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1978 OMC 800 hydro shift problems

W

woman mechanic

New member
I am hoping one of you guys can help with this poor old boat. Just a little info on the boat, I grew up skiing behind this boat in 1979 and we have owned it since it was new and last year my dad gave me the thing which had been sitting for 10 years with no starting or making sure any oil was in the outdrive. Now it comes to my issue, the shift cable was completely rotted and I found an aftermarket cable to put in it(way to expensive). I followed all the directions from the Seloc manual and watched all the youtube videos I could find but now my problem, I put everything back together and it will not move one way or the other, stuck in neutral. Any suggestions on what I may have done wrong? Being a girl I am very mechanically inclined and can pretty much tear an engine down and put it back together but this thing has me stumped.
 
Serial# might help, Was lower unit removed. Isolate problem by disconnecting cables from lower unit,does shifter at console move cables. Does shift rod on lower unit move freely,lower unit removed of course. Is console shifter itself operational? hope this helps
 
Guess I forgot to add all of that. The serial number is 990253J. It was working last year and just barely got back to working on it again since building and moving into a new house. The original problem was the water pump was bad and once I got the unit off the cable was toast so I bought a new one. The shifter works at the console, motor runs great(after changing to electronic ignition of course), I do have a bad switch on the housing above the engine so every time you put it in forward gear it kills the engine, this was a problem from last year that I hadn't gotten to working on yet. I tried lifting up at lower unit and I am not getting any movement up or down on this part but with the hydro mechanical I am not sure how much I should even get if any at all since everything I have read said it is not adjustable. Even without the cable housing hooked up to the lower unit I try to move it up and down by hand from the console and I am not getting anything. I will take some pictures tonight and post them, maybe everything will make more sense once I do.
 
No, it is the overstroke switch, had to look up what it was called. I am just new to these names of parts for boats. I am attaching some pictures and hoping someone can see what I have done wrong, also if anyone knows where I can find an overstroke switch for this unit would be a great help
20160817_181525.jpgHere is the lower unit, I have tried pulling up on the linkage here but it won't move. It did work before I changed the shift cable but I could have other problems in here also.
20160817_181535.jpgshift cable housing with cable installed
20160817_181602.jpghousing at back of motor, moved so I could work on it easier. I can't turn this either way with the cable hooked up by hand like the manual says to check the neutral
20160817_181625.jpgshift switches, the overstroke one is bad.:confused:
 
You need to turn the propshaft or the driveshaft to shift into gear to line up the clutch dog. if it dont shift you need to dig further.
 
kimcrwbr1,
So what position does the clutch dog need to be in to install the housing with the shift cables in it? I am just starting to understand the terminology for boats and the shift dog is the toothed part that the housing goes over if I am understanding that correctly
 
It has been a while since I changed the shift cable in the 800 lower unit. The toothed piece is called a rack and the pinion is in the housing. turn the propshaft as you pull up and push down on the rack and it should shift gears, you can tell by watching the driveshaft will reverse directions. The clutch dog is on the propshaft between the fwd and rev gears. If I remember correct you shift the gearbox by pulling up on the rack as you spin the propshaft then you find the cable that spins the rack in the direction so it is pushing the rack down and carefullyyline it up to the rack and pull the other cable so the pinion pulls the housing down tight. Put a couple bolts in and test that the cables shift properly. Have someone spin the prop as you pull the cables and watch the driveshaft changes directions. Get a OEM manual and confirm it is correct before you install it into the intermediate housing. Did you replace the impeller? Now would be the time before you put it all back together.
 
Now that last one was funny, that was all I had at the time to test it to see if I did the water pump correctly(I did but have to replace the seals in the thrust housing I think it is called) I ordered what they said on one of the youtube videos I watched on how to replace the cable(johnson/evinrude gasket sealer). I plan on cleaning all of that off. I will try that first thing tomorrow when I have help(extra day off this week). I was also wondering do you know anything about changing this type of boat from points to electronic? My dad had changed it but never tested it and when he installed it, I have been reading that I have to change out the switches to an ESA which could be the problem with when I put it in gear last year and it would die everytime.
 
Thank you for the book info, looks like the same one they have listed on this website. Since I did change out the points and I didn't change those two switches do I need to buy a ESA module for it. Right now the switches just wire from the voltage regulator and thru each switch to ground. So right now as soon as the first switch gets depressed the engine shuts completely down.
 
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