How to interpret control cable number

[goodmariner85]

I want to replace my control cables.
The printing on the control cable housing about one foot from the motor side connection says:

OMC 103 4 M 1411

The printing is damaged and hard to read. Especially the last two digits "11". One one jacket the second to last digit doesn't look like any digit or letter really. On the other jacket, the last two look very much alike. They look more like a "1" than anything. But they don't look like the "1" in "103". They look more like a vertical slash.

I read somewhere that sometimes the length is printed in inches, sometimes in feet.

I tried for a while to photograph it. But my phone camera won't give the right focus and exposure.

I don't know if the cables were ever replaced. But if someone told me these were original, it's believable.

Distances are: remote control down to bend in cables under deck 2 feet. From there towards aft to back of deck even with entering motor 6 feet. From there perpendicular to the attachment point 3.5 feet. So the total is 11.5 feet. There is a large half circle bend in cables before entering the motor. But not a full loop.

Motor 1990 Evinrude 90HP, Boat built in 1994.

 

[goodmariner85]

I want to replace the cables because I am having trouble operating the throttle. For example. If I lift the neutral idle lever, the throttle lever moves and engine speed increases. When I lower it, the throttle does not go back to it's original position. In the past, as screw holding the idle lever in place in the controller was not providing enough friction. I replaced it and maybe added a washer. That helped quite a bit. But this problem persisted on and off last summer. It is happening now as well.

Operating the throttle by hand with no cable attached seems fine. I have greased points specified in OMC manual more than once.

Operating the throttle and neutral idle lever with the cable unattached moves the cable in and out of the housing as it should. Doesn't seem very stiff. But I don't know what it should feel like.

The throttle cable has an eye on the end that goes over a pin on the throttle lever and is secured by a nut. The eye attaches to the pin at an angle of about 10 or 15 degrees. Looks like it should go on straight. Some videos of related OMC engines show it going on straight. If I don't remove the cables from the clamp that holds the housing (near the toothed wheels) it takes a lot of force to put the eye over the pin. ~~~I have to remove the clamps holding the housing, put the eye over the pin, and bend the cable slightly to get it back to the slots where it is clamped.~~~ No, I was unable to do this. I clamp the cable, then force the eye over the pin with some effort. There is no play or choice in this. The place where it is clamped is attached to the big plastic plate bolted to the carbs. I wonder if this is normal. And if it has anything to do with the throttle problems. I can easily imagine it does. It looks like if I switched the position of shift and throttle cables (one has to be on top of the other in the clamp) the positions would be much worse.

 

[goodmariner85]

It's hard to photograph, but here is the eye over the pin showing the angle. This puts lateral force on the cable and I think makes it harder to move in and out.

I have a feeling that even if I replace the cables, my sticking throttle problem will remain.

 

[racerone]

You need to adjust the black threaded thingy ( trunnion ) on the cable.

 

[goodmariner85]

Thanks, that's the word I wanted. I was going to call it the "truncheon" but then I went with "toothed wheel". I adjusted it a whole lot last summer. Maybe just adjusting it again (I worked on the carbs in the meantime and had it removed) will do the trick. And maybe first opening the remote control and checking that things haven't slipped or come loose.

I pulled one cable out of the boat from the motor end and straightened it, but did not open the control.

The cable is about 14 feet long tip to tip. Somehow this might be encoded in "OMC 103 4 M 1411"

EDIT: I ordered new cables. So I'll have to adjust the trunnion un any case.

 

[goodmariner85]

Just a followup. The new throttle cable didn't seem any smoother/freer than the old one when both were side by side completely removed from the boat. The old shift cable was a bit stiff.

I adjusted the trunion and the throttle does return to the idle stop screw. There was so much force on the neutral idle lever in the past that the nut and screw holding it would loosen over time. I put a big washer on last summer, which helped. It had been slowly slipping again and I didn't notice. I tightened the nut again and it seems to be working great again. But it still seems to take a lot of force. I turned the trunion till the throttle lever just hits the idle screw when returning. Then I moved it a hair off the stop. I lubricated everything that made sense. Trying to avoid putting too much force on the idle lever.

I think the main thing was adjusting the trunion properly as racerone said.

Anyway, this seems to be stable.