Have replaced transom cable before no problem - Delco EST now problem

[Lou C]

pick set and carb cleaner and compressed air is fine.
if you saw mine...you'd see nothing but Evinrude Triple Guard grease in there (we used to call it OMC's blue snot)...great stuff...look in this pic...might be able to see....and this is after 6 months sitting in the salt water...see the growth....

 

[Don't Panic!]

I have the older style with no zerk or rear bearing, I loosened that bolt and the bellcrank slid right out. Then the arm comes out. Nice and open, easy to clean now.

On mine, the o-ring on the bellcrank was like a solid piece of plastic. It snapped in half when I tried to remove it from the shaft. I believe it was a source of water intrusion into the shift cable area. Your's is obviously a different setup with the zerk and bearing, but I'd think it would be worth figuring out what needs to be done to remove the bellcrank so you can clean it up well and replace that o-ring.

 

[LAC_STS]

pick set and carb cleaner and compressed air is fine.
if you saw mine...you'd see nothing but Evinrude Triple Guard grease in there (we used to call it OMC's blue snot)...great stuff...look in this pic...might be able to see....and this is after 6 months sitting in the salt water...see the growth....

Yes I love that triple guard grease I use it for all kinds of stuff. So once I clean it all out by “ packing “ you mean fill the entire cavity with triple guard ? Like behind the shift lever?

Gonna do all that and order a new gasket and put it back on.

thanks once again for all the help Lou. Taught me a lot

 

[LAC_STS]

I have the older style with no zerk or rear bearing, I loosened that bolt and the bellcrank slid right out. Then the arm comes out. Nice and open, easy to clean now.

On mine, the o-ring on the bellcrank was like a solid piece of plastic. It snapped in half when I tried to remove it from the shaft. I believe it was a source of water intrusion into the shift cable area. Your's is obviously a different setup with the zerk and bearing, but I'd think it would be worth figuring out what needs to be done to remove the bellcrank so you can clean it up well and replace that o-ring.

I have the bearing one I just took the shift lever bolt out and I just pull the bell crank to the R and the shift lever to the L and they came right apart.

Now I can see even more and there’s a frickin pin hole inside the shift lever pocket. Maybe 1 / 8 “ diameter hole.

Got it all cleaned out though. Now gotta figure out how to fix this hole. It’s in the very back bottom so it shouldn’t be in the way of anything however I fix it.

 

[Lou C]

Well that may be the source of water getting in there!

 

[Lou C]

Yes I love that triple guard grease I use it for all kinds of stuff. So once I clean it all out by “ packing “ you mean fill the entire cavity with triple guard ? Like behind the shift lever?

Gonna do all that and order a new gasket and put it back on.

thanks once again for all the help Lou. Taught me a lot

Yep I pack the whole pocket with blue snot. Was just out on the boat today still shifting great, last time I set the cable up was back in 2013. I do pull the drive each season to check the bellows, u joints, gimble and the shifter bell crank. D/S bellow and exhaust bellows on these usually last about 10 years before you start to get tiny cracks.

 

[LAC_STS]

Yep I pack the whole pocket with blue snot. Was just out on the boat today still shifting great, last time I set the cable up was back in 2013. I do pull the drive each season to check the bellows, u joints, gimble and the shifter bell crank. D/S bellow and exhaust bellows on these usually last about 10 years before you start to get tiny cracks.

Any idea on fixing the hole ? I got it cleaned really good. It’s almost a perfect circle.

 

[Lou C]

Know anyone who can weld aluminum? That would be the best way but otherwise, get a short nut and bolt, bolt is close to the diameter of the hole, use 2 gaskets or orings that fit under head of nut and bolt, and coat with OMC gasket sealer. Has to be small enough to not interfere with the bell crank. Post a pix of hole can advise better then

 

[LAC_STS]

The wet is PB Blaster. I cannot get the two drain plug screws out. Wanted to take them out esp the shift cable one and clean it all out. Trying to find my tool [ to early not enough coffee yet ] that you you know hit with a hammer and it has a screwdriver bit on the other end. Every time you hit it it compresses and turns the screwdriver bit.

But anyways theres the hole and I think its in a good spot for fixing it the way you described which BTW never even crossed my mind to use a bolt.

I do have a friend that has a MIG welder with the aluminum spool gun and welds airboat parts. I might see if hell fix it. Still owes me a few favors although the " Ill spray the boat for ya " took 3 years. So dunno which way Ill go on that but Ill find out this weekend.


One thing I just thought of is is it normal for it to be extremely hard to pump grease into that shift lever pocket? Before I took the lever out and also while it was on the boat I couldn't get ANY grease in there. Multiple guns that work on everything else it just wouldn't even let me get any in. I was thinking to try again once installed but Id rather fix it now while its apart. I took the zerk out and I dont see any reason for it not to work. Of course I have every size zerk here but that one so ill replace that and try again when I reinstall the bellcrank and shift lever.

 

[LAC_STS]

What do you think about this? I got a hold of my welding buddy and he said its cast but he can weld it but be beter to take it to one of his friends who has a diff setup. then he said hes never used this but it looks awesome and perfect for what I need to do. Propane torch only other thing needed.

https://youtu.be/aj0NjwBqsSg


Heres a video of my shift rods twisting movement. Is this normal Lou ? I got one of my friends [ instead of my fiancé ]
to turn the driveshaft constantly without stopping at all and quietly so I could really get a feel for the force it took shifting the shift rod F N R. Seems perfect. I cannot tell any difference between the two and it seems to work very easily. So think im good there as long as the twisting movement of the shift rod is ok.

 

[LAC_STS]

I have the older style with no zerk or rear bearing, I loosened that bolt and the bellcrank slid right out. Then the arm comes out. Nice and open, easy to clean now.

On mine, the o-ring on the bellcrank was like a solid piece of plastic. It snapped in half when I tried to remove it from the shaft. I believe it was a source of water intrusion into the shift cable area. Your's is obviously a different setup with the zerk and bearing, but I'd think it would be worth figuring out what needs to be done to remove the bellcrank so you can clean it up well and replace that o-ring.

Well my OMC OEM manual says I have the bearing and the zerk. But anyways huge difference between tying the first time with it not cleaned and then the second successful time when it was mostly cleaned out.

Heres what I did. Its obv super clean now but even after cleaning the area the best I could with the shift lever in there It still took a good bit of force and wiggling to get it separated.

I am confused what o ring you're referring to on the bell crank that was like a solid piece of plastic? Only thing I can think of is do you mean the black plastic roller think that is on the top of the shift lever [ not the bell crank ] ? See in the video the shift lever in my hand and the black plastic roller on the top of it ? Is it that ?

 

[Don't Panic!]

I was referring to the little o-ring that's under your thumb at :30. It was all crusty and hard on mine.

 

[Lou C]

What do you think about this? I got a hold of my welding buddy and he said its cast but he can weld it but be beter to take it to one of his friends who has a diff setup. then he said hes never used this but it looks awesome and perfect for what I need to do. Propane torch only other thing needed.

https://youtu.be/aj0NjwBqsSg


Heres a video of my shift rods twisting movement. Is this normal Lou ? I got one of my friends [ instead of my fiancé ]
to turn the driveshaft constantly without stopping at all and quietly so I could really get a feel for the force it took shifting the shift rod F N R. Seems perfect. I cannot tell any difference between the two and it seems to work very easily. So think im good there as long as the twisting movement of the shift rod is ok.

I can't recall if mine moved the same but I don't think what you see there will cause a problem. More important is it goes into both gears with minimal resistance.

 

[Lou C]

The wet is PB Blaster. I cannot get the two drain plug screws out. Wanted to take them out esp the shift cable one and clean it all out. Trying to find my tool [ to early not enough coffee yet ] that you you know hit with a hammer and it has a screwdriver bit on the other end. Every time you hit it it compresses and turns the screwdriver bit.

But anyways theres the hole and I think its in a good spot for fixing it the way you described which BTW never even crossed my mind to use a bolt.

I do have a friend that has a MIG welder with the aluminum spool gun and welds airboat parts. I might see if hell fix it. Still owes me a few favors although the " Ill spray the boat for ya " took 3 years. So dunno which way Ill go on that but Ill find out this weekend.


One thing I just thought of is is it normal for it to be extremely hard to pump grease into that shift lever pocket? Before I took the lever out and also while it was on the boat I couldn't get ANY grease in there. Multiple guns that work on everything else it just wouldn't even let me get any in. I was thinking to try again once installed but Id rather fix it now while its apart. I took the zerk out and I dont see any reason for it not to work. Of course I have every size zerk here but that one so ill replace that and try again when I reinstall the bellcrank and shift lever.

I'd try the bolt idea with an o-ring on each side. Coat the whole mess with OMC gasket sealer or similar. Just make sure it does not interfere with the movement of the bell crank and shifter cable. Mine doesn't even have the zerk fitting being an '88 but it moves back and forth very easily. This is probably the reason why you had chronic problems, the water in there caused drag on the bellcrank! Glad you cleaned it enough to notice.

To get the drain plugs out, try heating the aluminum around it just a bit and then use an impact screwdriver.

 

[LAC_STS]

I'd try the bolt idea with an o-ring on each side. Coat the whole mess with OMC gasket sealer or similar. Just make sure it does not interfere with the movement of the bell crank and shifter cable. Mine doesn't even have the zerk fitting being an '88 but it moves back and forth very easily. This is probably the reason why you had chronic problems, the water in there caused drag on the bellcrank! Glad you cleaned it enough to notice.

To get the drain plugs out, try heating the aluminum around it just a bit and then use an impact screwdriver.

Well I tried the bolt method and even not tightening it that much I heard cracking so I stopped and took it out. It was more corroded than that hole. Hit the back side with a wire wheel to see and trying to figure out how to get to the inside.

Now I have a hole this big. The bolt method would have worked perfect if the corrosion was just that hole. Found the perfect flat headed bolt, good washers, and a very thin nut. Just a little pressure and it started cracking.

Now I got this. So guessing gonna take it to someone who welds cast alum or try the aluminum brazing rod.

I have a new remote cable here I never used before. I took a look at the old transom cable an although the core slides very easy the part that threads into the pivot housing where I had all the corrosion looks like crap. I am gonna just replace both cables when I reinstall. The remote is up for it anyways.

So fix the hole and order a new transom bracket shift cable then Ill be ready to reinstall. Bellows still look great.

Looking here on iboats they only sell two diff OMC transom cables now. Ill have do go through my emails make sure I order the right one. Although Im sure its the one with out the black plastic pieces on it.

 

[Lou C]

There are OMC pivot housings on eBay you could just replace it
i would use an OE OMC/BRP shift cable if possible

 

[LAC_STS]

There are OMC pivot housings on eBay you could just replace it
i would use an OE OMC/BRP shift cable if possible

Might end up doing that.

Cannot get the TBSC drain screw out. Even with heat. And I even brought it to a welding place and they couldn’t get it out either so there’s one other reason to replace the pivot housing.

As for the hole I was told by a couple people that the aluminum brazing rods work very well. I am going to try that. Don’t got much else to lose at this point. and since I have it disassembled enough I can get to both sides with a wire wheel / wire drill wheel tool and get it cleaned down to the aluminum.


On the shift cable I have never been able to find any branded one except Sierra. I also btw don’t care for they’re quality.

As iboats only sells Sierra can I ask when you say OE do you mean from the BRP site?

 

[LAC_STS]

Something to add is I have replaced the pivot housing before on a friends boat with same exact OMC 5.7 setup.

Sure you probably know but there are OE Heli Coils in the threads where the pivot housing big SS bolts go. The two big Bolts that screw the pivot housing into the Gimbal Housing.

The used one he got had messed up ones so even with my friends N**PA discount the Heli Coil tool kit for that big of a size was still $90 ish. But it did include the tap and a couple sets of coils and the coil installer.

At that time I looked at mine and they didn’t look that bad but since we had a extra set I replaced them. There’s a section in the manual about it. Just gotta watch the red thread locker they say to put on when installing the coils. Makes the big SS bolts a PITA to remove the first time. So if I can fix this one I will if not I’ll order another.

 

[LAC_STS]

Got it !!! had a guy correctly wled it for $20. Strong, waterproof, and barely anythingon the inside pocket that could possibly block anything. attached are pics of it one being a side shot.

Got the SS drain screw out too. Ruined the screw but the threads are still good so just need to order one of those also.

On the TBSC. I looked up the part number on BRP as iBoats does not sell anything but Sierra. All I can find is one single OMC old stock cable for $150 that looks like its new but been thrown around a lot.

Other than that its all Sierra cables.

Id love to buy from iBoats but I would rather not have a Sierra one if at all possible. Since iBoats doesn't sell this part can anyone give info on who might stock BRP cables?

Also guess its gotta be really clean but the grease zerk works perfectly now. Thers only a little clearance for the grease to come out. So if you cant get any grease in there its probably full of crap.

 

[Lou C]

That looks good, nice work by the welder. About the cable, if you have an Evinrude dealer local to you, they can order any parts for Cobra drives that are still available. Also the OEM cable can be bought from Crowley marine and marine engine dot com.
It helps if you know your engine model #. The Sierra cable may be fine but for certain things I prefer OEM (shift cable, driveshaft bellows, impeller kit).