1992 OMC 5.7L - Won't Shift Into Neutral On The Water

[JamFam98]

I've got a 1993 Hydra-Sport 2100WA that has '92 OMC 5.7L. On land with muffs, it shifts just fine between forward, neutral, and reverse. The prop stops spinning when placed into neutral. However, out on the water, I can place the throttle into the neutral position, but the prop keeps spinning and we keep moving forward.

Could it be an issue with the ESA? I am new to this type of boat engine and am in a remote part of the world so having to do all my work myself. Appreciate any thoughts and advice.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Lou C]

Yes it can. When you trigger the ESA by lifting the load lever, does the engine RPM drop down to about 450 from 600? If not then that's part of your problem. To start, your idle rpm in gear in the water should not be more than 600 rpm. You can check the ESA on the water hose, normally it will not engage because there is no load on the prop holding the dog clutch engaged but if you trigger the load lever (ie just move it by hand) the engine idle speed should drop.

 

[JamFam98]

Lou, thanks for the advice and especially for the great photo! I will play around with it this coming weekend and see what I can figure out.

 

[Lou C]

take a look at the Midnight Wolf OMC Cobra parts site, he has the adjustment tools and also up-dated factory service manual info that you might need....

Good luck with it, once I got mine set up right it was very reliable overall.

 

[JamFam98]

Yes it can. When you trigger the ESA by lifting the load lever, does the engine RPM drop down to about 450 from 600? If not then that's part of your problem. To start, your idle rpm in gear in the water should not be more than 600 rpm. You can check the ESA on the water hose, normally it will not engage because there is no load on the prop holding the dog clutch engaged but if you trigger the load lever (ie just move it by hand) the engine idle speed should drop.

Lou C, wondering if you can give me some additional advice. It seems my ESA is working fine. But I am onto a new problem. I swapped out the old throttle control and the throttle cable and upper shift cable. I thought I had them installed just like the older ones I removed. When I started the boat, the RMPs were at about 1,500. I tried to make some adjustments to the throttle cable and that got the RPMs at idle down to about 1,000. It seemed that there was some play where the cable connects to the engine and I could press a little bit and get the engine idle RPMs down to about 600.

However, now when I went moved the throttle forward and accelerated, the ESA would engage, and not allow the acceleration. I'd get a little spin on the prop, but nothing fast. When I brought it back into neutral, the prop would not stop. By the way I am on land using muffs. If I gave it a bump slightly towards reverse and then back into neutral the prop would come to a stop.

I also could not get the prop to spin in reverse, but it seemed that the ESA would not engage when it went into reverse.

I am wondering if I somehow messed up the installation of the new throttle and some how reversed the cables, or maybe I just installed the shift cable wrong and they need to be adjusted.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Lou C]

If it was not doing this when you had the old remote control, it has to be the way the cables are hooked up and adjusted. I have a new control that I have not installed (Teleflex CH 1700) and they are adaptable to all models of outdrive boats. However, you need to know if the throttle cable pushes or pulls to advance the throttle and if the remote shift cable pushes or pulls to engage FWD. In addition, on the OMC style cables there is a thumbwheel adjustment for the tightness of both cables, you may have the throttle cable way too tight. The way it is supposed to work, when your shift control is in neutral, it should allow the carb throttle lever to return to the idle stop. If its too tight, it could be holding the throttle open even when the remote control is in neutral. Also, when operating the shift system, when you shift into FWD, or REV, the throttle should not advance until this shift takes place. So If you have someone who can spin the prop (ENGINE OFF KEY OUT!!) while you work the remote control see if as you shift into fwd (the prop should be spun by the helper then, to allow the dog clutch to engage) the throttle lever on the carb should not move, till you are actually in fwd gear. Same in reverse. Go back to the instructions for the remote control you installed and go over all the steps. Its easy to make a mistake!

 

[JamFam98]

Lou, thanks for the thoughts. I'll go back to the install instructions for my control and see if I mixed something up.
Another question, is it weird that my ESA doesn't have an overstroke switch? It only has the interrupt switch and it seems to be working fine. With the engine idling, I can lift the switch and the engine clearly stalls a bit like it should. But based on the diagram you sent earlier, it seems I don't have an overstroke switch.

Right now, when I shift into forward the switch the interrupt switch is lifted and is activated. It stays lifted the whole time while in forward until placed into neutral and fall back down into the notch. Same thing happens if I shift into reverse, the switch gets lifted and activated (moves the opposite direction from what happens in forward) and then falls back down into the notch when brought back into neutral.

I've seen some ESA video where it seems the overstroke switch is important as it keeps the ESA from being activated event though the interrupt switch is lifted. But again, I don't seem to have an overstroke switch, just the interrupt switch.

I tried to add a photo here, but it wouldn't work.

 

[JamFam98]

Got the photo to upload.

 

[Lou C]

Some cobras with an updated ESA did not have the overstroke switch; they used a timer instead. Your ESA should not engage going into gear...

 

[JamFam98]

Lou, when you say the ESA shouldn't engage going into gear; do you mean that the interrupter switch shouldn't physically get lifted and activated going into gear? Or despite being physically lifted it shouldn't activate going into gear?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Lou C]

If you are running it on the water hose and watching it as you shift, you may see the load lever moving (this is what trips the interrrupt switch) but the interrupt switch should not be triggered and the idle should not be lowered. The only time this should happen is when you are shifting out of gear on the water with a load on the prop (ie the force of the water). If it happens on the water hose either your transom shift cable is excessively stiff, or the cables are adjusted improperly. The movement of the load lever is related to the force on the lower shift cable. On mine it goes into gear with no ESA activation at all.

 

[JamFam98]

Lou, thanks again for all of your advice and help. I went back to the instructions for the new remote control. I am pretty sure I had the shift cable in the wrong position so it was push/pull opposite of what it should have been doing. But after that I was still not getting the prop to lock when placed into forward gear and it is not locking when placed into reverse.

If I remove the transom cable from the shifter and just manually move it back and forth, can you tell me which way should be forward gear? and which is reverse?

In one direction I get the prop to lock when it's spun counterclockwise, but in the other direction there is no effect on the prop.

Also, it is pretty difficult to push and pull the transom cable by hand. I am guessing that's not a good sign.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Lou C]

Sorry I have not uncovered my boat yet, forget which way is FWD and which is REV. If you try this and no one spins the prop it may not shift, a dog clutch needs either the driveshaft or propshaft moving for it to shift. Try again with someone spinning the prop!