Throttle lever on steering column

[tkringstad]

The lever on the steering column in the cockpit that controls the engine throttle of our yanmar engine does not stay in place. The previous owner had resorted to tying a string from the lever to the pedestal in order to hold it in place. I removed the compass this evening to see if I could see an obvious fix to this problem, but I''m not sure if there is anything besides friction that holds the lever in place. Any suggestions for fixing this are welcomed.

[maestro]

is the steering pedistal made by edson?? if so, contact their sevice dept. for the best fix of this.

[tahitisail]

Make a clamp using two pieces of SS flat stock with equally spaced 1/4 inch holes and two 1/4 inch bolts, nuts, and lock washers. Place this clamp on the control cable in the engine room and tension the bolts just enough to give you enough resistance to overcome any "creep". This works great on my boat.Bill

[tkringstad]

Thanks for the suggestions. I''m not sure offhand who made the pedestal. We have an ''89 Pacific Seacraft 31 with a Yanmar 3GM30F engine. I''ll see if I can find out more details about the pedestal, and will also look in the engine area to see if there is some type of tension setting available already.

[kablotsky]

My boat has had the same problem since I bought it. At the time, the surveyor recommended a cable brake -- a device essentially similar to one a previous poster recommend you construct.

A few years ago I found several websites selling them, but for some reason never bought one. I ended up with a loop of line on the pedestal -- when I''m under power for a long time I slip it over the throttle lever and it holds it in exactly the right position.

[chuckg]

Many Edson pedestals have a set screw in the form of a hex bolt that threads through the throttle shaft boss on the engine control cylinder. This screw provides tension on the white bushing that the throttle shaft passes through. If your engine control assembly doesn''t have one of these friction bolts, you can either drill and tap the housing and install one (1/4"-20 would be adequate) or simply put a stainless steel "bulldog" wire rope clamp around the outside of the cable down at the engine. You can adjust tension on the cable by tightening down the nuts on the clamp. Also, if you boat is a Pacific Seacraft, it is likely and Edson pedestal.

[tkringstad]

Thanks again for the pointers. I found the following in the FAQ on the Edson Web Site:

Q4: My throttle doesn''t hold when I push it full forward - what can I do?
A4: Some Engine have a very tight spring on the throttle lever. Depending on the Engine Control Model, you may be able to tighten the Throttle Friction Adjuster. Older controls may not have this adjuster, but a "horseshoe" cable-clamp can easily and inexpensively be clamped around the outer jacket of the engine control cable to add the proper cable resistance.

http://www.edsonmarine.com/faq/index.html