Trouble with shift cable

fieromx3

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
131
Replacing shift cable on my alpha 1 gen 1 outdrive. SEI cable kit same kit i used last year and had no issues and replacing again this year as i just rebuikt the entire gimbal. I got the cable tube in and threaded into the bellhousing and tried inserting the core into it but the core gets stuck at the first bend by tbe coupler...i never had this issue last year and i was trying to get the cable tube as straight as possible for the core to slide through but it would just not go and ended up screwing up the cable... i now have an oem mercruiser cable on the way and dont want to screw it up either lol anyone else have this issue or have any tips or tricks?
 

Bt Doctur

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 29, 2004
Messages
19,092
You supposed to get the outer sheath as straight as possable when screwing it into the housing. Sometimes a second helper is required to turn the sheath inside the boat as someone screws it into the housing.
The turn is a gentle sweep thru the motor mount area ?
 

fieromx3

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
131
Yhe first time i had the bellhousing off and i screwed the sheath into it then slid it into the boat while doing the bellows. I had some route the cable between ypipe and motor mounts as per the ine picture diagram on here for V8 engine. No matter what i did i just could not get the cable to slide through the sheath at first bend by the coupler. There were no kinks or anything. I did tge shift cable last year with zero problems at all so im confused why it refused to this year... was just curious if anyone else has had this issue and for any tips or tricks
 

2fishy4u

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 3, 2015
Messages
85
I just had this same issue with the SEI cables. I personally would never use SEI again. Especially if you are in salt water. They may have a great warranty, but you will be using it. The only way we could get the cable to thread was to remove it, and stretch it completely straight, then wiggle the hell as it slowly went from one sticky spot to the next. After all the fuss, we switched to OEM for the port side and it slid in like butter. GO OEM or sierra, you wont be happy with SEI long run. I have had 3 out of 4 trim cylinders fail within a year, and the upper drive seals failed the first year. Yeah it had a 3 year warranty, but that in-tells pulling the boat, sending in the parts, and waiting weeks for return. So the money I "saved" buying SEI after warranty costs and over 1k in yard fees for storage while I waited on "repairs", I paid far more than I would have buying OEM...... Not a happy customer with SEI. Good for lake use, but marine is not the place for there products. And they should tell you that up front. Paint will come off in under 2 months.
 

fieromx3

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
131
I just had this same issue with the SEI cables. I personally would never use SEI again. Especially if you are in salt water. They may have a great warranty, but you will be using it. The only way we could get the cable to thread was to remove it, and stretch it completely straight, then wiggle the hell as it slowly went from one sticky spot to the next. After all the fuss, we switched to OEM for the port side and it slid in like butter. GO OEM or sierra, you wont be happy with SEI long run. I have had 3 out of 4 trim cylinders fail within a year, and the upper drive seals failed the first year. Yeah it had a 3 year warranty, but that in-tells pulling the boat, sending in the parts, and waiting weeks for return. So the money I "saved" buying SEI after warranty costs and over 1k in yard fees for storage while I waited on "repairs", I paid far more than I would have buying OEM...... Not a happy customer with SEI. Good for lake use, but marine is not the place for there products. And they should tell you that up front. Paint will come off in under 2 months.


interesting, thanks for the post!! with that much trouble i think i will go OEM as much as possible now. was it when you were actually screwing in the the cable into the bell housing that you had trouble with when you say 'thread' or actually inserting the cable core into the sheath?? i have an OEM mercruiser cable kit on the way now.

one thing i hate about the SEI cable is the hex portion for the socket is smaller than OEM... i like the fact you can use a spark plug socket on the OEM cable. also the worm cleamp on the SEI bellow sucks as the screw grooves in it tear up the bellow while tightening it
 

2fishy4u

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 3, 2015
Messages
85
Yes the issue was inserting the cable back into the sheath, it seams to have ridges inside that constantly got stuck on. And it took a second person to help hold it straight while I wiggled and jiggled and pushed.
 

fieromx3

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
131
so just an update, i got the OEM mercruiser shift cable kit and i got the sheath threaded in and the the cable core slid right in as well with no issues!!! i could not no matter how hard i tried to get the SEI cable to slide in... OEM also slides a little easier/smoother.
 
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