Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

[Frozen]

Just installed my 1989 Cobra outdrive on a OMC 5.0L. The outdrive is bolted to the pivot but not torqued yet. I tested out the shifting and it is very hard to get into gear, forward and reverse. Reverse does not engage, the prop still spins freely. Forward does engage. Any tips or suggestions? It is very hard to engage. Should I replace the shift cable? I know Cobra's have been known to eat gears due to bad shift cables and bad shift cable adjustments.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

Should I replace the shift cable? I know Cobra's have been known to eat gears due to bad shift cables and bad shift cable adjustments.

Howdy,

Possibly.......


How about a few questions......did the shift cable move freely before you installed the drive? (how old is the current cable?)

Did the shift shaft move easily in the drive? (turn the drive shaft while you try to move it)

Was the shifter in the same"gear" as the drive when you put it together?

Hard shifting is usually the lower shift cable(corrosion in the cable will make it hard to move when it is pushing or pulling something........it can still be easy to move by itself)

.........it can also be problems in the lower unit, bent shift shaft, etc......

 

[Frozen]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

Honestly I didn't check a lot of the thing you asked about before mounting the drive.

"did the shift cable move freely before you installed the drive? (how old is the current cable?)"
I do not know, did not move the throttle before installing the drive. I also do not know the ago of the current cable. It's a new to me boat. The boat is a 1989 so it could be that old.

"Did the shift shaft move easily in the drive? (turn the drive shaft while you try to move it)"
Again I did not play with the shift shaft in the drive before installing the drive

"Was the shifter in the same"gear" as the drive when you put it together?"
yes both were in neutral.

Should I pull the drive back off and check those things now? How do I check the lower shift cable? Thanks for the help so far!!

 

[DBreskin]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

The bad Cobra shift cables are black. The shift cable should have been replaced with the newer red cable. Be sure you have the newer cable; you can check this from outside or inside the boat without disassembling anything.
I suggest you remove the drive and perform the factory-specified shift cable adjustment procedure. If the cable is not adjusted properly, you may destroy your drive.

 

[Frozen]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

My shift cables are red, so thats a good start! I'll pull the drive back off and do the cable adjustment procedure. Thanks guys!

 

[Lou C]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

As the others said, you need to remove the drive and check the transom shift cable, the bellcrank in the pivot housing (you can get deposits built up behind it because sometimes the gasket between the drive and the pivot housing leaks water into that area, and that can cause stiff shifting). If the Cobra is properly adjusted, with a good shift cable, and an engine in good enough tune to idle smoothly at 550 rpm or so, they shift VERY well. Mine shifts with 2 fingers, in and out of gear. Also some Bayliners of that era came with a cheap control that also contributed to shifting problems. Check out the Stuart Hastings website on the Cobra....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

Also some Bayliners of that era came with a cheap control that also contributed to shifting problems.

I had the same issue with my Bayliner/Cobra combo. I changed the control which helped remove the "lost motion" that the original control contributes. What I mean by "lost motion" is that all the motion that is given by the controller doesn't translate to motion in the cable. When this happens, you get reduced throw in the cable and adjusting becomes a royal pain in the butt.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

My shift cables are red, so thats a good start! I'll pull the drive back off and do the cable adjustment procedure. Thanks guys!

A red cable *could* mean that the boat got the cable shortly after purchase....or came new with it........ (it was a TSB that was covered by OMC .......I don't remember the year mine was replaced........)

This could mean that your shift cable is 20+ years old and a rusty mess internally!

Lou is right, properly adjusted, a Cobra will shift VERY nicely! (My previously installed King Cobra also "shifted with 2-fingers"!!)

Keep them shifting like that and you eliminate one of the huge problems with them and they last for years!

Also, and since no one has mentioned it, if you didn't change the drive oil last Fall, NOW would be a good time to do it.

If you don't have an OMC service manual, get yourself around one. Be sure to refill it IAW with the manual!! (FILL port, NOT the bottom drain)



Cheers,


Rick

 

[Frozen]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

So I just got the drive off and the control now shifts smoothly. And the cable looks good. What I did find what it's very hard to manual shift the drive in and out of gear. I can barely do it by hand. It does go in and out but very hard to do by hand. How do I fix that? Cause I'm assuming that should be easier to move.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

Question, were you doing all this shifting with the engine running or stopped? If you were doing it with it stopped, you basically wasted your time.

 

[Frozen]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

Question, were you doing all this shifting with the engine running or stopped? If you were doing it with it stopped, you basically wasted your time.

So here is the interesting part. First few try's was with the engine off. Then I realized I needed the engine to be idling so I did that, and with the engine idling it was harder to shift. And I never did actually shift into gear, for fear of breaking something.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

So I just got the drive off and the control now shifts smoothly. And the cable looks good. What I did find what it's very hard to manual shift the drive in and out of gear. I can barely do it by hand. It does go in and out but very hard to do by hand. How do I fix that? Cause I'm assuming that should be easier to move.

If you are trying to manually shift the drive, you should be having someone turn the driveshaft clock wise while you are trying to shift, that would simulate the engine running, with the drive off the boat. It should take a bit of effort to move the shift lever but not be excessively stiff, you could try lubing the shift lever with marine grease where it goes into the bushing on the top plate bolted to the lower unit....

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

you can get deposits built up

Every-time I remove mine there is some crap in there.. Alittle sand and funky stuff

 

[Frozen]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

If you are trying to manually shift the drive, you should be having someone turn the driveshaft clock wise while you are trying to shift, that would simulate the engine running, with the drive off the boat. It should take a bit of effort to move the shift lever but not be excessively stiff, you could try lubing the shift lever with marine grease where it goes into the bushing on the top plate bolted to the lower unit....

I had someone turning the driveshaft when shifting it manually. I will try to grease the shift lever tomorrow and see if that helps. Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm gonna try a few things tomorrow(hopefully) and report back.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

I had someone turning the driveshaft when shifting it manually. I will try to grease the shift lever tomorrow and see if that helps. Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm gonna try a few things tomorrow(hopefully) and report back.

You need to be turning the shaft so the shift dogs don't jam on the top of them.......

If the shift mechanism is still too hard to move, you either need to lube the shift shaft, it's binding internally, or possibly the shaft is bent.....

 

[lynnboy021]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

how did you make out???? i have the same problem. i adjusted the cables so many times that i will get fwd and no rev or i will get rev and no fwd and also the motor is always shutting down on me..... lol

 

[mkconnors2008]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

Yes, please let me know how this worked for you. I just bought this same drive with a Chevy 350. The Engine is perfect but I had the black cable. Replaced it with the red one and it was working but once I got it in the water, forward slowly stopped working until it eventually was not working at all. Reverse was NOT an issue. Thoughts?

Mike

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

"Lost Motion" may be the issue. Lost motion is not getting full throw when you command it from your shifter control. This can be caused by a controller that is worn so that there is slope at that point. It can also be caused by the shift cable that goes from the controll back to the engine not supported along its entire length. Make sure that that cable is tie wrapped along its length so it doesn't wiggle around when you shift.

I had to replace my control in order to get my Cobra to shift properly after changing my cable. If you don't get the complete throw, you will have major difficulty finding the sweet spot for neutral so that you can shift into both forward and reverse.

 

[Frozen]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

I finally got my drive to shift smoothly. Once I pulled the drive off again I found it very hard to shift manually. I cleaned the vertical shift shaft and greased the bottom of it, I can not shift it manually with one finger. Reinstalled the drive and all it well! Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll be sure to keep a eye on the shift cables.

 

[lynnboy021]

Re: Cobra hard to shift and no reverse

i thought there was oil in there? did you have oil in yours cuz i did? so how did you put grease on the bottom?