Control Cables

The Yanmar engine accepts the throttle cable from the back of the engine only. This means that the cable must be routed around the back of the engine and from there to the fuel pump. Since the old throttle cable was damaged, a replacement was needed regardless of engine choice. The binnacle on the boat is weathered and was difficult to disassemble. I removed the compass and the top of the binnacle. The cables clamp to a sleeve that fits inside the binnacle tube beneath the wheel. Here's a link to the Edson service bulletin that describes the process. The most difficult part of the job was removing the corroded screws. Soaking the threads in PB-Blaster helped, but I had one that refused to budge and had to be cut. I used a cutting disk on an electric drill to cut the stubborn screw. The action of cutting heated the screw enough so that it could actually be removed before the cut was complete. Since I had the pedestal opened up, I took the opportunity to replace the brake pads and handles. The brake pads look easy to replace, but they are difficult to hold. I dropped one of the old pads down the base when removing them. I had replacement pads, so this wasn't a problem. I figured that the chance of dropping one of the new pads while replacing it was about 100%. To avoid this, I drilled a hole in the top of each pad and tied them loosely together with a piece of string. That way, if I dropped a pad, it could be retrieved. I also dropped a washer that is on the brake screw. I didn't see it when I removed the shaft. This is an odd size. I had to fabricate a replacement by drilling out a brass washer. What a pain! Beware that you don't drop the washer when removing the screw handle. I also decided to replace the control handles. Edson makes nice replacements that are engraved with FWD-REV and FAST-SLOW. This makes it easier for an inexperienced crewmember to drive the boat. The old handles were frozen in place of course. I had to cut them off by slicing the sides with a cutting disk. The replacements have larger screws than the old handles. I had to drill out and retap the shaft holes. It took about 8 hours to replace the throttle cable and service the pedestal.