"I have a 1988 24' Bayline
"I have a 1988 24' Bayliner with OMC Cobra Chev 5.0 305 with 500 hours. I recently bought her from the original owner who had her dry-stored for 8+ years with marginal care. I have replaced and/or rebuilt distributor, all ignition components, carb, ESA module, remote shift and throttle control cables, and totally serviced engine and outdrive. I have run this boat for about 40 hours since I bought her and I have had an ongoing problem with engine performance "under load" which I attribute to the lower shift cable adjustment. Right now my main problem is this boat will not accellerate under load. It begins to miss at about 1500-1800 RPM when in gear in the water. The engine runs very loud and it labors intensely to get to 2400 - no matter how far forward I push the throttle. The engine does not lose oil pressure or over-heat, but it creates much crankcase vapor (blow-by) and it has used 2 quarts of oil in the last 8 hours of engine time. I have adjusted, re-adjusted, checked and re-checked the ESA/ interruptor and over-stroke swithes several times. I am aware of the Hastings site and I have a hardcopy of his instructions at my side. I am not certain this problem is related to the ESA or the lower cable adjustment.
The engine and outdrive operate smoothly and strong when I run them in the driveway, on the hose with earmuffs. This unit will easily turn 3500 to 4000 RPM, in neutral or in gear (F or R.
All this is without a load on the engine, of course.
I do not know the history of the lower shift cable on this boat. I have removed the outdrive several times and I am confident the lower cable connections at the transom mount are all correct and within spec - as detailed by Hastings. Even so, the existing lower cable does not, and cannot, have the prescribed 7-5/8 inch dimension at the engine end as noted by Hastings. My cable has a measurement of about 6-5/8 inches, but all the other connections and geometry seems to work. Except the boat still does not shift with "a finger" and it can't get beyond 1800 RPM and it is sucking oil and gas - not to mention possible mechanical damage. I seem to be able to adjust the remote cable to fit the shortened lower cable length at the trunion end and make the remote shifter work properly. So when I make those adjestmet, why does the outdrive not shift with "a finger" and why is the prescribed 7-5/8 dimension so important?
I owned another 1988 Bayliner with the same engine and outdrive from 1990 to 2005, so I have done my time with the OMC Cobra and all her quirks. I replaced the lower cable in that boat with an OEM OMC kit at about 700 hours. That boat developed a cut-out or miss, under load, during the last year I owned her and I never quite got the problem fixed. This (similar)problem began occurring two years after I replaced the lower cable. The problem became somewhat sporatic and it ultimately was passed to the next owner along with the boat.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that might help to solve my current problem?"
"I have a 1988 24' Bayliner with OMC Cobra Chev 5.0 305 with 500 hours. I recently bought her from the original owner who had her dry-stored for 8+ years with marginal care. I have replaced and/or rebuilt distributor, all ignition components, carb, ESA module, remote shift and throttle control cables, and totally serviced engine and outdrive. I have run this boat for about 40 hours since I bought her and I have had an ongoing problem with engine performance "under load" which I attribute to the lower shift cable adjustment. Right now my main problem is this boat will not accellerate under load. It begins to miss at about 1500-1800 RPM when in gear in the water. The engine runs very loud and it labors intensely to get to 2400 - no matter how far forward I push the throttle. The engine does not lose oil pressure or over-heat, but it creates much crankcase vapor (blow-by) and it has used 2 quarts of oil in the last 8 hours of engine time. I have adjusted, re-adjusted, checked and re-checked the ESA/ interruptor and over-stroke swithes several times. I am aware of the Hastings site and I have a hardcopy of his instructions at my side. I am not certain this problem is related to the ESA or the lower cable adjustment.
The engine and outdrive operate smoothly and strong when I run them in the driveway, on the hose with earmuffs. This unit will easily turn 3500 to 4000 RPM, in neutral or in gear (F or R.
All this is without a load on the engine, of course.
I do not know the history of the lower shift cable on this boat. I have removed the outdrive several times and I am confident the lower cable connections at the transom mount are all correct and within spec - as detailed by Hastings. Even so, the existing lower cable does not, and cannot, have the prescribed 7-5/8 inch dimension at the engine end as noted by Hastings. My cable has a measurement of about 6-5/8 inches, but all the other connections and geometry seems to work. Except the boat still does not shift with "a finger" and it can't get beyond 1800 RPM and it is sucking oil and gas - not to mention possible mechanical damage. I seem to be able to adjust the remote cable to fit the shortened lower cable length at the trunion end and make the remote shifter work properly. So when I make those adjestmet, why does the outdrive not shift with "a finger" and why is the prescribed 7-5/8 dimension so important?
I owned another 1988 Bayliner with the same engine and outdrive from 1990 to 2005, so I have done my time with the OMC Cobra and all her quirks. I replaced the lower cable in that boat with an OEM OMC kit at about 700 hours. That boat developed a cut-out or miss, under load, during the last year I owned her and I never quite got the problem fixed. This (similar)problem began occurring two years after I replaced the lower cable. The problem became somewhat sporatic and it ultimately was passed to the next owner along with the boat.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that might help to solve my current problem?"
