Re: OMC ESA - can it be disabled for good?
Yes, the shifting will be rough. It will shift fine on the muffs but once in the water it is very difficult to get out of gear. Going into gear from neutral is easy, but it will sometimes be almost impossible to get back into neutral. Especially dangerous near the dock, ramp, or other boats (trust me, I know, mine didn't work and it's not fun being stuck in forward when you really need to stop NOW). Also, the excessive force you will need to use to get it out of gear will eventually wear down and snap your lower shift cable, and could potentially damage the gears. The ESA isn't that hard to adjust, if you need help email me or post here and I'll help you out, I just got mine working perfect. There's only a few things you can do to test it. <br /><br />1) You need to make sure that the switch with the lever that rests in the "V" notch is electrically "open (off)" when the lever is in the notch and "closed (on)" when the lever is raised. <br /><br />2) The other switch needs to be opposite, "closed (on)" when it's disengaged and "open (off)" when the little metal stops come in contact with it. <br /><br />3) If both those tests check out, make sure that the lever is in the center of the "V" in neutral, and when in gear the littel adjustable metal stops on the shift bracket on the engine tough the other switch, the one without the lever on it. One will touch in "F" and the other will touch in "R". <br /><br />Hope this helps. Don't override the ESA, you'll eventually break something.