Lubrication of CDi Steering System on Hunter 340

[Swedegeek]

Got a "new to me" 1998 Hunter 340 that I'm trying to figure out how to maintain. I found the grease fittings (zerk fittings) on the steering system, but one is so far down inside the steering pedestal that I can just touch it with my longest finger. No way I can reach down there & put a grease gun on it. Given how dirty it looks, I doubt anyone else has gotten a grease gun on it in a long time, either.

Has anyone figured out how to get it greased? I'm about to put a 6" screw-off access hatch underneath the cockpit table to provide better access...

Thanks

 

[sailcapt340]

Your right you can’t do both, get the grease gun on the fitting, hold it there and squeeze the handle. On my 2000 340 it’s a long way down there also. Given the only access is through the center removable ice bucket and drink holder.
I have a small grease gun about 6 inches long, uses screw on grease cartridges that are 4 inches by 1 inch round.
I fitted it with a 4 foot long hose extension.
That brings the gun up to just inside the opening and is just about the max length that you use and can squeeze the handle to pump in the grease that far.
So what I do and just did today in fact, is, I get my arm down to the bottom and connect the fitting to the grease fitting and hold it there. Which puts my face right at the opening.
My wife squeezes the handle 3 full times. It’s close quarters in there and she is just about able to pull the handle 3 times.
But it works.
If your seeing that it looks untouched….it is and was! You need to get grease in there. The manual I have says 3 squeezes of grease each year for that fitting. I’d double it this year.
And you really do need to grease the one on top, one under the compass and the worm gears under the compass also. Just remove the compass for easy access to that area.
And don‘t forget the ball joints (2) under the removable deck piece at the wheel.
They dry out and create a lot of friction when steering. There aren‘t any grease fittings on the ball joints and steerage arm but you can simply pack them, top and bottom, by turning the steerage arm left and right.
You can do the 6 inch access port. Just involves more work in cutting, fitting and sealing.
Try the long extension hose first, once you get a system going your only talking a few minutes of time in the pedestal.
Hope this at least gives you an alternative method.

 

[Swedegeek]

Sounds like your arms are longer than mine... By getting into an obscene position with the pedestal I can barely reach the zerk fitting with one finger, but there’s no way I could put a grease gun onto it.

I was hoping someone had a slick trick to get the hose onto the zerk fitting.

So that storage under the drink holder is an ice bucket? Growing up in Alaska that never would have occurred to me. I find it a handy place to keep a few tools & my sailing gloves.

 

[Swedegeek]

Looks like Edson sells Super Lube on its website (at very inflated prices). Is that what other folks use? Got any feedback on it, i.e., any nasty interactions with the previously used grease, etc.?

 

[sailcapt340]

You need a friend with long arms and you can be the top man. And when it’s done treat him to a cold beer fresh from the same spot.
You really don’t know what grease, if any was used, but any quality grease will do. I use Moly and have for the 21 years I’ve owned the boat since new. It was what my dealer who commissioned the boat told me to use in 2000 and never had an issue with it. It’s water resistant and what you really want under the floor for the ball joints and under the compass for the exposed gears there.
If your grease you see now looks white or milky, it is not water resistant and will absorb water and cause a problem.
Yeah, that’s a little cooler under the drink holder. Mine came with a thin, glued on silver insulation all around the outside and bottom. I replaced it about 10 years ago as it was starting to tear in spots. It’s a tight fit in there.
A lot of people use it as a tool holder, gloves, phones etc. But I’d never convince my wife of that. Ours has wine and beer and hold a bag of ice for a day.
And the water drains out of the 4 holes in the bottom corners.
Very convenient.

 

[John T1594]

It has been some time since I owned my 2000 H340 but I was always able to reach that lower zerk fitting on the steering post. I would have to remove the drink holder/ice bucket and using some aging acrobatics and my long arms (I'm 6') and then could use a small hand held grease gun on the fitting. I have a vague memory of maybe partially moving the entire top molded instrument cluster from the top of the pedestal base to get deeper into the steering column. While I had the drink holder/ice bucket out, I would also spray some lithium grease in a pressure can around the engine control mechanism while I worked them back and forth. I would also take up the aft deck panel and grease the joints on the steering arms. I would advise doing this on the hard so as not to drop the deck panel overboard in the slip.

 

[John T1594]

BTW: I noted in my maintenance logs and in the CDi pedestal manual that there are three (3) zek fittings on the steering column. Two are on the forward facing portion of the column and the third is on the top somewhere near the circular ring gear. I tended to forget about that one.