1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

[34 ford]

1988 Bayliner 5.7 OMC Cobra outdrive.
When trying to shift from neutral, to forward or reverse the engine dies.
Are the cables out of adjustment?

 

[Toypirate]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

Check the gear lube level at the upper plug, then check its condition at the lower plug, you could have serious drive problem here. no matter the condition of the lube you will have to remove the drive for cable adjustment but also you will have to check if it is shifting by hand. does the prop spin while rotating the input shaft while in gear or does the input shaft lock up? this drive is critical on its shift cable adjustment so get a manual and seek advise. if it was shifting hard before this problem chances are it may have destroyed the lower gear set. Sorry to bear bad news i'm prayin for ya.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

Check the gear lube level at the upper plug, then check its condition at the lower plug, you could have serious drive problem here.

Bad information! Low gear lube is not going to cause your engine to die while shifting. All of the gears that would be affected by low gear lube are all spinning in neutral.

Its possible that the ESA is kicking in when it shouldn't be. Just unplug the ESA and see if it still exhibits the same behavior. Be aware it will be very difficult to get the drive out of gear when you try this.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

seemed like good info to me. if the propshaft is severely bent or bearing on propshaft seized, it will stall the engine when shifted into gear.

it will generally be a pretty violent stall - shaking the transom pretty good.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

seemed like good info to me. if the propshaft is severely bent or bearing on propshaft seized, it will stall the engine when shifted into gear.

You may have missed his statement that low gear lube is causing it.

Granted a propeller shaft that is damaged could cause the problem but it is probably not exactly the top prospect.

Carb problems, ESA and general tune up of the engine are most likely candidates.

 

[Reinell-BRXL-191]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

The actual fluid level may not effect the shifting, but internal damage from low fluid or water can.. So guess it all depends on how you read what he wrote.. Best guess is always to start with the normal problem a cobra has.. and that's a failed shift cable, causing tension on the ESA system... My guess is he will be seeing a cable change in the near future... but it never hurts to check the oil...

 

[Black as]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

You may have missed his statement that low gear lube is causing it.

Granted a propeller shaft that is damaged could cause the problem but it is probably not exactly the top prospect.

Carb problems, ESA and general tune up of the engine are most likely candidates.

I agree with Bruceb8 you are all over reacting

 

[34 ford]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

Bruceb58, Thanks for your answer.
A little more info. on my shift problem. It was working fine before I did some work on the boat.
I took the intake manifold off and carb. Took the 2 bolts that hold the complete shift bracket and cable assembly
off the intake manifold, plus the 2 bolts that hold the throttle cable assembly off also, but didnot disassemble
any of these units , just moved them out of the way.
Put every thing back together, set idle at 650 rpm in neutral, tried to put in gear forward or reverse then the engine dies.
I see no wires out of place. Could be the ESA switch?, is this the one on the bracket without the little trip arm,
You say to disconnect it and try that first. But say that it will be hard to get out of gear?
Thanks for any help.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

Since you did a couple things you need to eliminate one from the other. Disconnect the plug that goes to the ESA module like I suggested and try to shift. If that does not help your shifting, go back over your other work to see what caused the shifting problem. Since you did not disassemble the cable assembly, I would think that the ESA adjustment is not your problem.

Do you have a factory manual?

Also, read this if you haven't already:
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/

Make sure you put all pertinent info in your first post in the future. When you do that, its easier to address the problem and you don't get led on wild goose chases with various theories.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

So why did you take off the intake manifold and carb?

 

[34 ford]

Re: 1988 Bayliner 5.7 omc cobra outdrive,engine dies when shifting?

I had a intake manifold vacuum leak. Had to replace gasket.