surplusman
Seaman Apprentice
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 46
Ok, not trying to beat a dead horse here, I have used the search function but still have a question. <br /><br />88 OMC Cobra 4.3L <br />I have replaced the transom shift cable with the proper red one. I installed initially without ALL the info to do so, but it wasnt bad. Ran a couple of times, still not the way it should be. Along the way found the info at Stuart Hastings website. So, using his info, I redid the install and made all the adjustments. Now its worse than ever, almost not useable. I went thru the entire process two more times, all with poor results. 
<br /><br />Now mind you this boat was shifting ok to start with, but I decided to make it better for fear of tearing gears up. Well no chance of that now, cause it wont work at all now. I then began to suspect the remote cable going to the shift box. I yanked it out and inspected it, it should probably be replaced, but looked servicable enough to do the job. Whats most puzzling is the difference between the the state it was in, and is in now. I have obviously done something wrong, but is there an underlying problem preventing mefrom getting this right. Maybe I was just lucky the first time. Also there was no water time in between all this. All of this happened within the confines of my shop. <br /><br />I became very frustrasted to the point of throwing tools and pondering pushing the boat into the driveway and lighting fire to it. So with the remote cable on the shop floor, everything else intact, I walked out and have not touched it since. I re-read all the instructions 10 times over, but cannot find what I missed. So while I am still in a calm and rational state of mind, here are the questions...<br /><br />How to determine if in fact the problem lies in the remote cable?<br /><br />Could the problem be that the clutch dog is worn?? If so, how to determine<br /><br />Is there some commonly overlooked item that I perhaps, well.... overlooked.<br /><br />On the transom shift cable there is a brass trunnion. How in the world do you determine where that gets placed, because once the cable is set at the bellcrank, its lenght stays the same but that trunnion can be moved which I have found to have an impact on the shift process.<br /><br />The biggest problem that I am facing is the no matter what the adjustment, it want to shift into gear halfway thru the shift instead of while inside the initial ESA part of the shift (if that makes sense) Then I was able to get it shift quickly and efortlessly forward, but then would not go into reverse. <br /><br />PS. As a side note.....I can now pull, split, make change, bolt halves together, replace outdrive in about 15 minutes. I guess learning on your own does have its advantages. Add in changeing the commonly worn seals and o-rings, and Im still under half hour.
<br /><br />Now mind you this boat was shifting ok to start with, but I decided to make it better for fear of tearing gears up. Well no chance of that now, cause it wont work at all now. I then began to suspect the remote cable going to the shift box. I yanked it out and inspected it, it should probably be replaced, but looked servicable enough to do the job. Whats most puzzling is the difference between the the state it was in, and is in now. I have obviously done something wrong, but is there an underlying problem preventing mefrom getting this right. Maybe I was just lucky the first time. Also there was no water time in between all this. All of this happened within the confines of my shop. <br /><br />I became very frustrasted to the point of throwing tools and pondering pushing the boat into the driveway and lighting fire to it. So with the remote cable on the shop floor, everything else intact, I walked out and have not touched it since. I re-read all the instructions 10 times over, but cannot find what I missed. So while I am still in a calm and rational state of mind, here are the questions...<br /><br />How to determine if in fact the problem lies in the remote cable?<br /><br />Could the problem be that the clutch dog is worn?? If so, how to determine<br /><br />Is there some commonly overlooked item that I perhaps, well.... overlooked.<br /><br />On the transom shift cable there is a brass trunnion. How in the world do you determine where that gets placed, because once the cable is set at the bellcrank, its lenght stays the same but that trunnion can be moved which I have found to have an impact on the shift process.<br /><br />The biggest problem that I am facing is the no matter what the adjustment, it want to shift into gear halfway thru the shift instead of while inside the initial ESA part of the shift (if that makes sense) Then I was able to get it shift quickly and efortlessly forward, but then would not go into reverse. <br /><br />PS. As a side note.....I can now pull, split, make change, bolt halves together, replace outdrive in about 15 minutes. I guess learning on your own does have its advantages. Add in changeing the commonly worn seals and o-rings, and Im still under half hour. 