Issues with Outdrive.

Thanks to the help of everybody here, the engine is now running great. However, the outdrive is acting up so hopefully Yall can help me. Ihave read through the service manuals, and cant seem to find anything so here goes.

1990 OMC 350 574APRPWS

Back History:
Prior owner installed an electronic ignition but could only get the boat into 1 gear once installed. He said he removed the ignition kit after that. The boat has sat for a very long time, atleast 8 years, but I have been able to get everything to work (most of the thanks goes to the fellow members on this board).

Problem:
1) Last night, I put the boat in gear for the first time and it went into forward smoothely with very little pressure or tension, idling around 650 to 700 while in gear. However, when I took it out of forward and put it in nuetral, sometimes the idle would drop down by half (idle at 450 rpms while normal idle is around 750-800) and the propeller would still be spinning even though the shifter was in nuetral. I would have to put it back into forward and then place it in nuetral again, sometimes doing the process twice to get it to quit spinning and idle normal again. I dont know if the ESA was acting up or what.
2) If I tried to put the boat into reverse, the shifter would easily move into reverse, but the rpms would drop by half again and the engine would stumble like crazy. The outdrive itself would not shift into reverse at all. There was no binding in the cables, action was smoothe and light. Again, when I put it back into nuetral, the idle would still be around 400 until I shifted it into forward and then back into reverse.

I know there is a diode fix and I have the schematics for it, but Im fairly certain the the electronic ignition was removed. Even if it wasnt removed and the ESA was wreaking havoc, I wouldnt think that the shifting issues would be this severe. Any ideas?

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Maybe the shift linkage isnt adjusted properly and the shift interrupter switch is getting hung up in the interrupt position? Can you put your hands on it and at least make sure all the mounting hardware is tight? Maybe start the engine and play with the switch manually to see how the engine reacts.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

More than likely the lower shift cable is out of adjustment or has failed.

Are you doing this testing in the water or out of the water on muffs?

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Take a look at the shift interrupter switch while you or some one else shifts it in and out of gear (engine running). If the switch trips for more than a split second, you most likely have a bad lower shift cable.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Testing is out of the water with muffs. I checked the engine shift bracket while I put the control in forward and reverse and noticed that the shift roller would correctly allign on the points of the "V", but when I tried to put the outdrive back into Nuetral the shift roller would go past the valley and go back up the other side and was not staying alligned in the valley of the "V". However, if I manually operated the gear arm on the engine bracket I could get the shift roller back into the valley relatively easy and everything would allign properly. Also, if the shift roller would go past the valled when placed in nuetral and I used the remote control to shift it into and out of gear a little bit, it would go back to the middle of the "V" . That being said, Im sure something is out of adjustment and I'll simply have to readjust everything.

Ill disconnect the remote shift cable from the engine shift bracket and operate the out drive manually with the shift lever on the engine shift bracket to see if there is an issue. If not, then Ill hook the cable up and test reverse to see if there is an issue. If no issue present, I'll perform a shift cable adjustment and go from there. Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate it a lot!

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

if you are out of the water, your ESA should never engage at all. Sure sign of a faulty shift cable.

Tilt up your drive and look at the cable housing where it enters the pivot housing. That is where the cable usually fails.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Just so you understand the system.
When the switch is in the bottom of the V as shown in the picture below, the shift interrupt system (ESA) is not activated.



When the switch is on the high points as shown in the below image, then the shift interrupt switch is activated and the ESA unit makes the engine miss on half the cylinders.




The switch should never activate going into gear.
It should only activate when the boat is in the water with a load on the prop and when you are coming out of gear. Then it should only activate for a split second then go back to the normal. Bottom of the V.

99% chance you need a new lower shift cable. It's a common problem in both OMC and Mercruiser.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

What is the lower shift cable? Is that the transom shift cable on the lower side of engine shift bracket? Thanks for the heads up guys, I appreciate it a lot.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Gangly said:

What is the lower shift cable? Is that the transom shift cable on the lower side of engine shift bracket? Thanks for the heads up guys, I appreciate it a lot.

Click to expand...

It goes from the engine to the drive.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll check it out.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Eight years ya change the transom shift cable any body that has a cobra outdrive that sits for years should just change the transomshift cable first will save a lot of adjustment problems. Plus you can check out your bellows and u-joints while you have the outdrive off. After eight years just change bellows and impeller while you are down there changing the transom shift cable.

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

Changed impeller already, didn't have to pull the drive to do it, it was right on top. I will go ahead and pull the drive though to check the items you listed though, never hurts to check things after so long. Wondering how the sift cable went south with the boat only having 44 hours on it, but I guess time can do more than add dust

Re: Issues with Outdrive.

If you don't pull the drive, how do you grease the coupler splines? Thats an every 100 hrs or yearly which ever comes first type maintenance item. Or, you could find your self pulling the engine to replace that coupler.