Logo
FULL SITE MENU

having difficulty shifting my omc 5.8l

B

ben16430

New member
i took my boat out this weekend and everything was going fine till i tried to put it into reverse, i couldn't get it out of gear unless i stopped, i checked the shift interrupter and it was working fine. and after i shut the engine off i could shift but only till i put it into drive then again i had the same problem. any ideas? i thought maybe its my shifting cable but i don't know how to adjust it what am i looking for? how do i adjust it?
 
i ment i couldn't get it out of forward unless i shut the engine off, the motor wasn't overheating i did recently have to increase the idle to about 1100 instead of under a 1k cuz it would keep stalling out on me. even if the motor was warm. but it would deff stall if the motor wasn't warm. its a 1992 chris craft
 
Correct me if I am wrong (chiefalen) but these cobra outdrives require the idle to be down around 650 for the clutch dog to engage without grinding. If its much higher then its gonna be very tough tuff to shift. If you have to have your idle cranked up to 1100, then something else is wrong. Vacuum leaks?? Timing??
 
well ill try taking it down some but then how do i keep the engine running? how can i check to see what is wrong vacuum leaks? timing? or something else?
 
i just hit the shift interrupter by hand it made the engine start to act like it was dying. about a year ago i took the boat out and it ran fine for 3 hours then i shut it off to eat and when i started it back up every time i wanted to put it into gear it would just shut off on me. so i took the shift interrupter and touched the two wires together by hand and it let me put it into gear with out killing the motor. what could of caused that?
 
the lower shift cable is shot. Maybe do what i did i disconnected the esa altogether been running it for 5 years that way. But i have a stringer you have a cobra and your gonna eat all your gears.

Did you read the link i posted?
 
i just paid two years ago to have them change all my cables cuz they said it was bad. cost me 300 and i have been having problems ever since how can did they install it wrong?
 
How about a model # off your engine?/?
92 was a year when certain models were dog clutch and others were cone clutch, lets make sure we are thinking about the right model, probably on the rocker cover and should be something like 584APRAMK
 
If you tripped the interrupt switch by hand and it caused the engine to stumble it sounds like the ESA is working. However it sounds like the mechanics of the system may not be working properly. There are many discussions on this forum about this issue. Just search "ESA" . "Boatin_bob is about the best there is at explaining this and he has posted several pictures that are helpful. In short though, it works like this... when you shift out of gear, torque from the prop turning in the water puts the lower shift cable in a bind. The bind on the cable causes an actuator "cam" to rotate and close the shift interrupt switch. The engine stumble removes the torque, eases the bind, and the shift is made.
You don't want to run a Cobra without a properly functioning ESA. It will cause a lot of frustration at the dock. Also, "standing" on your shift lever is hard on you and your cables.
 
Pull your outdrive and look for a loose exhaust flapper. It can fall and interfere with the shift rod on the outdrive. I had similar symptoms. If the shifting changed abruptly then this may just be your problem. I just chucked my flapper. Mercruiser (who also has this issue) doesn't use them anymore as they deemed them unnecessary.

Pulling the outdrive is not as big a job as you might think. You just thread an eyelet into the gear oil fill hole on the top. Lift with a hoist of some sort and pull it off. Another way you could see if the/a flapper has come loose would be to remove an exhaust elbow and look inside for the flapper. You will have to know what you are looking for and use a mirror and light.
 
ok i adjusted the idle lower and it shifts and runs fine while out of the water but as soon as i get it into the water it just stalls out on me, i cleaned out the carb it was pretty dirty, and i adjusted it so it now idles at 800 , according to the manual its supposed to idle at 650. and i did try to adjust the screws on the carb to lower the idle that low but it would just stall out on land under once it got below 800 and even if it would run it would stall out when i tried to increase the throttle, there would be a slight hesitation and it stalled. any ideas as to what im missing? i did check for a cracked hose for a leak and there were non everything seams to be in good condition. i checked the spark plugs they were all firing great.
 
Back
Top