Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

[helpmelovemyboat]

1987 OMC 3.0 Motor. Motor runs great at idle and when not in gear but dies when i try to put it in gear. I have checked the carb thinking maybe the accelerator pump was bad but it is fine. Next i checked the ESA switch and it works (stalls motor when pressed) but it stalls the motor for about 15 seconds and then the motor runs fine. This is too long of a stall however for the boat to go into gear... it just dies (but again when not in gear it will stumble for about 15 seconds and then run fine). I have a clymers manual and it shows an overstroke switch but someone has cut mine off. This is where it gets interesting however. I traced the wires back to the plug and there are two wires coming into the plug for the switch (black and blue) but four wires coming out of the plug (two blues fr the ESA switch and then two black wires for the overstroke switch. I thought that I had found the problem but the two black wires for the overstroke have no pins in the connector from the control box (it is made this way)...so even if i put a new overstroke switch on it wouldnt be connected to the ESA module in any way. This has me very frustrated. I ordered a new Overstroke switch today from a dealer but I am going to pull my boat down to him on friday when I pick the part up to show him the plug from the ESA module to see what he thinks. Also when the boat is in gear the esa switch is always depressed so there would have to be something to tell it to stop interrupting spark (hence overstroke switch) but like i said earlier the plug from the ESA module has no wires for the overstroke switch. I have read something about Mercruiser interupptig there spark for shifting some other way..any ideas?

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

i just delt with setting my ESA after months of trying differnt things turned out it was the esa top cable.
when its in gear does the ESA micro swich sitting on the little finger or not?
how it should work[at least mine] when i put the motor into gear the micro switch flickes 3-4-5 times what ever, bouncing off the 2 fingers once the stumbling is done it settles between the 2 fingers not engauged i found out if i manually engauge it, it stalls the motor, also if not set right the second it goes into forward or reverse, it will stall.

how i tested this, start motor put into gear [probably best done on a trailer with muffs] once into gear shut motor off leaving it in gear. now look at the ESA micro switch if it rests on one of the fingers adjust the top cable till it sits between. restart and readjust for forward and reverse may take 2-3 times move it a little each time.

if it turns out its your overstroke and the bottom cable i am sorry i didnt have to do that and i can not help you in adjusting that.
a few people have talkd about cutting the purple wire and hooking it up to the coil and grounding the black wire to the engine block, or something like that and then its set up like a merc and will stall your motor while you shift. personally i wouldnt do that. also note that a lot of people are against clymers manuals on here because if its lack in information if you want a better one i think OEM OMC MANUAL is the one they prefer.

 

[helpmelovemyboat]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

Yes when its in gear the esa switch sits on top of the top finger. That is why there is an overstroke switch that is suppose to disable the esa once you are in gear. I really need to post a pic because there is no way to adjust it so this doesnt happen (i really wish there was) because it has two mechanical stops (one for forward and one for reverse) that cannot be moved. Even when I ajust the lever where it moves all the way to the mechanical stop the esa switch still rests on top of the finger. I'm at my wits end because it would be so simple if it were designed so that the esa was only momentarily depressed when first going into forward and reverse. But alas this is not the case on my boat....I may go out in a few and try to take a pic with my Iphone to post.

 

[Don S]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

You probably need a new lower shift cable. The old one is stiff and holding the shift interrupt system engaged for too long.

You also have some engine problems if the engine dies when you shift it into gear. The engine should stumble and run rough, but not die.

 

[helpmelovemyboat]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

Let me see if I understand you Don. The lower shift cable is connected to the lever that moves to depress the ESA switch, correct? So if this is the case then on my boat the lever would have to move up to depress the esa when I put it in gear and then move back down on its own. Is this how it's supposed to work? I have attached a few pics to try to show you what mine looks like from mechanical stop forward to mechanical stop reverse. It would make sense to me if the lever was supposed to spring back down on its own after you shift into gear.

 

[Don S]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

Read this thread on how the shift interrupt system is supposed to work.
While it may be for a Mercruiser, the concept and how the linkage works is the same.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=1930449#post1930449

 

[helpmelovemyboat]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

Ok..Mine is definately wacked out then because out of the water and on muffs when it goes into gear the lever moves and activates the esa switch. Im going to a mechanic on friday to have him take a look because there is no way to adjust it so that the esa is not activated when the boat is put in gear. I understand how the esa is supposed to work now (thanks Don) and cannot explain why you can depress the esa and it will stumble the motor for 10-15 seconds and then the motor will idle fine again. I have read that there was an update that had a timer in the esa module but even 10 seconds is too long. If the mechanic doesnt know then I'm going to run the esa switch to the dash and I will just interrupt it myself long enough to get it out of gear.

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

ok as your picture shows where that lever sits it should be stumbling the motor and it wont run for sht....
now notice there are 2 cables hooked up near by the top one should be black and the bottom one should be orange
now if that is where the esa sits when its in gear you must loosen the bolt holding the black nut on the top cable and screw it in or out so that when the motor is runing and you put it into gear it sits between the 2 fingers.

if the motor is running and outdrive is in gear the esa should be sitting inbetween not on. if you dont have the motor running when you put it into gear then it will rest on the finger not having power or whatever to move it back off. also do not try to set this while the motor is running.

start motor put into gear shut it off. then set it, put thottle into neutral and repeat for forward and reverse till its right.
there is no reason to rig it up so that it works when you flick a switch its all within a simple turn of a nut one way or the other to make it work correctly, chances are it bounced out of aliengment going down the road.

 

[helpmelovemyboat]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

ok as your picture shows where that lever sits it should be stumbling the motor and it wont run for sht....
now notice there are 2 cables hooked up near by the top one should be black and the bottom one should be orange
now if that is where the esa sits when its in gear you must loosen the bolt holding the black nut on the top cable and screw it in or out so that when the motor is runing and you put it into gear it sits between the 2 fingers.

if the motor is running and outdrive is in gear the esa should be sitting inbetween not on. if you dont have the motor running when you put it into gear then it will rest on the finger not having power or whatever to move it back off. also do not try to set this while the motor is running.

start motor put into gear shut it off. then set it, put thottle into neutral and repeat for forward and reverse till its right.
there is no reason to rig it up so that it works when you flick a switch its all within a simple turn of a nut one way or the other to make it work correctly, chances are it bounced out of aliengment going down the road.

Thank you SW3. This sounds simple enough that I wont be able to screw it up too badly. Very good explaination on which cable to adjust as I have been wary of jacking around with crap I know nothing about. I think what I will do is mark the cable where its at so I will able to return it exactly where it is if this is not what the problem is. Itis doing exactly what you described. When in gear the lever stays moved up activating the esa. I will able o work on the boat on friday and will update my progress then. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[sw33ttooth]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

your welcome i delt with this issue for 5 months untill some one finnaly told me that was my problem quick 5-10 minuite fix.

 

[helpmelovemyboat]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

well, boo for me. After trying to adjust it for a long time I gave up and took it to a local dealer. Come to find out it was in fact a stiff lower shift cable (Don was correct). I really wish I had known that checking the lower shift cable was as easy as disconnecting it and moving it by hand but I didnt know how much resistance it should have. The dealer informed me that it should have next to none. The dealer showed me how it worked using the slight resistance from the lower shift cable to activate the esa lever so now I'm a little more in the know. So its a 260 dollar cable + installation and I should be good to go. I'm going to let them install it and adjust it because I am ready to hit the water and don't want to jack around with it myself (maybe I would have in the off season). They will have the boat for about a week and a half so I'll report the news then.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Boat dies when i put it in gear 1987 3.0

For future reference, the ESA should never engage when you shift running on muffs and should only engage when coming out of gear when you are in the water.