1988 OMC Cobra stalling issues

[DTrimpe]

I have a 1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon with an OMC 4.3L Cobra and having issues with the motor stalling. This seems to happen when I "slowly" move the control lever to put the boat into gear or take the boat out of gear back into the neutral position. If I move the controller quickly into gear the motor continues running. We adjusted the idle speed on the engine and retightened down the carb since it appeared the base bolts were loose. Also on several occasions I have had issues with turning the key to start the motor and nothing happening although a few times I found the battery bolts were loose. A fellow boater advised me that he thought it might be the neutral safety switch inside the remote controller. Not sure if anyone else has had this same issue but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Howdy,


First of all, if your ESA is working properly, it will "stumble" the engine not "kill" it.

Secondly, do not move the shifter slowly into gear or you will damage the clutch dogs.

If the lower shift cable is binding or the drive is internally binding it can cause this problem........

Some people have removed the ESA and connected ignition interrupt switches. if this is the case, (or your ESA is faulty) you probably need to either repair the switches, replace the ESA, or both.

If you don't have an OEM OMC service manual, you should get one and you should probably have a look at http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/ ........It will help you understand how the system works.

Regards,


Rick

 

[Bondo]

I have a 1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon with an OMC 4.3L Cobra and having issues with the motor stalling. This seems to happen when I "slowly" move the control lever to put the boat into gear or take the boat out of gear back into the neutral position. If I move the controller quickly into gear the motor continues running. We adjusted the idle speed on the engine and retightened down the carb since it appeared the base bolts were loose. Also on several occasions I have had issues with turning the key to start the motor and nothing happening although a few times I found the battery bolts were loose. A fellow boater advised me that he thought it might be the neutral safety switch inside the remote controller. Not sure if anyone else has had this same issue but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,..... Generally speakin',... Boats prefer to be shifted "Briskly",......

Shiftin' "Slowly" causes all sorts of problem for "Most" outdrives,....