I have a 1986 200 HP Johnson GT with, I believe, the two cable steering system. Both of the rods on the motor that the cables push are dry or seem very dry. How would I grease them up to ease the steering?

Just jumping in...Have the same issue on a 1986 150 HP Johnson...

I do not see any grease fitting to grease it up?

Not sure, but have heard you aren't supposed to use grease but some other lube.

My buddy had a similar issue with his 01 150 merc xr6. Don't see any grease fittings or anything. His actually broke a few weeks ago and do NOT want that to happen if I can help it.

Mine has been getting better and better. I have been putting spray lithium grease on the rods. It has cleared out alot of dried up gunk that was in the tubes.

Where can I pick some of that up at?

I had the same issue a few years back. I tried the specific lube for the cables. I then tried using anti-sieze as suggested on a different website. It helped a little. I finally gave up and bought a whole new steering system, helm and both cables. That fixed it. When I took the old one off the helm had a bunch of metal shavings and all the gears had chunks missing. I could not move the cables back and forth by hand. I am pretty sure they were the original cables from 1988 and this was only last year. Glad I replaced it.

Thing is I don't have the money to replace them and the gauges AND the water pump(impellar) at the same time. Just figured there was a way to grease them so they slid better and not break the gears like what happened to a club buddy of mine.

Remove the cables from the motor and dual mount, use penetrating oil to clean and lube the cables. Bristle brush and more lube to clean the tubes. It's going to be nasty. Take your time, don't force anything, use lots of lube and get everything as clean as possible.

If the cable won't move, soak it down and let it sit overnight. Eventually it should break free and be good again. Do NOT replace with more grease, just keep using the lube and it'll stay good for a long time.

Walmart spray lithium grease. It took a ton of junk out of my cable ends.

I forgot to mention that when I replaced mine I bought a used setup for $100 from Gary Purdy. Took about 2 hours to install.

I did what Pat is saying on my old duck hunting boat a few years ago.worked good but it was messy.I was tight on cash and duck season was coming so I gave it a try and made it duck hunting...rick

"Walmart spray lithium grease. It took a ton of junk out of my cable ends"

Are you guys talking about putting the this stuff in the cable that comes from the throttle, if so, how...I assume I just needed to clean or grease (guess I should lube based on this thread)the big silver arm underneath the motor that the cables move and in return move the motor...

If we are to clean the cable itself, how do you spray anything in the rubber sleave?

This is probably a dumb question, but would like to get it moving more smoothly...

Thanks...

I read a good post on here by Rajin Cajin a while back where he pulled off the steering cables and zip tied a radiator hose to one end and put transmission fluid in the hose and then used his compressor to force the fluid all the way thru the cables. After he was done it worked like new.