What do I do now?

[libforlife]

So I have done some work on my 1993 Four Winns Liberator that has a 454 OMC King Cobra.

I had the issue where my boat would not shift into forward gear after it had been ran for awhile. I would have to shift into reverse then back into forward. It also would not start sometimes until I played with the throttle.

First, I had my upper shift and thottle cable changed, then the lower shift cable changed. After figuring out that is not it, I changed the shifter. It is in my garage right now, and it won't shift go into reverse and will only go a little into forward gear. Is this because the cables were not adjusted after they were changed? Or is something else wrong???????

 

[Bondo]

Re: What do I do now?

Ayuh,....

Is the Outdrive itself actually Shiftable,..??... Can it be manually shifted,..??

If So,.....
Then Yes, the Cables,+ / or Shifter are the places to be Looking....

 

[libforlife]

Re: What do I do now?

I am not sure how to shift it manually...

 

[Bondo]

Re: What do I do now?

Ayuh,.... Me Niether,..... It's an old OMC.......King Cobra at That....

Somewhere, wherever the Cables End, Disconnect it,+ Shift the drive is the Best I can tell you.....

 

[libforlife]

Re: What do I do now?

So, if I can shift it with the shift/throttle cable disconnected,those two cables just need to be adjusted?


I need to disconnect the outdrive shift cable?

 

[BAYLINER185]

Re: What do I do now?

If you dissconnect the outdrive shift cable you can problably push and pull that cable to see if the outdrive shifts.

 

[Don S]

Re: What do I do now?

There is a good chance that all that is wrong is the adjustment.
But to get it right, you have to have all the cables adjusted properly at both ends. If the cables in the control are in the wrong place it will never work. You also have to have the ends of the cables locked with the lock nut so it doesn't move.
Then there are adjustments on the drive that could also be off. The shift lever on the drive has to be at a specific dimention to get equal travel both directions. There is where I would look first.
Look at picture #15 that dimension has to be right or nothing else will work.

Then go to this link and start reading.
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/index.html

 

[Coors]

Re: What do I do now?

If you disconnect the lower cable,and can move the cable with 2 fingers, to shift the lower; start the stuart or the OMC adjustments.
Mine ended up with the remote all sloppy and needing replacement.(and a tweak at the shift bracket.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What do I do now?

Also make sure that you are not following the Dog-clutch procedure. The "King Cobra" that was connected to the 7.4 7.5 and 8.2L engines from about 90 on was a cone clutch model (even though It's still got the raw water pump on the back of the drive)

There was also an Electronic Shift Assist but it was built into the Electronic ignition module. (the switches are still on the shift bracket)

You do have the correct model service manual? If not, you need to get one.

Be careful. If you make an error and/or short out something that shouldn't be shorted out and zap the ignition module, you may not be able to buy a new one. There was a member here had a 1990 "King" Cobra 7.5L with the electronic ignition and he had the first year "Cone clutch" model. He needed an ignition module and a new coil and was unable to buy any ignition parts for his. He ended up buying an older model distributor from an 87 model (mine)so he could get it running. His drive was MARKEDLY different from my 87 Dog-clutch model...



He put his back together without an ESA (Electronic shift assist) .....Maybe it's not as critical for a Cone clutch drive. (My Bravo doesn't have any sort of electronic shift assist or interrupt)

The shift interrupt switch is #12 below
The following picture is from http://epc.brp.com/

You may have to remove the drive to manually shift it and determine if the cables (lower or upper) are binding etc...



Good luck,


Rick

 

[libforlife]

Re: What do I do now?

Well, here is an update. I had a marine mechanic come look at it. He told me the something is not right with the lower shift cable. The shift mechanism is not at the correct indicator spots. What is the easiest way to adjust these? Does anybody have any instructions?

Thanks for all the input guys..

 

[libforlife]

Re: What do I do now?

Hopefully you guys can make this picture out.

I replaced the shifter at the helm, the upper throttle/shift cables and the lower shift cable. The upper cables are working correctly. However, the lower shift cable (when attached to the engine) will only go from neutral to reverse (to FT in reverse). It will only go into Forward a little bit. When I remove the lower shift cable from the engine, the shifter at the helm is fine. When I go to the outdrive and move the lower shift cable it won't go past the neutral indicator (the notch in the outdrive). When I remove the arm from the shift mechanism, it continues to go into Forward, why won't my lower shift cable extend far enough to go into Forward gear with the shift mechanism?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: What do I do now?

I am not at all familiar with the transitional (best way to describe it) King Cobra since it's not like a dog-clutch model at all and it may not be exactly the "same" as the newer VP Cobras (although I could be wrong about that), but you may need to be turning the input shaft while attempting to shift the drive to ensure that it goes all the way into gear.

On my "dog" Cobra you only need to turn the prop to ensure that it goes into and out of gear.

Doesn't the OMC service manual give a procedure for adjusting the lower shift cable?