worm gear steering problems

[Aaron Clausen]

My Wife and I are new owners of a 30'ketch and are now sailing it to Florida beginning in St. Thomas - have had a fairly big problem with our steering seizing on us while entering an anchorage in the Dominican Republic. We have worm gear steering as mentioned and have kept up with the oil and greasing schedule - still it has seized and we are unable to move the wheel at all. I was wondering if anyone may have suggestions as to what the problem may be and/or ways to fix it. We already called Edson and they didn't have much usefull advice.
Thanks,
Aaron



anaclausen@yahoo.com

[Matt Cawthorne]

Aaron,
Is there any chance that it is not the steering at all? I have heard of a number of people having their steering lock, only to find out that their prop shaft broke and slid aft enough to jam the rudder. If it is clear enough water go for a swim and see what is down there.
A worm gear system is about a simple as it gets. Try and see if you have anything jamming the teeth on the gear as well. Good luck,
Matt



mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[Olli Wendelin]

Aaron,

I have the identical gear on my 1977 CD30 Ketch.

I concur that a slipped prop shaft can jamb the steering, but it will also stop the shaft from turning.

If there is no obvious broken or seized part, I would remove the steering gear from the rudder shaft. Remove the wheel and dissassemble the teak cover around the gear. Then unbolt the coupling from the top of the rudder shaft. The gear is also bolted to a bracket behind the cockpit.

Once you have removed the steering gear you should be able to turn the rudder. If so the problem is with the gear. Otherwise you have a rudder problem.

At this point you could bolt a makeshift tiller to the coupling on the rudder shaft and sail away. The is the "emergency" tiller. I heard of someone converting their CD30 permanently to tiller steering.

With the steering gear removed it will be easier to fix any major problem with it. If you still cannot find the problem take the gear to a machine shop. They should be able to identify and repair the problem.

You can E-mail me directly if you have specific questions.

Good Luck,

Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC



wendelin@spawar.navy.mil

[Mark Ruhnke]

I pulled my worm gear steering off this winter and had all the bushings replaced/rebuilt by Edson ($600). I went to reinstall it and when I tightend the 4-bolts that connect the flange at the top of the rudder post to the flange at the base of the worm gear, it would seize up and I wasn't able to turn the worm gear anymore. I soon realized after study, that the both flanges had to be precisly parallel before I tightened the four bolts. So - I released the set nut on the rudder flange, adjusted the height of the rudder flange to make it parallel with the worm gear flange, tightened the 4-bolts, and then tightened the set bolt, all while making sure the gear continued to turn as I tightened the bolts. The gear is now easy to turn. You may have an alignment problem. Good Luck..
Mark Ruhnke
1977 CD30K "Nirvana"



MSERAPHIN@AOL.COM

[Bob Lund]

Ours became extremly difficult to turn. It appeared to be properly lubricated. I disassembled and cleaned the rack and pinion, there was a ton of hard dry old grease under the new good looking stuff. Worked fine after greasing and reassembling



rml4707@aol.com