an Oceanis 400.

[JamieB]

Hey there,

thanks for the help.

So like a lot of people my boat has been sat still for two years and now the helm desperately needs a grease. I can't see where to take the helm off though. I've removed the big nut holding it on but it won't budge an inch.

Any suggestions on how to grease or remove entirely would be amazing.

Thanks,

J

 

[DougM]

If you only need to access the linkage to the wheel axle, remove the compass.
If its a Plastimo Compass, there are gray tabs at the base of the compass. Carefully pry those off to access the mounting screws. Remove those and lift the compass out of the pedestal. The chain and sprocket are then visible.

 

[JoeWhite]

If you are trying to remove the steering wheel, then use steering wheel remover. Clean and apply bearing grease. You need to be able to remove the steering in case of emergency so you can use the tiller.

 

[JamieB]

Thanks so much. I'll have to go get one as I don't think we've got one on the boat.

 

[JamieB]

Is it as simple as just removing the main bolt and forcing it off? There's a small hole which looks like it should fit a key of some sort. I don't want to break something by being stupid !

Thanks for the reply.

 

[DougM]

Looking at your photo, if you are referring to the rectangular slot adjacent to the shaft, thats a keyway. The shaft has the other half of the keyway machined into it. The key acts as a retainer to prevent the wheel from rotating on the shaft.
The dimple on the end of the shaft is there to center the point on a wheel puller. You will need that to remove the wheel. You might need to soak the joint between the shaft and the wheel with something like PB blaster to help break it loose.
That said,I don’t know if removing the wheel is going to get you to the source of the squeak.

 

[JamieB]

Thank you so much for the guidance. I'll go get a wheel puller.

Really appreciate it.

 

[JamieB]

Ok got it off with a wheel puller. Thanks for the suggestion. Have greased the hell out of it and hopefully that works out.

Thanks for the help