Hey all, first off: boat's an '88 16.5 ft. Thundercraft 3.0L with a Cobra.
Decided to tackle the shifter cable replacement. Everything was going very well except I seem to have hit a major snag...
I'm trying to get the old shifter cable out of the boat so I can install the new one, but the old cable can't seem to navigate the bend inside the big black rubber hose its travelling in, inside the boat...
The "black routing tube" (for lack of a better word) is connected to the transom on the inside, then curves down fairly sharply below the engine and typically up towards the shifter linkage on top of the engine. I've brought that tube down along the bottom of the boat (in the bilge) to create a more direct path for the cable to travel through, however it still can't make it around the first bend directly after the transom.... Seems like the brass fitting at the en of the shifter cable is too long to make the bend! I don't know what to do at this point. I've tried pulling the cable out from both the inside and outside of the boat but both ends of the cable get stuck in the same bend. I've refrained from yanking with all my strength as I don't believe it should be that hard!
Am I missing something here? It seems unimaginable to have to pull the engine out in order to simply change a shifter cable...?
Thoughts?
See image / pics for more deets.
Decided to tackle the shifter cable replacement. Everything was going very well except I seem to have hit a major snag...
I'm trying to get the old shifter cable out of the boat so I can install the new one, but the old cable can't seem to navigate the bend inside the big black rubber hose its travelling in, inside the boat...
The "black routing tube" (for lack of a better word) is connected to the transom on the inside, then curves down fairly sharply below the engine and typically up towards the shifter linkage on top of the engine. I've brought that tube down along the bottom of the boat (in the bilge) to create a more direct path for the cable to travel through, however it still can't make it around the first bend directly after the transom.... Seems like the brass fitting at the en of the shifter cable is too long to make the bend! I don't know what to do at this point. I've tried pulling the cable out from both the inside and outside of the boat but both ends of the cable get stuck in the same bend. I've refrained from yanking with all my strength as I don't believe it should be that hard!
Am I missing something here? It seems unimaginable to have to pull the engine out in order to simply change a shifter cable...?
Thoughts?
See image / pics for more deets.
