Rudder noise

[stevec22206]

92' Hunter 33.5. I'm hearing a noise originating from the rudder stock when steering. With the cockpit access panel off I spun the wheel and listened for the noise and it does come from the under the quadrant. Sounds like it is overly dry, binding a bit when turning the wheel. It is more apparent when underway. I inspected the cables, sheaves and quadrant yesterday but didn't see any visual evidence pointing to a cause. We won't be able to have the boat pulled until Fall to inspect from the outside. Is there method to lubricate the rudder shaft? Would appreciated some advice or a course of action to remedy this.

 

[PaulK]

We had a similar problem on our J/36. The rudderstock may have a bearing or sleeve in the shaft that has become worn. On our J/36 we were able to access it by removing a plate in the aft deck to expose the head of the rudderstock. We then slid a thin sheet of high density plastic into the space between the stock and the shaft to solve the problem.