Loose Edson Steering Pulley

[Terry Arnold]

On my 79 H33, the horizontal cable pulley for the Edson system is manufactured with a radial split on opposite sides of the pulley. Two bolts span the split near the hub for the purpose of clamping the pulley to the shaft. A woodruff key with matching grooves in pulley and shaft further guarantees that shaft and pulley move in sync. On my boat, the pulley is loose on the shaft even though the clamping bolts have all the crack pulled out of the pulley, and a slight clearance between key and groove allows the pulley to move a small amount before the rudder shaft follows along, leading to a less than precise steering. Evidently a leaking access port through cockpit sole above the end of the rudder shaft furnished ample water over the years to enable significant corrosion of the aluminum pulley hub at the clamping contact with the stainless shaft. My question then is to other owners with Edson steering. Any ideas about shimming between the pully and shaft to allow the clamping bolts to do their job? Any other ideas of how to fix the problem?

 

[Ed Schenck]

Replace?

Hi Terry,Our 1979 H37C has exactly the same Edson cable steering and quandrant(pulley). I've had occasion to lubricate the system and to adjust the cable tension so know about your situation. But if there was any corrosion on my quandrant I'd replace it. I'm paranoid about loosing steering. And I have tested my emergency tiller and have easy access to it. Call Edson? 508-995-9711

 

[red coles]

My fix

Im really feeling prolific today. My second post. Anyway I would remove the pulley havles,clean them up and use a product called "JB weld". Its available at auto parts stores. Get the long cure type (24hrs). Use this to butter the inside of pulley,maybe a 1/16" to 3/32",then grind smooth with round file. Should last forever. Good luck red

 

[Sam Lust]

Quadrant Querry

I assume the quadrant on my Merriman equipped 33 is essentialy similar to your Edson. My guess is that the quadrant was bored slightly wrong from the bedinning. My halves are about 3/16" apart when tightened. Once the salt water got to yours corrosion and then galling set in. Once the inside diameter was enlarged it allowed the key and the keyway in the aluminum to pound out.My solution? Shim. The quadrant is at the very least substantantial and not likely to have been compromised. Shim stock is available in various thicknesses and materials such as brass, steel and stainless from industrial supply houses. Grainger and McMaster-carr come to mind as Nationals. My personal favorite is beer / soda can. It's available, low cost, plentiful and already painted to prevent corrosion. (How convenient!) Did I mention cheap? You can cut it with a decent scissors.Also replace the key which is probably pounded out.While you're there check the rudder shaft packing nut carefuly. If it's orriginal there's probably not much left of it. Have lots of fun crawling around back in there! I spent lots of hours in there last winter trying to get that packing nut loose. It's my second favorite place to work after the head!

 

[Colin Campbell]

My solution

Contact a local industrial supplier and get the phone number for the local Loctite rep. describe the problem to him/her and he/she will suggest a suitable liquid product to solve your problem. Results will be guaranteed, cost effective and permanent. The only issue you might encounter is if there is enough slack to cause mis-allignment of the components.

 

[Colin Campbell]

Loctite site

Further to my comments about using a Loctite product to solve your problem, I have found that they have a site on the net and can be reached athttp://www.loctite.com/indexna.htmlYou will find a loction on the site to request technical assistance.