shifting issue...

[Travis71]

So I am having issues with my boat going into forward gear. I have an official OMC shop manual and I went through the entire checking and adjusting procedure and I thought it was fixed because it was working great in my backyard.

I took it to the lake and sure enough, it won't go into gear. I can hear the gears rubbing (not grinding, just a light clicking noise) and I can push the shift mechanism lightly by hand and it goes right in and works fine.

I honestly don't know what to check next at this point...

 

[Redrig]

What kind of omc ? Stringer or a cobra ?

Sounds like you are not getting enough "throw" from the control if it works fine manually by hand

Stretched cable from the remote control maybe

 

[Lou C]

Keep in mind this (Cobra) is a 2 cable system; both the transom shift cable and the remote control cable must be adjusted properly. Since the remote cable is attached to the engine shift lever; and attached to it with a slotted adjustment it’s possible for it to slip out of adjustment. This happened with mine over the course of a few years and I got the special tools and set it up about 7 years ago and it’s fine ever since...

 

[Travis71]

What kind of omc ? Stringer or a cobra ?

Sounds like you are not getting enough "throw" from the control if it works fine manually by hand

Stretched cable from the remote control maybe

It is a Cobra

 

[Travis71]

Keep in mind this (Cobra) is a 2 cable system; both the transom shift cable and the remote control cable must be adjusted properly. Since the remote cable is attached to the engine shift lever; and attached to it with a slotted adjustment it’s possible for it to slip out of adjustment. This happened with mine over the course of a few years and I got the special tools and set it up about 7 years ago and it’s fine ever since...

Thanks Lou, can you be more specific about the kind of special tools required?

Sounds like I have some light reading to do to go through that section of my service manual and see what I can figure out.

 

[Lou C]

There are 3 you need 2 for sure to do it accurately
bell crank holder tool holds bell crank at 90*
while you use the shift cable tool to adjust the shift cable on the engine bracket
there is also s tool used to measure the shift rod height in the lower unit; this can be done with s ruler and straightedge
see....Midnight Wolf OMC parts.
depending on what year manual you have the tools may have come after the manual was published

 

[Travis71]

Calling all OMC experts...

Ok, I am ready to tackle this beast. I read another post that gave this order of events:Also the procedure or order of steps in doing this is as follows:

1) drive off you adjust the shift rod height. This is the basis for all the other adjustments being correct. Once right it does not change.
2) drive off you adjust the transom shift cable with the remote cable and throttle cables disconnected, using the bell crank holder and the special tool to set the length of the transom shift cable at the engine shifter bell crank.
3) now you're supposed to reinstall the drive, and make sure its in Neutral. Mark the cable where it slides into the casing with a sharpie. Now have someone spin the prop while you use the cable, to shift it into reverse. Mark that position on the cable. Then shift back to neutral. Now have someone spin the prop, and you use the cable to shift it to forward. Mark that position on the cable. The REV and FWD position marks should be equidistant from the Neutral mark on the cable. This tells you that you are getting equal throw in REV and FWD on each side of NEUTRAL. If not, then go back and re-do it.
4) Now and only now, do you adjust the remote and throttle cables....​

So I removed the drive and separated the upper and lower unit to adjust the shift rod height to 7-13/64" (i.e. 7-3/16" + a frog hair right?) . I have a question about where I am supposed to measure from. There is a raised area around the shift rod and a lower flat area (tried to upload picture but couldn't get it to work...). Just want to make sure I am using the correct reference point.

 

[Travis71]

Got the picture to work. Do I measure from black arrow or red arrow?

 

[Travis71]

Also, anything I should look at or replace while I’m in this deep? I really don’t want to take this thing apart again.

 

[Travis71]

I’ll go ahead and post pics of the transom shift cable adjustment too...

I have the jigs for the bellcrank alignment (sorry for the sideways photo) and the cable end length adjustment. Does that look right?

 

[Pipe101]

Hey galaxie22 the shift rod height is measured from the top of the rod ( flat spot right on the very top) to the machined surface where the upper and lower case bolt together. From the picture of the transom shift cable it looks wrong. The barrel on the threaded part should be in the middle of the V point on the tool. The measurement should be 6 1/2 inches from the middle of the barrel to the middle of the hole that sides onto the shift bracket. Hope this helps.

 

[Travis71]

Hey galaxie22 the shift rod height is measured from the top of the rod ( flat spot right on the very top) to the machined surface where the upper and lower case bolt together. From the picture of the transom shift cable it looks wrong. The barrel on the threaded part should be in the middle of the V point on the tool. The measurement should be 6 1/2 inches from the middle of the barrel to the middle of the hole that sides onto the shift bracket. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info on the measuring point!

I will definitely move that barrel down to the reference point also.

There is a little play where the shift lever and roller engage the shift cable guide; and the bellcrank alignment plate allows the bellcrank to move ever so slightly up and down (maybe 1/16"). So, when the book says, "screw on swivel retainer until it just contacts the shift cable guide, then install screw finger tight" there is about 1/8" of variation on the shift cable length depending in whether the cable guide is fully extended or retracted so that the bellcrank is up against either the top or bottom of the slot in the alignment plate.

All these dimensions seem so particular, I just want to make sure before I put it all back together.

I hope I explained that ok. I can try to take some pictures later today and post them if none of that makes any sense.

 

[Pipe101]

Theres so many different tools out there so just make sure the measurement on the transom shift cable tool is 6 1/2 inches from the middle of where the cable end hole is and the point of the V. When I adjusted the bell crank end I left the transom shift cable tool attached to the cable on the boat end (secure with a piece of tape) then at the boat end installed the bell crank tool and just tried to centre it as best as I could, then turn the retainer until it makes contact with the guide. Make sure to hold the guide with a adjustable wrench vertical when tightening the screw. Yes the specks do seem super crucial and I'm sure they are, but there is play in the system so all we can do is our best lol.

 

[Lou C]

Got the picture to work. Do I measure from black arrow or red arrow?

Neither it is the mounting surface with the tapped holes you can see there. not the best pic but best I could do...
also make sure the water tube grommets are in good shape and the water tube itself is not corroded. If the boat was ever overheated the grommets can be scorched.

 

[Lou C]

Also I can see your remote cable adjustment is maxed out one way (see in the slotted arm of the bellcrank on the engine shifter bracket) that also has to be adjusted to get = throw in fwd and rev. Sounds like you were not getting enough in fwd.

 

[Travis71]

Also I can see your remote cable adjustment is maxed out one way (see in the slotted arm of the bellcrank on the engine shifter bracket) that also has to be adjusted to get = throw in fwd and rev. Sounds like you were not getting enough in fwd.

I think that got out of whack when I was trying to make the final adjustments at the engine bracket and i couldn't get the switch roller to return to center of the V-notch. That's when I pulled it all back apart and started back at square one: adjusting the shift rod height. I am going to really try to slow down and take my time so that I hopefully get it all right this time.

I really appreciate your help on this. It seems like you are the authority on these OMC systems around here.

 

[Lou C]

Thanks!

I don’t recall, did you install a new cable and/or did you check the cable drag with a fish scale?
this should be checked before setting the adjustment on the transom shift cable. No more that 2.5 lbs with both ends disconnected in both directions .... very important. Sticky cables are what caused the Cobra to have shifting problems in the first place. In fact OMC had a recall on the shift cables; the originals were black the recall cables were red.

 

[Travis71]

Theres so many different tools out there so just make sure the measurement on the transom shift cable tool is 6 1/2 inches from the middle of where the cable end hole is and the point of the V. When I adjusted the bell crank end I left the transom shift cable tool attached to the cable on the boat end (secure with a piece of tape) then at the boat end installed the bell crank tool and just tried to centre it as best as I could, then turn the retainer until it makes contact with the guide. Make sure to hold the guide with a adjustable wrench vertical when tightening the screw. Yes the specks do seem super crucial and I'm sure they are, but there is play in the system so all we can do is our best lol.

I'll check that measurement also. The only one referenced in the manual is the 7 9/16" from end of brass fitting on the cable jacket to the center of the mounting hole in the casing guide.

Although, I was looking through my book (1989 for PWS and PWC Models) and found this in the instructions for installing a new shift cable on page 6-28:
"Screw casing guide jacket into cable until it is seated. When properly installed, it must measure no more than 4 15/16" from forward end to cable tip."

The more I read up on this stuff the more I realize how intricate and particular the specs are!

 

[Travis71]

Thanks!

I don’t recall, did you install a new cable and/or did you check the cable drag with a fish scale?
this should be checked before setting the adjustment on the transom shift cable. No more that 2.5 lbs with both ends disconnected in both directions .... very important. Sticky cables are what caused the Cobra to have shifting problems in the first place. In fact OMC had a recall on the shift cables; the originals were black the recall cables were red.

I did not install a new cable, but the one on the boat is red, which means it was fixed in the recall I guess.

I haven't checked the cable drag. Would you mind providing a little more detail or link me to another thread where the process is described?

 

[Pipe101]

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/kw-shift.html