Omc Searay jerking?

[SportPhish31]

I have a 86 Sea ray Seville that I bought not too long ago. It's been sitting around waiting on parts and money to come in. So I finally get it on the water and I apply the throttle a little bit and instantly the boat starts to jerk almost like its slipping out of gear. We continue to cruise on and the jerking continues so I turn the boat around and start to head back to the dock. On the way back the jerking gets worse and I end up loosing my forward gear so I'm dead in the water. I let it sit and cool down for about 10-15 minutes wondering if that will do anything and it doesn't so I get the great idea to try reverse. I ended up have to drive my boat in reverse for about 150 yards back to the dock plus this entire time the bilge is filling up more than it should and when I finally get to the dock there's water in the seating area overflowing from the bilge. I get her out of the water and pull the plug and it drains for about 10 minutes, water pouring out like a water hose. Great lake trip. What could cause the jerking or slipping? Its a 86 omc cobra I/O with a 3 liter 4cyc omc engine. Where could the water be coming in? The fiberglass on the boat is in great shape for its age(reason i bought it). I looked in the bilge while we were on the water and it looks like it was coming in up under the engine. Help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Omc Searay jerking?

The lower shift cable was the biggest issue with OMC Cobras. It failed early and often. Sounds like yours might be out of adjustment. Or bad.

Water coming in could be from the drive shaft bellows or the shift cable bellows.

P.S. Sea Ray with an OMC is a rare bird, indeed! (Brunswick owns both Mercruiser and Sea Ray and has for a long time)

 

[shrew]

Re: Omc Searay jerking?

Water could be coming in from anyone of the bellows. Could be leaking a rotten transom. I could be a loose hose clamp. Could be leaking on the exhaust side, such as manifolds or exhaust Y. Does water leak in if you have the drive on muffs and a garden hose? Or only when it's submerged in the water?

If it only leaks when IN the water and NOT while running, then I would be looking at all of the bellows first.

 

[rbh]

Re: Omc Searay jerking?

First off I am thinking you have a coupler issue, there is a rubber piece that goes between the drive and motor and when it heats up it lets go and the reason you can slightly go in reverse is because the rubber will grab the drive do to the way its spun.
And your leak is probably due to a hole in the big bellows or you have the drain plug not in, or a hose is off, or a plug has not been reinstalled in the engine.
thats alot of water.

 

[SportPhish31]

Re: Omc Searay jerking?

Yeah I heard early on about the black shifter cables I have. Does iboats sell the replacements? And no its bone dry on muffs, it only leaks in the water.