OMC Lost Reverse

RC

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 13, 2003
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237
My boat is a 86 Four Winns 190 Horizon. Motor is OMC 4.3l with a Cobra outdrive. Took the boat out yesterday and it would not go into reverse. Forward no problem but when I shift into reverse I just get a whining sound like it is spinning but not going into gear. After a search of these forums it sounds like I may need to replace my shift cable. Whaddya think? Thanks
 

bruceb58

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

More than likely, that is the problem.
 

RC

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

How do I know for sure? Are there certain steps I can take before replacing this cable? Thanks
 

bruceb58

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

Have you pulled your stern drive before? The way mine almost always failed was the cable jacket down on the sterndrive end. Once the jacket failed, usually one or more starnds of the cable itself was broken.<br /><br />Regarding the previous poster, I really doubt you still have the original cable. It was a black and had a ribbed casing. Do read his link though! There is very good info there.
 

RC

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

I have pulled the stern drive before and I have read that article from hastings. I am going to reread again tonight. Would you say step one in this process is to pull the drive and check the cable jacket? Just trying to figure out where to start. Thanks
 

bruceb58

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

You can do that plus once the drive is off, you can manually pull the cable by hand to see if operates smoothley. <br /><br />Do you know how old your cable is? Do you store your drive in the down position? <br /><br />Storing the drive in the down position is always a good idea especially for the bellows. Leaving the drive down also helps out the shift cable since the cable has less of a bend in it for a long period of time.<br /><br />I had my very first cable repaired under warranty. My second cable failed when I was launching at Lake Powell after driving 14 hours to get there. I had that one replaced at the boat repair there. Before it failed, it was having problems like yours. My third and fourth cables started failing in a similar matter so I changed them before I got stuck. <br /><br />One problem that I had which contributed to the cable wearing prematurely was a buildup of salt deposits in the cavity where the bellcrank is. OMC came out with a new bushing that allowd that area to be greased externally. By doing that, you could fill the cavity with grease and keep the salt deposits from forming. I would look into finding that kit if it is still available.<br /><br />When you put on the new cable, the most critical part is setting the neutral bellcrank position to 90 degrees. I always rented the tool from the local shop but you can also do it with the method mentioned by Stuart Hastings. It has been 4 years since I owned my Cobra. I could do the adjustments in my sleep back then. I don't remember all the details now but it wasn't really very hard at all.
 

RC

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

I usually (but not always) store with the drive down for the reasons you say. I have no idea how old my cable is. My drive does have the bushing you describe to grease externally. I just finished reading the hastings article carefully and it didn't make me feel to good about trying this myself. I've also got the service manual but I don't want to cause any other problems. I'll pull the drive and see what I see. Would it hurt if I continued to use the boat? Thanks
 

bruceb58

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

Originally posted by DeltaR:<br /> Would it hurt if I continued to use the boat?
Only your wallet when you wipe out the dog clutches.
 

lakelivin

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

Before I pulled the drive I'd unhook the cables at the engine end, check that you've still got the 7-5/8" measurement in neutral, and if so, go through the 5 step shift adjustment process to make sure something didn't slip at the engine end over time.<br /><br />Maybe you'll get lucky and save yourself having to pull the drive. If not, not much time wasted as you'd have to disconnect everything at the engine end anyways before you pull the drive...
 

RC

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

I went down and spoke with a local mechanic who I've bought parts from in the past. He advised to raise the outdrive and take a look at the cable from there being that his experience is that many fail from where they get "stretched" from the outdrive being all the way up. The good news is the cable was red not black. The bad news is that right at the point he said, the outside of the cable was torn apart and it looks like the cable may be slightly corroded. I'm sure that is right where my problem is. He seemed hesitant that I could do this myself. He would charge me approx $700 to replace the cable and do the u-joint bellows while he was there. I called another shop and he said he would definately not do it without the prescribed tools and would charge about $650 including the bellows. Whaddya think? Are those fair charges? Thanks
 

bruceb58

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

Thats exactly how all of mine failed. I had forgotten if you could see the end of the jacket from the outside like that.<br /><br />The last time I paid someone to do mine was back in 1992 or so and it was $350 then.<br /><br />You know your own mechanical abilities. If you are able to take a drive off and on, you should be able to replace the cable.<br /><br />I am sure the tools he is talking about are an alignment tool for the engine coupler and the tool that is used to set the bellcrank at 90 degrees. Back whenI did mine, I rented those two tools. I now own the engine coupler alignment tool.<br /><br />I would strongly suggest you get an OMC shop manual if you don't already have one and read this:<br /><br /> http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/ <br /><br />If you haven't ever replaced your gimbal bearing, expect that your mechanic is going to suggest changing that as well.<br /><br />Too bad you don't live down toward LA. You and I could do this in around 3 or 4 hours.
 

RC

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

Thanks for the offer Bruce. I'm leaning towards letting the pro's handle it this time. I'll let you know how it goes. I appreciate the help. Thanks
 

bruceb58

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

If they let you, see if you can watch them pull the drive.
 

RC

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Re: OMC Lost Reverse

I let the pro's handle this repair and he did a great job. Parts and labor to replace the cable was $600. He also replaced the exhaust bellows at the cost of the part only. (since he was already in there) He said the ujoint belows and gimble bearing looked good. He also offered to come out (at no charge) and do any necessary adjustments while on the water in case it didn't feel good when under load. A good mechanic for sure!
 
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