OMC outdrive grinding in forward gear

[89Sea]

I have an OMC Cobra outdrive along with a 5.8L engine. It seems every time I put the boat in forward gear, a grinding noise follows and will not engaged the forward gear. If I put the boat in reverse, the gear connects and the boat moves in reverse. This has become so bad that I can barely move the boat forward at all. What is the cause? Linkage out of adjustment? How do I know if this is the cause? Worn forward gear in the lower unit?

How can I troubleshoot this w/o removing the entire lower unit? Also, I have some water leaking in around the bilge area? Drain plug is fine. Do I need to remove the outdrive and reseal something?

I need help!

Thanks!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC outdrive grinding in forward gear

If you have been doing this for awhile, you may have ruined your dog clutch in the lower unit. What you describe is an out of adjustment lower shift cable and is normally cause by the failure of the cable itself.

Read this guy's site.

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/

 

[89Sea]

Re: OMC outdrive grinding in forward gear

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[duke3478]

Re: OMC outdrive grinding in forward gear

How can I troubleshoot this w/o removing the entire lower unit? Also, I have some water leaking in around the bilge area? Drain plug is fine. Do I need to remove the outdrive and reseal something?

Water in the bilge and your gear grinding are probably unrelated. A little water in the bilge is not unusual. But you should be able to be on the water a while without the pump kicking in automatically.

Definitely check your TBSC. You can troubleshoot without taking off the drive, but you can't fix it without taking off the drive. That said, drive removal is not as big a deal as you might think, and the procedure is covered elsewhere.

Buy the TBSC (About $80) and dial in your adjustments. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[89Sea]

Re: OMC outdrive grinding in forward gear

What is the TBSC? I appreciate your help. The water leaking is a abnormal amount.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: OMC outdrive grinding in forward gear

What is the TBSC? I appreciate your help. The water leaking is a abnormal amount.

TBSC = Transom Bracket Shift Cable. It's the orange colored shift cable that goes from your throttle linkage to the outdrive.