Trying to troubleshoot an issue that came up suddenly today. Was beating on port tack in 4 - 6 footers and 15 knots of wind. About 3 hours in noticed that when the wheel turned to port I would hear a sort of squeaking/rubbing noise. In lulls when the boat was healing less the sound was less pronounced or went away. Pulled into a harbor and checked the obvious
- yes the wheel brake is completely off
- Nothing in the lazzes had shifted and was rubbing on the steering gear
Now in the harbor if I work the wheel back and forth from starboard to port I can eventually recreate the creaking noise. I opened up everything and removed the steering cable cover from the aft berth and started listening for the source of the sound. With the SS plate for the emergency tiller removed it sounds like the noise is coming from that area. Thing is I don't see anything here that looks like it can be serviced in anyway. There is not a bearing right? Just a fiber glass tube? I don't have any delamination of the "bearing box" as it's referred to in some of the posts. Any thoughts on what I'm dealing with here? Does this stuffing box require any maintenance ever? The manual says very little about the steering systems except basically to never lubricate any part of stuffing box. I'm 100 miles from home port with 500 or so left to go round trip before returning, so if this is a burgeoning issue I want to know; at the very least it will be obnoxious to listen to for 100+ hours more of sailing. The steering "feels" fine, but I would expect it to be silent as it always has.
Erik
Chicago, IL
C-36 MK II #2106
Try tightening the rudder "stuffing box" ("gland"?) bolts to squeeze the packing a little more to produce a tighter seal against the shaft and see if that changes anything. If the bolts are already firmly torqued down pretty and/or you are seeing signs of water entering, maybe the packing is worn and the shaft is rubbing against the tube?
Paul & Wendy Keyser
"First Light"
Rye NH
2005 C36 MKII #2257
Wing, M35B
This exqact same thing started happening to me yesterday. Following.
Don Lincoln
"Nancy Lynn"
1993 Catalina MK1.5, Hull 1238
LaSalle, MI (Lake Erie)
Universal M-35AC
Ha, really? To be more specific, when steering down to keep the boat on the wind no noise, then as you ease or steer the wheel back to windward there would be this squeaky noise. It was louder with the my head in the lazzarette so I know it's not coming from the wheel itself. I still haven't gotten a straight on answer on if there is an actual bearing anywhere in this , so I'm having trouble guessing what the remedy would be. Interestingly I could recreate the squeaking at the dock last night, but can't today. Is the stuffing box above the water line when the boat is not healed? There is definitely no leaking to be seen from the stuffing box, but wondering if maybe the stuffing dries out or something at the dock and hence why I can't recreate the sound? I don't think I'm feeling any new resistance, just hearing the distinct sound of friction that definitely wasn't there before. Also, while the conditions and sailing was a little on the rough side yesterday as mentioned it's certainly not rougher than conditions we have frequently encountered throughout the season already, so I kind of have a baseline to say something has definitely changed.
Erik
Chicago, IL
C-36 MK II #2106
I searched "rudder tube" on this forum, and found a few helpful illustrations and photos, including this one of the rudder tube assembly. I don't see any kind of bearing in this illustration. I'm also not sure what this repair is showing - maybe the rudder tube is double-walled and thi sis showing how to fill the gap between the walls with epoxy?
Anyway, my first step is going to be to open the tiller hatch and inspect the large plastic washer under the emergency tiller head. It sounds like this is prone to wear/breakage, so maybe this is the source of the noise I was hearing.
Don Lincoln
"Nancy Lynn"
1993 Catalina MK1.5, Hull 1238
LaSalle, MI (Lake Erie)
Universal M-35AC
Erik, I've replaced our rudder. There are no bearings of any kind, just the packing material around the shaft under the brass plate which you've been advised above to snug up the four bolts just to see if there is any room to tighten them (don't break them off!) and thereby snug up the packing material. Check the entire assembly top to bottom. The problem we had was that the stopper pads that are glassed in to prevent the rubber hose-covered post on the top of the aluminum quadrant from turning past the maximum rudder angle had been banged out of shape and therefore the cable attached to the chain up in the wheel pedestal had pull all the way up to the brass gear and had eventually gotten chewed up, separated and come off. ALWAYS HAVE YOUR EMERGENCY TILLER READY!!!
The squeaking you're hearing might be from the post connecting with the stopper if it is happening when the rudder is at the max. I'd also check the cable around the quadrant for sufficient grease. Could be something is amiss inside the rudder tube, hence the repair suggested by Catalina. I'd just keep playing with it to get your ear closer to where the source is. I have cut the rear cabin wall from top to bottom and left the screws out so that I can remove the port side and slide back in the stern lazarette from the cabin to see under the fiberglass cover without removing it to adjust the cables and check for tension and grease.
Good luck! Kevin
Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada
I have the same noise when turning to port and could re-create the noise at the dock. I removed the rudder post deck plate and sprayed non-stick dry lube on the washer at the bottom of the upper bearing box. Haven't had the boat out for a sail since then but at least at the dock the noise was gone.
Ken Akers
1995 C-36 MkII #1378 SR/FK M35A
San Francisco Bay
I get this noise on and off. For my boat it is definitely in the upper tube area (under the cover by the helm). As it gets louder, the rudder gets stiff (sometimes too much for comfort).
Last sail it was getting bad - so I added a cup of water and a CUP of dish soap to the area under the deck plate. Wow, the wheel can be 'flicked' and it'll go lock to lock now.
In my case, the area is clean. I removed the upper parts this past off season on the hard and all was well - but the plastic washer looked a bit worn, so I flipped it over.