Question 2: I have a hard time when it comes to shifting from forward to reverse when I am docking. It seems to "stick" and I removed the throttle lever, lubricated all the moving parts thinking this would help, but no luck. In normal operation it shifts fine....
Howdy,
That system doesn't really lend itself to "quick" shifting. When you move the shifter from FWD/REV to Neutral, you're placing pressure (tension OR compression ) on the "quadrant" shift cable AND the lower shift cable via a lever system on the engine. You can see that "lever" system by observing the shift actuator on on the engine.
The drive shift-dogs are "cut" in such a way to provide "stay-in-gear" force while there is torque on the drive system (because the prop is in the water causing that torque)
If you shift the drive out of the water (on the trailer) you'll find the "out-of-gear" effort is MUCH less.
That shift actuator is #37 in the pic below [go to
http://epc.brp.com/ to view parts diagrams like below ]
#62 is the ESA
If the drive is in the water (in gear and engine running), "out-of-gear" force on the lower shift cable will cause the shift actuator to move and operate the microswitches which in turn will(should) cause a "stumbling" in ignition that causes torque (reduction) pulses sufficient to pull the clutch dogs apart.
This all happens in milliseconds while you're trying to get it out of gear. (I.E. pulling the shifter "smartly" from FWD/REV ---> Neutral)
There's any number of reasons that the ESA might not be operating from bad switches, shift actuator "frozen", ESA faulty/disconnected, broken wires etc.
At this point it will be good if you have an OEM OMC (correct model) service manual and if you haven't, have a look at
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/
Also, if you do not know this, you NEED to find yourself a set of new exhaust manifolds pronto!
If you're operating in salt water (and you're NOT "full" closed cooled with a heat exchanger) you need those manifolds quicker than pronto. They're NOT made anymore. If you don't have spares, you're literally "dead" in the water when they start leaking and you don't want to wait that long as they'll destroy your engine (like they did to my 460 King Kobra!)
When I had mine, you couldn't buy couplers either but Sierra is making them again. Not cheep though but you can get it right here from iBoats!
http://www.iboats.com/Engine-Coupler/dm/view_id.712916 Now would be a good time to pull the drive and check the alignment. Poor alignment will destroy the coupler......And you must pull the engine to replace the coupler.
Regards,
Rick
