Yamaha F60T - Does My Steering Tube REALLY Need The Circlip?

[corruptibleseed]

Hullo, I took apart my Yamaha F60T steering tube (STEERING BRACKET ASSY 69W-42510-01-8D). I will be changing out the bushings and O rings, but the bottom of the tube is corroded to the point where a new circlip will not have enough material to fit. Otherwise, the steering tube is functionally sound - the lower splines are all intact and everything else looks ok!

I noticed that in taking the tube out, the steering tube splines tend to seize within the lower steering yoke. It was quite a pain to remove!

I have been advised by the marina mechanic that I will not need to fit the circlip and that I would be ok to reuse the steering tube as is.

Would this be correct?

Cost aside, there's a 4-6 week wait for a new steering tube and I would also be loathe to discard an otherwise functional part!

Thanks so much!

[corruptibleseed]

Hullo, just in case anyone else ever needs an answer to this question, I cleaned up and repainted the steering tube then reinstalled it last weekend. Everything works great!

I will note that there was minimal corrosion on the steering arm and none on the tube itself. The splines were all intact with no visible corrosion and I cleaned those out with a brass wire brush. The only issue with my part vs a new one was the bottom 2mm of the tube had corroded so that I could not attach the prescribed circlip. I removed all visible rust and corrosion with a wire brush and repainted all parts that were originally painted. For good measure, I also repainted the inside of the tube as well.

In the event, seating the tube onto the brand new lower yoke proved to be one of the most challenging parts of the reassembly! Thankfully, there was a mechanic working on the boat beside mine and he said this was normal and all it required was some serious banging away with a hammer and a block of wood. Despite having generously lubricated the splines, I cannot imagine there being any play developing between these two parts in the course of normal use. In fact, all anecdotal accounts (including mine) suggest that the opposite is true and these parts tend to fuse together over time such that removal becomes a major challenge! Once the tube was fitted, refitting the dampers, mid section, powerhead and lower unit went very quickly and I think that process took just over a couple of hours.

Of course the weather here is fairly stable and we do not experience more than about a 5-6 degree temperature variance year round. I do not have enough experience working in temperate areas to know if the more drastic temperature fluctuations would cause the steering tube and the lower yoke splines to dislodge. I do not think so, but.....

In any event, even if the fit is dislodged, it is unlikely to be catastrophic as because of the way the parts fit together - the steering arm cannot fully disengage from the lower yoke without the damper/engine mounting bolts, lower cowling etc etc being removed.