Steering Cable Bellows and Steering Feel

[Skidude]

I just bought a 2000 Sportster 1800, and have been trying to learn as much about it as I can. I grew up with a bunch of different boats, but all were outboards or I/O, so this is my first experience with jet drive. I am trying to figure out if my boat is acting normal for a jet boat, or if I should be trying to fix something.

I noticed that the bellows on the steering cable and reverse bucket cable are both shredded on my boat. I have no idea how long they have been like this, but given how dry they are, I assume it has been a while. FNR lever seems to still work fine, and the steering feels fine when the motor is off. I am going to put new bellows on, but am not sure if I need new cables, or if I can somehow lube the cables I have and put new bellows on.

Here is my symptom: I feel like I am constantly fighting the steering wheel. Is that normal? Depending on how fast I am going, it acts different. At idle and low speeds, it is pretty centered and easy, and seems how I would expect; but as I go faster, I have to hold the wheel at about 2:00 to go straight, until I am going very fast, and as the bow gets lower into the water, I can hold the wheel straighter. I also seem to have to constantly adjust the steering wheel just to go straight at most speeds.

To turn at speed takes quite a bit of force (i.e. my wife may have trouble actually turning the boat very sharp at speed), though there is kind of an unpredictable "dead zone" in the wheel where very little force is required, but it is still moving the jet as far as I can tell, because the boat does respond.

I notice there is a flat spot on the bottom of this boat where all my past boats have had a pretty sharp pointy keel, so I am wondering if that combined with the jet drive means this kind of steering feel is normal, or if I should be hunting for a problem. I suspect I need a new steering cable, but maybe there is something else I should be looking for?

I am very excited about my new boat, and I really hope the steering is something I can fix because it is pretty difficult to drive as it is.

 

[Tim75]

I just bought a 2000 Sportster 1800, and have been trying to learn as much about it as I can. I grew up with a bunch of different boats, but all were outboards or I/O, so this is my first experience with jet drive. I am trying to figure out if my boat is acting normal for a jet boat, or if I should be trying to fix something.

I noticed that the bellows on the steering cable and reverse bucket cable are both shredded on my boat. I have no idea how long they have been like this, but given how dry they are, I assume it has been a while. FNR lever seems to still work fine, and the steering feels fine when the motor is off. I am going to put new bellows on, but am not sure if I need new cables, or if I can somehow lube the cables I have and put new bellows on.

Here is my symptom: I feel like I am constantly fighting the steering wheel. Is that normal? Depending on how fast I am going, it acts different. At idle and low speeds, it is pretty centered and easy, and seems how I would expect; but as I go faster, I have to hold the wheel at about 2:00 to go straight, until I am going very fast, and as the bow gets lower into the water, I can hold the wheel straighter. I also seem to have to constantly adjust the steering wheel just to go straight at most speeds.

To turn at speed takes quite a bit of force (i.e. my wife may have trouble actually turning the boat very sharp at speed), though there is kind of an unpredictable "dead zone" in the wheel where very little force is required, but it is still moving the jet as far as I can tell, because the boat does respond.

I notice there is a flat spot on the bottom of this boat where all my past boats have had a pretty sharp pointy keel, so I am wondering if that combined with the jet drive means this kind of steering feel is normal, or if I should be hunting for a problem. I suspect I need a new steering cable, but maybe there is something else I should be looking for?

I am very excited about my new boat, and I really hope the steering is something I can fix because it is pretty difficult to drive as it is.

Congrats on new splash ride.
Steering cable: Rubber bellows is slightly different from shift bellow. Yes, you need both. Check end of steering cable VERY carefully. At the nozzle, move it left & right. Listen for "crunching" sound. This is the cable self-destructing internally. Any question-- REPLACE IT ! You do not want that cable to fail at 50 mph. It is a standard heavy duty control cable. About $160. It's not very hard to replace.

Shift cable: same as above, except move the reverse gate up and down. Both cables must have the rubber bellows, or the cables are in for a very short life, leading to VERY unsafe conditions. About $35.

Steering pull: Some do, some don't. There are threads here about that. My Chall. 2000 pulls to left.

 

[Tim75]

Congrats on new splash ride.
Steering cable: Rubber bellows is slightly different from shift bellow. Yes, you need both. Check end of steering cable VERY carefully. At the nozzle, move it left & right. Listen for "crunching" sound. This is the cable self-destructing internally. Any question-- REPLACE IT ! You do not want that cable to fail at 50 mph. It is a standard heavy duty control cable. About $160. It's not very hard to replace.

Shift cable: same as above, except move the reverse gate up and down. Both cables must have the rubber bellows, or the cables are in for a very short life, leading to VERY unsafe conditions. About $35.

Steering pull: Some do, some don't. There are threads here about that. My Chall. 2000 pulls to left.

 

[Skidude]

Thanks, I will check out the steering cable, and order a couple new bellows.
I did look into the pulling thing a bit, and one of the common causes seems to be damage to the stator. I checked mine out, and there is a small chunk (size of a nickel I think) missing from the leading edge of one blade at about 10:00 looking in from the rear of the boat.