12 replies to this topic

[AmongstTheWaves]

hello all,
I'm wondering if anyone has had this issue previously and how to fix it.

I was out on the lake yesterday and towards the end of our day (about 4 hrs on the water) I was turning left while in F with no throttle and when I reached the end (where the rpm's kick in and the wheel normally stops) the wheel kept going and there was an audible clicking sound. It's as if the tab or whatever that would normally stop the wheel broke enough to allow the wheel to keep going v. stopping. The wheel still "steers" the jet drive it just doesn't stop itself and you can turn it virtually forever.

It works as normal (stops) when turning right.

What happened and how do I fix it?

[AmongstTheWaves]

hello? This thing on?

[Kevin Leclair]

Sounds like something going on with the steering cable, do you have a manual to take a look at the steering assembly for your boat?

[AmongstTheWaves]

Kevin,
I have the Merc Jet drive manual and the Sea Doo Owner's Guide. Would it be in either of those?

[Kevin Leclair]

It should be in the Merc manual, let me know if you have any trouble locating it.

[AmongstTheWaves]

Kevin, I think I tried downloading the manual before but I couldn't figure out how to "unzip" the file correctly.

ok, a bit more info...

I should have mentioned before that the audible clicking is heard behind the steering wheel and not near the jet drive.

I did check to make sure that the steering wheel still moves the jet drive side to side and it does so that's good news, right?

Next I removed the fire extinguisher compartment so that I could watch the steering mechanism go back and forth and see what happened when it goes past it's normal stopping point and begins the click. I didn't notice anything obvious as the click starts other than the mechanism is at the point when the lever(?) meets it's endpoint (moving right to left) and the thin steering cable is at it's longest/straightest point. I probably didn't explain that very well but I'm far from a gear-head so please bear with me.
As I stated previously it appears to me (non-gear head) that the clicking is the result of the guard/tab that would normally halt the wheel from turning but that guard/tab has failed and thus allows, while clicking, the wheel to turn freely counter clockwise.

???

[Kevin Leclair]

Take a look at the links below - there should be a total of three screen grabs from the Merc manual regarding the steering assembly. It could be that something is going on with the steering arm after reviewing these.

http://seadoosportbo...at-82933-pmpng/
http://seadoosportbo...at-82957-pmpng/
http://seadoosportbo...at-83053-pmpng/

[AmongstTheWaves]

thanks, those pictures are helpful. I do recall checking those when diagnosing the issue. Structurally they seemed sound but the black rubber boot(?) over the port side one was ripped. I wouldn't think this would cause the steering clicking, would it?

[Kevin Leclair]

It is possible that it could be since the boot is damaged, it would be worth replacing it to find out. Did you see any other damage while you were looking around?

[AmongstTheWaves]

no I didn't. That is the only visual damage with my untrained eye that I could see. I will try and get a clear picture of it to upload.

Are those easy/cheap to replace? Is it something someone with minimal skills can do?

[Kevin Leclair]

Sounds good, looking forward to the pic.

Is your Challenger an 1800 or 2000? Below is pic of the steering system on the 1800.

 Screen shot 2010-08-18 at 7.46.29 AM.png   74.5KB   7 downloads

You should be able to look up the part number here, http://epc.brp.com/I...eadoo,sportboat - under the "Steering System" section for your specific model.

Once you locate the part number you should be able to order it from World of Powersports, http://www.worldofpo...eadoosportboats.

[AmongstTheWaves]

I have a 2000 Challenger 2000
ok, here are the pics. One of the broken boot and the other of both steering rods and their boots.  boat steering boot.JPG   1.41MB   13 downloads

 boat steering boots.JPG   1.45MB   14 downloads

[AmongstTheWaves]

so a little more follow up to this issue...

I had my Dad over this weekend and explained the clicking issue to him. He knows auto's inside and out and is a previous boat owner. We headed out to the garage so I could demo the issue. Once he observed the steering mechanism behind the dash his immediate thought was it was the gears inside the steering "box" that seem to be the issue.

My question is then, is this a fixable issue or a replaceable issue? Either way has anyone had much success removing these components. It appears to be a series of bolts.

Also, as mentioned from my pics on of my rubber bellows is broken. Can I buy just the bellow to replace it or do I have to go full bore on the entire steering mechanism?