Manual Shift issues

[Metalwizard23]

WEll I got a NEW TO ME boat.. its actually a BEAUTY took her out firs time this morning and ran into some typical bugs..



BIggest issue is SHIFTER..



Its a CABLE shift the boat is 1982 250 HP OMC



First got it on the water and it seemed to shift into gear ok..



Ran it around a few laps to burn out some crappy fuel and she runs Good..



did some fishin ran it around some more.. ran good.. (she's fast too I love it hit almost 50 was really surprised)



took it back to the dock... having some idle troubles (holley carb that i did go through) did some adjusting at the dock.. could not get the idle down below 1000 rpm.. though maybe I should go for a few more laps clear out some more of the crappy fuel (it sat for 4 years before I bought it.. had a few gallons it it filled it up with 91 ... about 15 more gallons)



well this time I went to put it in reverse.. and it would not go I had to get the rpms up to 2500 before it would go into gear (not good) tried forward and just about as bad.. then after trying to go back and forth I almost could not get it in gear..





took it home opened it up and the unit on the back for the shifter seems ok.. BUT I pulled the cable and I could not really move it by hand..



checked the oil level in the lower it was a little low ( put about 8 to 10 pumps in it) tried shifing again.. could not move it by hand BUT with it connected I COULD move it into forward and into revers BUT reverse was REALLY HARD Shift.



I have an old OMC manual for my ELECTRIC shift but it has nothing on these cable shifters.. anyone have a link to some good info on this thing?? I looked at youtube and found NOTHING that looked like my setup.. (its WHITE with a lever on the front and markings on how far into gear you are)



anyways I hopeing someone could steer me in the right direction

EDIT: Ok what I have found is this is NON hydraulic Mechanical shift. I cant seem to find anything EXCEPT how to remove the cables... nothing on adjusting them.. or if theres a shift problem

 

[Redrig]

Is the Electronic Shift Assist module dropping the idle when its activated ?

Cuz yeah , shfiting at 1k or 2500 rpms is going to kill that thing really fast .

Sounds like you definately have some binding in the shift cable , going INTO gear should be fairly easy , its going OUT of gear that you need low RPMs and the ESA to activate (pressure on the prop)

 

[Scott Danforth]

you adjust the shift at the ESA module at back of motor

that shift cable from the ESA module to the lower unit is about $500 and is easily damaged

you cant clean a fuel system by "running it out" all the gunk in your fuel system is now in the carb. if you cant get the motor to idle down to 400 RPM with a holley on its own, you have dirt in the idle circuits or your throttle stops are not set right. you need to split the air-bleed slots

 

[Metalwizard23]

well I appreciate the reply... but HOW DO I ADJUST THEM?? do I just center the lever and thats it... if its hard to shift what am I looking for??? damaged cables?? does that mean REMOVEING THE LOWER AND PULLING THE CABLES?? or is there another way to check?? if the cables are good whats next to check??

Been looking for drawing or pictures of removing the cables from the lower and I cant find much... I have an OLD OMC manual but it electric shift (to old) I have the new CLymer manual it has 4 pages on it but the pictures that go with their "description" dont show me anything... it like "remove conuder valve from thingamabob" with now picture of either... so it makes no sense... If I KNEW what all the parts were called what they looked like and where they went I probably would NOT need to read how to do it... make sense???

as for the fuel system I pulled the carb and put a kit in it I cleaned a lot of junk out.. I replaced the fuel filter... then added fuel to what was left I figure the fuel filter will catch anything big enough to clog it.. but the fuel itself might not be the greatest the old stuff mixed with the new stuff still is not "perfect" im sure.. what i meant by running it out was get it out on the water running.. that way anything still in the lines etc has run through... you cant get EVERY DROP OUT.. now that I have run it for a while im sure everything has "leveled out" it might be part crappy but its ALL part crappy do that make more sense..

 

[Scott Danforth]

plenty of info out there that is correct. anything that is in a Clymer or Haynes manual is not correct

as stated, you adjust the cable at the ESA. its really a simple adjustment when you have the correct manual.

this site: http://www.sterndrive.info/ has vids, etc. it is the go-to site to try to keep your Stringer 800 alive.

specifically here is the link http://www.sterndrive.info/id433.html

 

[Metalwizard23]

Scott again thank you I watched their video and went through their website.. it shows how to remove the cables.. it does not say a THING about what to do if you have an issue
my "adjustmet" piece on the back of the engine looks like what they show.. its adjusted PRETY close so that in nutral on the remote im lined to the middle on the "thing" (halfway between forward and revers) so that end of the cables are adjusted right or at least pretty dang close.. SO its the OTHER ends of the cables I am wondering about..

and you talk about DAMAGED cables... how do you know if they are damaged..


to me its hard to put into reverse even with the engine off BUT moving it towards forward is very easy BUT on the water once it was warmed up and I had been running it for a while I COULD NOT get it into reverse at all it just wanted to GRIND.. trying to put it into FOWARD.. you had to get it to half throttle WAY TO FAST to "SLAM" it into gear. that DOES sound to me like its out of adjustment BUT it also seems like its not throwing the cables far enough BOTH directions... if it was not centered it would go into one directtion WAY EARLY and the other direction you would not be able to get int o gear at all.. (thats what adjusting that unit on the back of the engine would seem to do if I understand it correctly)

 

[Scott Danforth]

Im going off of memory, however I believe that once you have the stamped tin cover off, there is a spot to simply push the spring loaded tensioner on the cable. that is the adjustment on the cable

the limit switches momentarily kill the ignition so you can get the drive in and out of gear. that is the primary adjustment you need to focus on.

 

[HeavensFence87]

I'd suggest disconnect your shift cable from the back and then try to shift is it still really hard if so I'd assume a cable issue. When you verified your "true neutral" and took off the cable from the adjustment piece with the engine running and moved the lever to forward then reverse by hand how hard was that? My boat had a really hard time getting into and out of gear with my rpms above 800. If your carb is adjusted properly your throttle cable may need adjustment mine certainly did. Once I got my reps down to 800 the boat shifted much much better I have an 85 omc 800 outdrive