Emergency tiller cap replacement

[Tom Glennon 354]

Finally! A half decent day here in the Northeast!  SO, I deceided to replace the tiller cap that had a crack from obvious overtightening from the previous owner.

After removing the throughbolt, and tapping the old cap all around with a hammer, I slid a screwdriver between the cap and shaft to pry it off.  BEWARE!!! The shaft slipped down about 7 inches! I got the car jack out, built up a platform from some jumber around the boat yard, and jacked it back up to the original position, then compleated the replacement after first cleaning the shaftand aplying some light grease.

My question to you all is... should I be concerned about the quadrant being loose.. or the shaft stuffing box, since the shaft did slip down.

Thanks in advance for the knowledgeable replys I know will come!

[Tom Glennon]

Thanks for the input Ron....

The cables "seem" fine, as there was no play in the wheel after I put the new cap on... sisn't feel any play when I turned the wheel, but, I will check just to be sure.

[Paul Blumenfeld]

How serious is a crack in the tiller cap?

(I think its the tiller cap but I'm not finding any documentation or exploded parts diagram.  It's the black top with a through bolt where you put the emergency tiller.)

Will you loose the rudder if this completely breaks?

Where do you get a replacement part?

Am I correct from Ron's message above that the cap can be replaced in the water if your carefull not to let the rudder drop?

Thanks for the help.

Paul

PS. I did find Ron's article in Tech Notes from 1996. Doesn't sound like rudder will fall off but does steering become a problem?