Into the Pedestal We Go: Replacing Steering Chain and Wire

By Nelson Lee

This project came about because it seemed time to replace the chain/wire in the Edson pedestal steering system on my 1991 C36. Although I am not the original owner, I had a nagging suspicion the chain/wire was original. I’m sure of that now.

Edson recommends that the wire rope be replaced every five years, a number that strikes me as too conservative; however, at 20 years it was time. I also wanted to replace the brake shoes on the Edson wheel brake, which has not worked the entire seven years I’ve owned the boat. I strongly recommend that C36 owners pay attention to the steering system maintenance.

I started by looking at the wire rope and sheaves on the idler plate from below decks. Removing the cover from the ceiling of the aft berth, I could see the “idler sheaves” on the bottom of the idler plate and the cables. It was evident that to replace the chain/wire, it would be necessary to remove the teak/laminate wall at the aft end of the aft berth in order to gain working access to the quadrant (which is actually round and is properly called a “radial drive” by Edson).

I decided to have a look at the chain in the pedestal.

Interior of Pedestal

To access the steering system in the pedestal the compass must be removed (at least on my boat). The Richie compass is removed by rocking it back-and-forth and lifting it off its base. Mine was stuck on there pretty good, due to the “goo” issues discussed below. To remove the base of the compass, I removed the four threaded bolts that attach to the pedestal. And beneath the compass base there was a plastic cover to keep moisture from getting into the pedestal. Opening up the pedestal, I found four surprises.

Surprise #1 was that when I removed the compass (a Ritchie Globemaster SP-5), I discovered there was some seriously nasty black and sticky goo on the base of the compass (which would have reached the chain were it not for a plastic cover, which was cracked). This stuff immediately found its way onto my hands, and eventually throughout the cockpit. This noxious goo will only clean up with acetone. Some internet research later on revealed that the diaphragm in the compass had dissolved, creating this primordial slop. The outcome: the compass needed to be repaired or replaced. The time: 2 hours dealing with the goo and the mess on me and the boat.

Surprise #2 After removing the compass, I removed the wheel brake to replace the brake shoes with a brake shoe service kit made by Edson (part # 316-589, sold at Defender for $65). I assumed the brake shoes were completely worn. The most difficult part of this job was to remove a cotter pin from the end of the brake shaft, which allows the shaft to be pulled out. The surprise was that there is virtually no room to work in the pedestal, and there was no way to get light in there, let alone a hand. I spent 2 hours working with a combination of needle nose pliers and vice grips, totally blind. Eventually I was able to tap the pin out with a long screwdriver and hammer, whereupon the pin fell to the bottom of the pedestal. (Where I was soon to give it some company. Later, reading online, I read of one boat owner who became so frustrated with this operation that he cut a big hole in the side of the pedestal, and removed the cotter pin through the hole. I was getting close to this solution, but thankfully didn’t have to go there.) My advice: get some long needle nose pliers and work very carefully. Also, I learned that it is much easier to remove the brake if the chain has been removed.

Surprise # 3. After getting the old brake shoes off, it became clear that the brake didn’t work because the brake drum and the brake pads were coated in grease. In fact, everything was slathered in grease. Evidently, a PO had put grease on the chain instead of oil, a no-no, since the grease migrates to the brake drum and, of course, eliminates all friction. Although I could have just cleaned up the brake shoes and reinstalled them, I decided to put on the new brake kit because I had managed to drop a critical washer on the shaft to the bottom of the pedestal, and I needed the washer from the new parts kit. I managed to lose that washer, too, down the pedestal, but that is another, pathetic story. (The nice people at Edson mailed me a washer, which is critical to operation of the brake and is not a stock size). Lesson here: stuff rags down the pedestal to catch falling parts, and work carefully and slowly, two attributes I don’t possess.

Surprise #4: while cleaning the grease off the wheel shaft and chain, I looked at the chain-to-wire connection. To my surprise, I saw that the wire on the starboard side, which connects to the chain via a thimble attached to a shackle, was severely frayed and deformed, with a number of the strands broken. Yikes. It was clear that I needed to remove and replace the chain and wire.

Abraded Wire Rope

I decided to order a combination chain/wire set from Edson (Edson part # 774-2S15B9), with the wires connected to the chain by a thimble and shackle, with a swaged connection. I could have purchased the chain and wire locally, or just have replaced the wire, but I really didn’t want to mess with finding the parts and having it swaged. And, having seen the fraying issue on my old chain/wire, I wanted that connection done properly. Edson’s website has the steering system parts organized by boat, and for the C36 there was a clear list of parts, including the exact chain/wire combo referenced above. This is composed of 1.5 feet of chain and nine feet of 3/16” wire (you really only need about 6-7 feet of wire). Their price was $350. Ouch. Defender has the same unit for $250, and Sailnet for $240. Since they all ship from Edson, it pays to shop around. I went with Sailnet. I also ordered a kit with the take-up bolts, nuts, thimbles and cable clamps for connecting the wire to the radial drive (called a tension kit, Edson part no.773-187). Since I don’t plan on doing this again anytime soon, I wanted all new hardware. It turns out I needed all new hardware.

I found a local (San Francisco Bay Area) service agent for Richie (Nor-Cal Compass - Hal McCormick) to look at my compass. He could repair it for about $280. A new compass of the same quality would run $600 to $1000. By the way, this is a very good compass—Ritchie Globemaster SP-5C—that many of us have on our C36 boats, with a big (5”) card. He repaired the compass, added fluid, polished the glass, and returned it to me. It looks like new.

With all the parts finally rounded up, I went to work.

The first step was to remove the old chain/wire combo. After emptying out the aft berth (aka the “storage shed”) of everything, including cushions, I removed the ceiling cover and the aft wall, giving me a great view of all the crap I’ve stuffed back here. I then removed the nuts on the take-up bolt holding the cable to the radial drive. With some WD-40 applied the nuts came loose. With the cables out, I saw that 1) the cables had been attached to the take-up bolts without thimbles, causing some broken strands, and 2) the cable clamps were in bad shape, showing significant corrosion. One clamp completely disintegrated when I put a wrench to the nut. Folks, this is why the cable and hardware needs to be inspected and changed out at some point.

Disintegrated Cable Clamp

I also observed that all the wiring for the compass, the helm instruments and the autopilot are routed up the pedestal, as opposed to up the pedestal guards. I don’t think this is optimal, as you have wiring in contact with the steering cables inside the pedestal, which could abrade the wiring. However, I had no desire to tackle this project, and there have not been issues in the last 19 years.

I taped some cord as a “messenger line” to the ends of each cable, and then carefully pulled the chain/cable up through the pedestal.

Having received the replacement washer for the wheel brake from the nice people at Edson, I installed the new brake pad kit in the pedestal. It is easier to do this when the chain is out. Again, this was another nightmare, given the tight (i.e., no) working room. This time I stuffed rags below and carefully made sure I didn’t lose the washer. Putting the cotter pin in the end of the brake shaft was much easier than getting it out. To avoid losing it down the pedestal, I attached some whipping twine through the head of the cotter pin and tied it off on the wheel. When the cotter pin was installed, I cut the line, and removed it. [Ed note: Brilliant move!] While the steering system was open, I put a little grease in the two holes above the needle bearings on the steering shaft, sprayed some lubricant on the shift and throttle cables, and cleaned all the grease off the sprocket and brake drum. After an hour, I got the thing assembled, and I confirmed that the brake now worked properly.

Next came the new chain and cable. Using a bolt cutter, I cut the new cable ends to exactly match the length of the old cables. I then attached the new cables to my “messenger lines”, and with my wife’s assistance, fed the cables down the pedestal and through the holes in the idler plate below decks. This took some finagling, as I didn’t want to yank on the messenger line and have it detach from the cable. I had to remember to criss-cross the cables in the pedestal, else the boat will steer backwards! If you use the messenger lines, you don’t have to think about that.

Down below, I attached the take-up bolts to the wire, using the bolts, nuts, thimbles and cable clamps from Edson, all of which are good quality stainless. The cable re-attached to the radial drive relatively easily. I had to play around with the cable clamps to get the cable to the right length so that when properly tensioned there were some threads left on the take-up bolt to tighten the cable later if necessary. To get the cables to the proper tension, I locked the wheel above. If the radial drive can be moved with hands, the cable is too slack. When the nuts on the take-up bolts are tightened to the point that the radial drive cannot be moved with the hands, then the tension is perfect. We don’t want any slop in the system, but we don’t want to over-tension it, either. With my wife working the wheel back and forth, I observed that everything was functioning well and that the alignment of the sheaves and radial drive was good. I lubricated the wire with 30 wt. oil, and lubricated the sheaves on the idler plate. I then put the wall and cover back in place, and moved the junk back into the aft berth/garage.

Radial Drive and Idler Sheaves

Back at the pedestal, I installed the new water protection cover from Richie for the compass to prevent moisture that might enter from the compass (or any black goo) from going down the pedestal. On top of that went the compass base, and then the compass, connecting the power to the light. I aligned the compass with the centerline (using the mast) the best I could. Hal told me not to worry about trying to adjust the compensating rods to correct any deviation unless I was planning on doing some bluewater sailing, in which case he would assist me with the deviation adjustment, if needed. (I don’t think it is needed, as the compass looks pretty close to what it should be using some range markers.) The steering system works fine, and is noticeably smoother.

Edson’s website has a lot of good resources. One document I recommend is their Planning, Installation and Maintenance Guide for Chain & Wire Steering Systems (EB-381), which tells you about everything you need to know.

All in all, this was a lot more work than I expected, but much of that had to do with the compass issues and the wheel brake issues. I probably spent 10-12 hours on this, all told; not counting time spent chasing down parts or taking the compass for repair. If I had to do this again (which I hope won’t be the case anytime soon), I could cut the time in half. This is not a casual Saturday morning job (well, maybe it is for some of the C36 “pros”), particularly if you encounter “surprises.” On the other hand, it is quite doable, even for someone with modest mechanical skills, like me.

Disclaimer: This is the procedure the author used to do this task. Neither the author nor the C36IA are attempting to tell others how to do the task, but rather the author is simply telling his/her story. Others intending to do a similar task must make their own judgments and decisions as to the suitability of any of the information presented herein. The author and the C36IA make NO guarantees, and take NO responsibility, for the decisions and actions of others. In all cases, each individual installer is responsible for his/her own actions, own skill sets, and own work practices.