1985 Ebbtide OMC Stringer (PLEASE HELP SHIFT CABLE WORRY)

[Scottyitsk]

Hello all,

I have recently purchased a mint condition 1985 Ebbtide OMC stringer Montego with the 3.0L Mercury and OMC oldschool outdrive.

Anywho, the boat is in immaculant condition. Stringers and transom replaced 4 years ago. The boat runs great, fires over first crank, and shifts into gears with little to know resistance with shifter (forward,neutral, and reverse all good).

The previous owner told me the only things wrong with it, was a torn transom boot, and the tilt pump was bad. I got a great deal on the boat, and I am a very good automobile mechanic... so those two small things didnt bother me.

I proceeded in removing the outdrive to replace the transom boot, and I made a mistake.... Rain was on its way, so I was in a rush to just get the outdrive removed.... well.... long story short... I removed all the bolts neccessary to remove the outdrive. I then removed the clip the seats the shift cable in the intermediate housing. As soon as I did that, I bumped the outdrive and knocked my rachet strap off that was holding the entire outdrive up (since the tilt quadrant was removed)... the oudrive immediately dropped... thankfully I caught it somewhat... as it unhinged itself from the ujoints.

As I tried to take the weight of the falling outdrive... the first thing i immediately thought of was the shift cable. It seems there is a good 1 1/2 ft of slack in the engine compartment of shift cable... I noticed that all the slack was pulled out when the outdrive fell and I caught it....

My worry is... if I stretched the shift cable when this happened. I am not very familiar with shift cables, as I never had to mess with one.

Are there any tests I can run with the water hooked to the outdrive, that can test the shift cable to ensure that it wasnt stretched/damaged/disconnected?

Thanks guys!

 

[Scott Danforth]

inspect the shift cable, if it looks OK, your most likely OK. you wont know until the drive is installed, however there is some adjustment on the shift cable. did you disconnect the cable ends at the shift interupt box?

tilt motor is common failure. you will learn to stand on your head to get access to it to replace it.

Do you know if the vertical drive shafts were replaced in the outdrive yet?

How are the ball gears?

 

[Scottyitsk]

the outdrive was supposedly rebuilt in 2009. It shifts nice out of water. no noises and very firm yet smooth.. I have no idea about the vertical drive shafts.

But the ball gears look brand new.

I reinstalled the drive and everything is buttoned back up.

When I took the outdrive off.. I totally forgot to get to the shift cable part of the removal process.

 

[jim tubbe]

I also dropped my out drive once when my engine lift suddenly released, and it fell to the floor. That shift cable is held down to the boat at the transom then at the shift converter by those two tension prongs and finally inside the shift converter itself by the two cable ends. You didn't break anything but you did get the shift cable free of the transom easily.