2003 Sea doo challenger steering nozzle play?

[turbosl2]

Is this normal play and can I just tighten the joint?

https://youtu.be/PyZByUHyAjgMy jet boat seems to steer very odd. Sometimes I have to crank the wheel one way then sometimes the other. I mean a complet 45-60deg to go straight. Also seems like it’s all over the place going slow then on plane it stiffens up. I have 3 jet skis and a carver with inboards and none of them steer like this.

 

[turbosl2]

I posted this in the wrong forum by mistake. It should be under mercury powered boats but the question applies to all

 

[TerrenceBennett]

sounds like a sleeve or bushing problem,
I have a 97 challenger with that same problem and had to make new sleeves (from sea doo parts) with a new nozzle to get it tightened up

 

[turbosl2]

sounds like a sleeve or bushing problem,
I have a 97 challenger with that same problem and had to make new sleeves (from sea doo parts) with a new nozzle to get it tightened up

Where is the sleeve located? In the video you can see the steering cable move inside it’s sleeve a little. I would like to tighten that up. Do you have any pics on what you did?
Thanks

 

[turbosl2]

I tried many adjustments and nothing tensions the cable just adjust the nozzle to steering location. Seems stretched, I can hear it and feel it move in the outer sleeve with my hand on it before it makes an angle adjustment.

 

[Tim75]

There is no tension adjustment in the steering system. How old is your steering cable? Is it OEM? Past time to replace it. The bushings (plastic) are in the nozzle/rudder pivot holes. Fairly easy to replace, but finding new could be a problem. There are companies that have hundreds of styles of these bushings. Probably where BRP bought them.

The other question is wear in the steering gear box. Never had mine apart. Some where I saw warnings to NOT dissassemble the unit. Are the ball joints on each end of the cable tight, loose, or worn out?

The good news is that this cable is just a standard heavy duty control cable. About $160. Takes about 2 hours to change.