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King Cobra Shift questions

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azboater

New member
I have had this boat for sever

I have had this boat for several years now with no issues at all. I have a 91 King Cobra with the HO350 Omc. From all the reading I've done it seems to be the cone type (rounded bulge at the top). It seems to be getting harder and stiffer to shift from gear (forward or reverse) back into netural. It goes into gear both directions with not that much effort.

I disconnected the lower cable at the engine and the shifter works smooth so I know its not that end. Any ideas? I've also read someplace that the lower cable should have been changed to a red one? Mine is black. Any thoughts please help!
Thanks
travis
 
"red vs. black cable was regul

"red vs. black cable was regular Cobra, not KC it does however sound like you have a lower cable issue or linkage problem"
 
"Can I replace the lower cable

"Can I replace the lower cable without removing the drive? It looks as though it is behind a plastic cover on the port side of the drive, but the small bolts to the cover are behind the large drive bolts."
 
"My Dad has a 1989 King Cobra

"My Dad has a 1989 King Cobra 460HP Ford. Has the red cables but I guess that don't matter as Hy Stat implies its an Cobra issue not a King Cobra. Anyway, same problem as yours, coming out of gear is getting harder to do."
 
"thanks for the link, i just g

"thanks for the link, i just got it. In the meen time if anyone still has any ideas or hints I'm open to all! I'm so glad for this forum. thank you."
 
"A couple of things come to mi

"A couple of things come to mind, first what is your RPM's at idle? If too high it will cause shifting problems, you want them down around 550-600. Second is I'm pretty sure you still have an ESA (Electronic Shift Asist) however I think it's part of the ECM module now and still works with an interupter switch. Not having a manual I can't guide you to it's location but maybe you can see a switch near where you disconnected the shift cable previously. This switch along with the associated electronics are there to make shifting out of gear in neutral easier by playing with the ignition during shifting."
 
Ya I noticed a rocker switch w

Ya I noticed a rocker switch where the two cables come together so that must be the interupter but the shifting feels the same with the engine on or off is that normal? I'll check the idol next and see how low it is or if I can turn it down a bit more. Could it even be the cable if it shifts into forwar/reverse fine but not back into N?
 
"For sure it could be the cabl

"For sure it could be the cable but like I said it could be the ESA part as well. It's always tougher to go back into neutral because the gears are locked in place. The ESA affects the ignition (not sure exactly how on the King Cobra with cone clutch) but on the others it stumbles the ignition momentarily which drops the RPM"s which takes the load off the gears and they separate much easier. (another good reason to get that book) This test is used for the older Cobra's but I don't see why it wouldn't work for you, while at idle in neutral go ahead and push that switch and see if anything happens, on the older ones it would cause the engine to stumble and RPM's would drop from 600 down to 400, good test to see if the electronic part was working, once you released the switch normal RPM's would resume."
 
"I gotta ask for your honest o

"I gotta ask for your honest opinion on something here, Bob (and anyone else)...What am I doing wrong on eBay? I have the same manual listed here for much less $ (others have them too for far less): http://cgi.ebay.ca/OMC-Cobra-Stern-Drive-Manual-OEM-RGD-Models_W0QQitemZ13021898 4537QQihZ003QQcategoryZ26453QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638 Q2em118Q2el1247
I even put the correct YEAR on mine.....that guy says 91 but you can see its a 1990 manual in the pic... duh...
I cannot get any bids, offers, inquiries or nuthin!
what am I doing wrong? Can searches from US ebay.COM not find my stuff? (I am listing on .ca)
Do people think my stuff will be difficult to ship from Canada? or take too long (maybe valid point)
Is my price too LOW?
not trying to sell anything here, just real curious why everyone seems to jump to that dude that is selling manuals for 3 times the going rate- like his seller status maybe somehow makes his goods come up first or something...maybe my ads are too needy sounding? If anyone has any input please share - I wont take offense- I have shoulders of a guppy and the skin of an Armadillo
"
 
"I dont think cone clutch driv

"I dont think cone clutch drives used an ESA, just a simple shift assist switch like a merc.
EDIT - yep just looked it up - no ESA.
you have to pull the drive to do lower shift cable, and if you are asking, you haven't had it off in a while, so you also need to do gimbal bearing, bellows, grease the u joint, and check alignment, etc..."
 
Sorry Hy Stat...I didn't s

Sorry Hy Stat...I didn't see yours. I have a generic OMC search built that gives me everything within Canada first and then US and then International....yours didn't come up so then I went right to ebay home page and put in OMC Cobra Stern Drive and still yours didn't turn up???? I am certain though in the past I have seen some of your stuff (older OMC parts) up for sale so I don't know but something is wrong! I wasn't trying to tick you off although in this case your manual isn't the one that Travis needs as there is one just for the 350/454 King Cobra
 
"I'm looking forward to a

"I'm looking forward to a real book rather than that sealoc one i have, it doesnt help me much. I will hook it up and try to lower the idol first and see if that helps. I know enough that if I pull the drive to do the usual things while in it. Just never pulled one so not sure I have the skills and know how to try it. Sure hate to put it back in the water with a large hole where my outdrive once was! What does a simple shift assist do? I have a black rocker switch with two wires going to it. Should I move that while its running and see what it does? what should it do?"
 
"Thanks Bob - that was exactly

"Thanks Bob - that was exactly the info i was looking for- I'm going to have to get creative with searchwords I guess. that book I have listed is the same OMC part number as the other link and it does cover King Cobra, but it's 1990 - I DO have a 91 manual. I also have the lower shift cable adjustment video for Cobra- not sure if I have the King Cobra video - but these videos are very well done."
 
Hy Stat...I finally figured ou

Hy Stat...I finally figured out what was different with yours in my search. Your stuff all falls into an eBay store so my search brings up anything it finds in an ebay store in a separate category compared to just joe blow listing something plus it looks like some your stuff like this manual is "buy it now" so no opportunity to put in a bid.
 
"Trevor...sorry for the confus

"Trevor...sorry for the confusion, guess i was thinking it was more along the lines of the infamous OMC Spitfire ignition where the ESA was built into the module. I would still go ahead and try the switch, it won't hurt anything but if you don't notice any change then that could be a problem. I know with the Mercs if you left the switch engaged to long you could stall them."
 
"I'll ship anywhere.... ju

"I'll ship anywhere.... just figured there's 100 times as many recreational boats in the USA as the rest of the world but maybe I'll have to think outside the box
"
 
"Sta, Im sure there are, but t

"Sta, Im sure there are, but there is also a lot in the UK. It is virtually impossible to get any thing for OMC in the UK now and there must be hundreds of people like me that get annoyed at the over inflated prices that we have to pay here. Thats if you can get it at all. You can usually expect to pay the same in £'s as you pay in $'s. Even with shipping it works out cheaper to buy from the States or Canada. Regards Pat"
 
hystat said:
"red vs. black cable was regul

"red vs. black cable was regular Cobra, not KC it does however sound like you have a lower cable issue or linkage problem"
Click to expand...
so what color should the cable be i have a king cobra and we just installed a red one and it seems the drive dosen't want to go in reverse. Forward is fine. just did gimbal and bellows ets and cable over the weekend. Any help would be appreciated.
 
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