Steering reversed?

Okay, without going into a huge narrative again, I recently had my dash replaced under warranty for some vinyl issues. I got my boat back and went to water test it yesterday for some "other" issues, and guess what - the boat steering is reversed.

I turn the wheel left, the boat goes right, and vice versa.

How did this happen? Can I fix this myself? I have a 2005 Wakesetter LSV. Thanks for the help.

If you have the rack and pinion like most other boats they just put the rack on upside down. It needs to be removed, flipped and put back on. The cable should come out the other end that it is currently on. You can most likely do it yourself but make sure that the rudder is centered when you put it back on or you will loose rudder travel in that direction and gain in the opposite direction. Some of them have a bunch of needle bearings on the shaft that go around the steering shaft, these can fall out and be a pain.

If you have the weird newer system the cable end comes out the same side, usually to the right as your are looking at the steering wheel. On these systems you just unbolt the rack and flip it over so the cable is still on the same side but the steering wheel shaft enters on the other side.

It should be pretty easy to tell which system you have. If there is a big cable coming out the left side of the rack it is most likely the first setup. Does the cable look like it is going to be in the way?

Look at the picture in the box, it should come out the right side like the picture.

yes, it looks exactly like your picture. Thanks for posting.

So, let me make sure I understand...
Currently, the black cable is coming out from the black rectagular metal piece. It's exiting the metal piece to the right, if you're looking at the steering wheel from the driver's seat. Are you saying that all that needs to happen is the black rectagular piece has to be flipped over, so the cable is still going off the the right? (not rotate 180*, just flip over)

Is this something I can easily do? I've heard that messing with the steering, and the fact that the steering cable is like a 2x4, gets difficult.
Thanks again.

David:

I believe it is possible to have it reverse two different ways.

One way is to swap the "rack" end for end. Depending on how the cable is run this might require that the cable have a fair amount of extra length to it. For example, on one of my previous boats the steering cable runs down the side of the boat, so flipping it over would need several extra feet of cable to exit the other side and make the loop around.

It is also possible that the rack can be installed above or below the pinion. If the pinion gear is exposed both above and below the steering column then just flip it over. If it is exposed only on one side you may need to disassemble the steering column in order to flip the column over first.

u have to take the helm mount off and flip it over so like if you can see the gears on top flip the helm mount so its on the bottom, sometimes you have to drill some new holes

Since I'm not too versed on steering components, I'm going to go down and snap a couple of pics here in a few minutes.

I'll post them asap.

Thanks again...

Could also be the rudder end that is the problem.

since you had the dash repaired it, I woudl think it's at the steering wheel. it should be a simple fix. I say call the dealer and see what the cna do for you.

Ha, ha... I had a buddy (who was a very good automotive tech) do the same thing to his boat. If I remember correctly he was trying to lube the rack and dis-assembled it. Sorry, but that's all I've got. If you look at it then it should be kinda obvious what they did. Take pics and I could probably point out the fix for you.

Did you figure it out?

I did figure it out, but before I started messing with it myself, I decided to call the dealer and tell them the issue and request that they send a tech to my house to do the switch. They agreed and are sending someone out tomorrow morning.

Thanks a lot for everyone's help on this!

Probably wise... I've replaced 2 steering cables in the past. Bocephus is right, the rack and steering column is upside down. It's very do-able yourself, it's just a serious pain in the arse.. It's uncomfortable under the dash, the heavy steering cable fights you when you're trying to thread bolts, the steering column may be a mystery to remove. If they'll come to your house and do it for free....LET THEM.. :-)

Sounds like a funny prank to play on your wife when teaching her to load the boat on the trailer

The funny thing would be, she'd probably actually get it squared right on the trailer first time.

Okay, so the service guy is at my house right now. Turns out the whole steering assembly (pinion?) was upside down. Back in action in 45 minutes.

Thanks again for all the posts everybody...

did he get the steering wheel straight?

That's funny Troy. When my buddy did it to his boat we figured it out after we got to the delta for a night of riding. We were all so bummed that we almost took the boat out anyway. After having a few beers in the parking lot we decided that may not have been the best idea. Probably would've been fun though. If we were at a lake instead of the delta we would've done it for sure.