E33 Steering System
Date: August 12, 2002 Hi all, There is not much in the manual about tightening the steering in Cu Mara. Over the these 3 seasons there seems to be too much play in the wheel. Any pointers and "heres how" would be appreciated. Date: August 13, 2002 Carol & Bruce Date: August 13, 2002 Folks, It is fun to steer all day....or that`s what I tell myself!! Date: August 13, 2002 Hi Carol & Bruce, You are indicating that this has become worse. Have you checked the double nutted bolts on the ends of your cables on the steering quadrant. If the nuts are tight you could have steering idler roller and pin wear that is getting worse, that being the case check them first. Probably four of them, two at the bottom of the steering quadrant and two outboard of the quadrant itself. These are brass/bronze insert bushed pulleys with a steel pin, I've seen the pins worn half way through. You will have to loosen the adjustment double nuts to work on the pulleys. If the nuts are loose you still might want to disassemble the pulley's and lube. One way or another with your wheel centered snug up the inner bolt evenly perhaps a half turn at a time, when snug tighten up the lock nut. You may have to do this several times to have your wheel centered , with the rudder straight. Date: August 13, 2002 Hi Bruce and Carol, The cables are routed from the pedestal through the blocks leading to a large flat metal cap to the rudder post under the cockpit storage compartment. It is a tight fit to position yourself through this small opening to get to the tensioner bolts but with a little wiggling it is possible. The adjustment bolts are located at the ends of the steering cables and are eye bolts which feed into this metal cap to the rudder post. There are two nuts connected to the eye bolts. The first is a lock nut which must be loosened first to allow adjustment of the tensioning nut. Once the lock nut is loosened and backed off jam a screwdriver into the end of the eyebolt to prevent it from turning with the adjustment nut. Tighten the adjustment nut in the correct direction to place more tension on the rudder steering cable. Complete this adjustment on both eyebolts fairly evenly. Tighten only enough to take out any slack and to remove any play in the steering. If you over tighten the cables they may groan, and you will feel some minor vibration in the rudder as you are sailing. It may take a few tries to get it feeling right. Once the adjustment is complete, retighten the locknut back against the adjustment nut to prevent it from backing off. If you have'nt done so the steering cables are recomended to be changed every 5 years or so. With care and oil they can last much longer. Also on the top of the rudder post connection near where you are tightening the cables you will find a 4 sided post about 1/2 to 3/4 in or so protruding upwards from the metal cable connection plate to the rudder. This "prong" sticking up is for the mount for your emergency steering tiller which connects through the deck plate just aft of the steering pedestal if you were not aware of that. If I can be of any more assistance with your E-33 please let me know, I have had almost every piece of my 1985 appart or open for maintenance or inspection. Date: August 13, 2002 Dear Carol and Bruce, Date: August 13, 2002 Hi, Carol and Bruce. Terri and I have a 1981 E40, Sabbatical. I spent a lot of time "hugging" my steering quadrant and rudder post this spring as I installed my autopilot. I did find a bit of play probably due to tolerances in the fit of the quadrant to the post. The cables are tightened at the quadrant where it attaches to eye-bolts. Edson has pretty good detail on quadrant and cable assembly in their catalog and on their web site. As to tracking, we've found after 3-400 miles that the tracking of the 40 takes getting used to. Under power, the issue is prop-walk and under sail, you have to find the "groove" with sail trim. Date: August 13, 2002 There seems to be a lot of rudder problems suddenly. I just went thru a rudder/steering problem of a different sort, but may cast a clue on your probelms/. The cables leading from your steering pedistal to the quadrant that turns the rudder post should be very tight. (not excessively tight but have no play in the cables as they wrap around the quadrant. They are tightened by turnbuckles at the quadrant end of the cables. If they are loose,you will of course get play in the wheel and rudder. Perhaps the pulleys they run thru are worn and wobbly? The best test is to lash the wheel very tight so it will not move. The wheel brake is best if it will tighten enough to freeze the wheel. Go below and try hard to make the quadrant move one way or the other. If the quadrant moves at all, the cables are too loose, or you may see the pulley wobble. If the system is solid as a rock and your not getting any play in the shaft or sprocket in the pedistal, the problen is isolated in the rudder itself. When you get the boat up at haul-out. Again freeze the steering from the inside and again make sure the quadrant if solid frozen...and then manually try to move the rudder. If it moves, the problem is inside the rudder itself. The rudder on my E40 has minor bulges on the starboard side. It desn't seem to effect the steering at all. My steering problen happened after a 6 week lay up in a yard for painting. Back in the water it steered very hard to port but OK to starboard. I thought it was something serious but it turned out I had not lubricated the steering system for 11 years and one of the cables was binding. I put lots of oil and greased everywhere else and the steering returned to normal. Hope you find out what the problem is. Let me know! Date: August 13, 2002 I'm sure you've had plenty of advice by now, however, I'll tell you a few things I've noted with my Endeavour 32' sloop. Just a few ideas, but I would check it out ASAP to avoid a possible loss of control. The fact that it does it under sail when rudder is offset in one direction, leads me to suspect a possible rudder connection. Date: August 14, 2002 Dear Carol and Bruce, About the steering. There should not be ANY backlash in the steering. It should be tightened so that every movement you make at the wheel should be seen as a movement in the quadrant (better to do this job with 2 people, otherwise you need lots of mirrors...). To my knowledge there is only one place to tighten and that is at the quadrant; or better said, next to the quadrant. We have 2 cables coming down from the wheel, make a pass around the quadrant and then end in ring bolts. The ring bolt has a nut that should be used for calibration. If you are at it, you could also grease the steering cables at 2 special grease nipples. And grease the cable around the quadrant with white vaseline. Date: August 14, 2002 Too much "play" in the wheel can be the symptom of loose steering cables. They should be inspected and tightened as required to eliminate any slack. The chain and turning blocks should be lubricated annually and cotter pins inspected (we had one break after "clicking" for 4 or 5 days resulting in loss of steering). A slack cable can hop off the sheve ad lock steering. Good luck Date: August 14, 2002 Carol & Bruce, Date: August 18, 2002 Hi,
From: Carol & Bruce McMahon lbm@amherst.com
This is my 3rd season with Cu Mara (1984 E33) and she has always been a "loose" tracker. That is she seems to wander off course easily and at lot of steering is required. I ran across Van Stoffer's issue of June 7, 1999 (the aft end of the keel "dishing in" because it is hollow (not solid!) on his E40. I wondered if anybody else is experiencing this type of tracking with their 33s and could it be a similar problem to Van Stoffers'.
From: George "Buzz" Segura LAMTBUZZ@aol.com
If you have the same type of steering as my 43. On each side of the quadrant there is a threaded bolt that attaches the cable to the quadrant. The "slack" in the cable can be tightened by tightening the bolts thus shortening the cables. A little on each cable should keep things centered up right.
From: John Roil mckenroi@roadrunner.nf.net
My 33 also tracks poorly, but I have put it down to the fact that there is very little skeg in front of the rudder. My last boat, an Aloha 28, had a bigger skeg and tracked quite well. Boats with a full keel (ie.equivalent to
a very large `skeg`) track perfectly.
From: Carl Hibbard Chgypsy@aol.com
From: Todd Evans Endvr33@aol.com
The steering play on the 33 is tightened through the aft cockpit locker under the removeable storage bin.
From: Tom Gilbert Tgilbert123@aol.com
I owned a nice E32..... First the obvious....Did you tighten the steering cables evenly? Does the boat wander on all points of sail? Is the problem just with the engine and prop turning? Is your mast centered all the way up to the top? Is your mast vertical?
From: Gary Beckett garymbsail@attbi.com
From: Jim Parks RIPTYD97@aol.com
From: Terry Brant Sailsnwings@aol.com
From: Fred Altmann altmann@012.net.il
About the dishing-in problem I cannot be of help.
From: Bradd Wilson marina@portcolborne.com
From: Sam Woolsey SamWoolsey@aol.com
I don't know anything about the E33, but the steering on the E40 is a pull/pull system by Edson for which Edson provided the quadrant, cables, pedestal, and wheel. (all the bearings and mounting for the rudder are a separate matter) I had similar problems with my E40 until I took the slack out of my steering cables and replaced the rudder bearings (below the water line) which had about 1/8th inch play. I first really noticed the problem when I installed an autopilot and saw it working as hard as I was to maintain a course and not doing much better. Edson was able to provide me with the original drawings for their part of the system along with part numbers. I had to get a local machine shop to fabricate the lower bushings for the rudder. The problem of wandering around is solved.
From: Allan Jones Ajonesanc@cs.com
I had a similar problem on a Cal that we previously owned. The upper bearing surface at deck level was worn to excessive clearance. Have you dove and checked the lower attachment for play?
