Shift cable replacement Alpha I Gen II 5.0L - cable binding

[ryno1234]

Brother bought a boat with the same hardware as mine, but it has been a while since I've replaced my shift cable so I'm fuzzy on the details and looking for guidance / tips.

The cable housing has been attached to the drive unit and routed through the transom and into the boat. From what I understand, we have the correct routing.

When trying to feed the actual cable through the cable housing it gets caught at one of the turns in the cable housing's routing.

We don't want to ruin the cable as this will be cable #2 he's bought due to messing up the first one during this process.

Any tips / tricks, etc. to feed the shift cable through the cable housing? Is it normal for the cable to bind up pretty significantly?

As I think about this more, I think when I replaced this on my boat I pulled the shift cable / housing through the transom, replaced the bellow and fed it back into the boat without kinking it. This avoided me trying to feed the cable through it after it was in the boat. Id' hate to risk kinking it in this situation, but it did work for me before.

Thoughts?

 

[alldodge]

Un-route the cable jacket so it as straight as possible. Now run the cable thru jacket and then re-route the cable

 

[Bt Doctur]

w
The cable housing has been attached to the drive unit and routed through the transom and into the boat. From what I understand, we have the correct routing.


when you installed it was it as straight as possible while you screwed it in the housing and then routed it?

 

[ryno1234]

w
The cable housing has been attached to the drive unit and routed through the transom and into the boat. From what I understand, we have the correct routing.


when you installed it was it as straight as possible while you screwed it in the housing and then routed it?

I wasn't there for that part, but I'd say no based on conversations. I'd imagine the cable jacket was routed around the transom / engine and then screwed into the bellhousing after being routed.

 

[nola mike]

I wasn't there for that part, but I'd say no based on conversations. I'd imagine the cable jacket was routed around the transom / engine and then screwed into the bellhousing after being routed.

Wonder if the housing got kinked when threading it in. The cable core should pass easily.

 

[pae0332]

get a flashlight down in the transom area by the starter/exhaust pipe and see if the cable is all twisted up. if it is straight into the transom, pull the cable as straight as you can, so that means not wrapped around the y pipe and behind the steering actuator, pull it out towards the seating area, now try to side the cable into the sheath. it may hang up about 5 inches in, that is the hard end hitting against the bellhousing. hold the cable into the sheath, lift the gimbal helmet up all the way like the drive is in trailer mode and push the cable in as far as it can go, now at the same time, lower the helmet and continue pushing the cable in. if there is still a dead end, use a pair of linesmen pliers, grab the cable 1/2" from the white plastic sleeve and push it in but hold the cable in the pliers so that the cable is parrelel with the grooves on the pliers, so the cable is siting in between the grooves of the pliers so you do not damage the cable, push it in, 1/2" at a time, it will only need to be done for about 2 inches


that is, if the sheath isnt twisted like a pretzel,

report back on how it went

 

[ryno1234]

For what it's worth, this is how we resolved it: Pulled the cable jacket back out of the transom while it was still threaded into the bellhousing. Fed the cable through the jacket while we had full control of the jacket to ensure it fed smoothly. Fished the jacket / cable combo back through the transom and routed it as necessary.