1990 omc cobra shift issues

[Hildebrand]

HI, 1990, 5.8 omc cobra. When our to the lake today and left the dock no issues, as I went to park to fish the boat wouldn’t go in neutral. I went back to the dock and shut the boat off and it goes into neutral just fine but when the motor is running it won’t. Once I shut the boat off agin and did reverse the same thing , stuck in reverse till I shut the engine down. Any pointers I can get ? Local shop is 2-4 weeks minimum turn around time

 

[Wkd179]

esa is probably not working a google search should be helpful

 

[HT32BSX115]

HI, 1990, 5.8 omc cobra. When our to the lake today and left the dock no issues, as I went to park to fish the boat wouldn’t go in neutral. I went back to the dock and shut the boat off and it goes into neutral just fine but when the motor is running it won’t. Once I shut the boat off agin and did reverse the same thing , stuck in reverse till I shut the engine down. Any pointers I can get ? Local shop is 2-4 weeks minimum turn around time

Howdy,

First of all, determine exactly what you have

I.E. You need to know the model number. It could be any of the following

584AMLPWS 1990
584APRPWS 1990

584AMLMED 1989
584APRMED 1989

And since this boat has been around for 28 years, it could be none of the above since someone in the last 25 years (or before you got it) could have swapped out what was in there for anything!)

You need to know the model number so you can obtain the correct OEM OMC service manual. (NOT SELOC OR CLYMER either.......use them to start your wood stove in the winter!)


Once you have the right manual, use the troubleshooting section for the problem.

Also, you need to learn about how it works. The manual does describe it to some extent...... for more, have a look at
the following link----> http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/

This is a fairly common problem with the dog-clutch Cobras.

If it's an easy fix.......You may be replacing your lower shift cable or ESA, and/or all the micro-switches, if it's not, you may be replacing all the previous "stuff" and if it's not your day, your drive!!

There's other info out there too. (Google is your friend Also.........ALL things stern drive originated at Mercury. If you want to know history.... http://www.rbbi.com/folders/pat/isd.htm )

I am not trying to scare you, but you have a nearly 30 year old engine/drive combination from a company that has been out of business for more than 20 years

Regards,

Rick

 

[Hildebrand]

Sorry should have added more information to this post. The outdrive has a half of season on it. It’s a new mini king cobra from what I was told. They had new shift cables installed with the new drive before I bought the boat last year. Never got the whole story on why it was changed but he changed it. I’m praying the outdrive is toast yet. I did a outdrive oil change a few weeks ago and had the boat out like 3-4 times after , so hoping I didn’t do anything when I changed the oil in the outdrive. Yes, I am going to get a manual for it so I can dig into this. I know the cable needs some adjusted because it was a little sticky at times but now always. Also, I know when I have it running I pushed the little lever on the micro switch and nothing changed

 

[JJBoatr]

If it’s not coming out of gear with the engine running the problem is in the ESA switch. If it doesn’t interrupt ignition to relieve torque on the gears you’ll just ruin your cables trying to get it into neutral. When I get home I’ll get a picture of my interrupter which should be similar so you know what to look for and how to test it

 

[HT32BSX115]

It’s a new mini king cobra from what I was told. They had new shift cabihnstalledles with the new drive before I bought the boat last year.

”New Mini King Cobra” doesn’t mean much. In fact, they used the name “King” with all three models of the Cobra.

you MUST use the model number of the package or the actual drive itself to determine what you have.

If the eng and drive are original, it’s a Dog Clutch Cobra. And it’s one of the models I indicated above.

if it won’t come out of gear in the water, but will on the trailer or when shut down, It’s probably the ESA, the switches or the lower shift cable.

 

[JJBoatr]

Very important differentiation made there...on the water vs on the trailer. Good post

 

[Hildebrand]

Alright, I’ll get the model of the drive when I get some time. I’ve just supper busy this week and haven’t had the time to check it out. Yes, the problem is only in the water. The first time it happened I just turned around and came back in ,so I’m hoping there’s no damage to my shift cables. I’m going to look more into the esa this week. Where is the best place to get these types of parts? I know I can google it and I’m sure I’ll see things pop up but just wondered what you guys used when buying parts. Thanks

 

[JJBoatr]

I use marine engine dot com or Crowleymarine.com for OEM parts. Both of these websites have parts illustrations by model number which is really nice. If you prefer aftermarket to save a little coin iboats has an extensive parts inventory as well.

 

[Lou C]

If it is a dog clutch model (straight across the top, no hump on top of upper gear housing) then the ESA must work for it to shift out of gear under load. The function of the ESA is to lower the engine idle speed down to 450 or so from 600 in order to allow the clutch dogs to release so the lower unit can shift to neutral. On the water hose on land, you will not have enough resistance on the prop but on the water the force of water on the prop will cause it to stay in gear unless the idle is briefly lowered to reduce engine torque on the gears/dog clutch.

You can trigger it by hand using the little lever, if the engine does not stumble then either the switch is not good, the ESA module is dead (they last a long time, I had to replace mine when it was 28 years old) or it is not properly grounded. With the boat in the water, if you try to shift from in-gear to neutral, then you should see the load lever flex a bit because of the load on the shift cable jacket and that triggers the interrupt switch. This assumes of course that the transom shift cable is not corroded inside and getting sticky and that the bell crank in the pivot housing moves freely and all the adjustments (shift rod, transom shift cable and remote cable) are right. Lastly the engine idle should not be higher than 600 in the water.

 

[Hildebrand]

The model number off the engine is this 584APRMED,but a new lower half was installed on my boat before I bought it. With that being said I’m not totally sure what lower I have. All I know is when I took it in to get winterized last year my marine guy said I had the better one out of the cobras. We believe the esa is toast and we have put one on, just waiting for the weather to be nice to go out and try it. Also for the cables and stuff they were all replaced when the drive was put on and they have another 40hoirs on them. The boat doesn’t stay in the water

 

[Hildebrand]

The upper half of my drive is original and the lower is new. These are the the numbers of the top are 986730 that is the model number

 

[Lou C]

http://www.crowleymarine.com/johnson-evinrude/940.cfm?mdl=EK4OSH&q=584APRMED

Its the standard dog clutch so the ESA has to work for it to shift properly.

 

[Hildebrand]

I’ll try the boat this weekend and post back. Also, is that the drive with the most issues or no ?

 

[JJBoatr]

Your drive, like mine, is more susceptible to damage IF your cables are out of adjustment. If you keep everything dialed in properly your dog clutch WILL live for many years. Make sure you don’t ignore anomalies such as a the ESA actuating while on the trailer, a quick double “thunk” when shifting into gear on the water, ESA actuating while giving the engine throttle. These are all indicators that something is out of adjustment between the helm and transom shift cables.

 

[Lou C]

Above post is right on the money. The Cobra can last a very long time, due to good oil capacity and large bearings. The things that should be looked at to keep it that way:
1) filling the drive the right way, go onto the tech support page on Crowley marine and they have that all from the factory shop manual
2) maintaining the shift system...the cables must be properly adjusted but that is not the only point...
a) transom shift cable drag must not exceed 2.5 lbs measured with a fish scale, this can be checked when adjusting the transom shift cable with it disconnected at both ends
b) to do the adjustments you must have the 2 special tools made by OMC and others, to get the adjustments right
c) the adjustments start with proper shift rod height, this is important but often overlooked
d) after doing the transom shift cable you must also do the remote cable. This is needed to get equal shift stroke (travel) in both fwd and rev, or else it will go into one gear fine and grind in the other
e) there is a shifter bell crank in the pivot housing, this part is moved by the transom cable guide and moves the shift rod on the lower unit up and down. There is a pocket behind it that can get built up water deposits and will restrict the movement of it causing stiff shifting and not going all the way into gear. This has to be cleaned out and packed with OMC triple guard grease each time the drive is removed. Later model ones like yours may have a grease fitting there, use it!
f) idle speed should be no more than 600 in the water
g) ESA must work and lower the idle speed to about 450 rpm
h) engine should be in good enough tune so it will not stall running at 450 momentarily
i) the remote control should not be sloppy with lost motion, if so it will affect shifting. If the boat has an original OMC control (they were pretty good) it may be worn out by now.

It should not shift stiff at all, should not grind going into gear as long as you shift firmly and not slow and it should not jump out of gear (most important because this will round off the clutch dogs and result in a lower unit rebuild).

ESA must actuate when shifting out of gear on the water, it will not on land due to not enough pressure on the prop.

PS mine was gone through about 15 years ago, before I bought it. All I have done is have it resealed once. Same gears, same cable etc. I adjusted it once in 2013 because the remote cable adjustment and shift rod were both a bit off. Still shifts fine. I actually prefer it to the Mec Alpha, as long as I can get parts I am sticking with the Cobra....

 

[Hildebrand]

So much good information from you guys. My esa box was shot and was causing me to be stuck in gear. I have replaced that but just waiting to get it back in the water. As for the gear oil, I did change that this year and I used the information on these form to change it.
As for the cables and stuff, I know they were changed when the lower half was replaced but I can’t tell if it’s good or not. I have heard it like grind before but I could just be doing it slow when going into gear. This is my first boat so it’s hard to say what’s good and what’s bad. When I had the boat at the marina to get it winterized they said the cables where fine. I just don’t wanna be having a outdrive rebuilt due to lack of cars on my end

 

[JJBoatr]

Like Lou C said, shifting a cobra should be a fluid motion, no slowly going into the detent before or after you hear the “thunk”. You should only hear 1 “thunk”, there should be no ratcheting or grinding at all. Shift it like an automatic transmission shifter, go right to where you want to be, don’t stop on the way there. Make sense??? Let us know how she does, fingers crossed for ya.

I am also a huge fan of the Cobra drive, it’s reputation for being a bad unit is propagated by those that don’t know the whole story, nor do they know how to properly set one up. The hints Lou C posted above sounds like a lot but it’s really not. Once she’s tuned in it will stay that way for a long time and need only seasonal inspection. Be wary of inexperienced advice, some guys think because they know a Merc that they know a Cobra...9 times out of 10 they don’t know jack. I’ll take my Cobra over a Merc Alpha any day, and yes I’ve owned a few Merc equipped boats. Change the bellows on a Merc and you’ll begin to understand lol

 

[Hildebrand]

He has given me many good tips and excellent advice since the minute I’ve gotten on this form. I’m going to purchase the tools needed adjust the cables just to have because I think I’m capable of doing it. I’m pretty hands on and have had my hands dirty many of times with car engines ,so I think I can handle the cables if it comes down to it. So far The cobras been good to me. It’s a boat so I know things are gonna happen and I have to keep up on them. Everything breaks but taking care of things go a long way.
After I get out I’ll post back and let you guys know how it goes

 

[Lou C]

Agreed on OMC vs Merc difference. The bellows and the impeller are much easier on the Cobra and it also does not have a shift cable bellow in the same spot like the Merc that can rip, leak and sink the boat. Bellows is exactly like a Volvo SX because Volvo adopted OMC's transom mount design.

A few more points....there were actually 3 tools, but you can improvise and only really need 2. One, is to measure the shift rod height, this can be done with a ruler and a straightedge and really should never change as long as it was set right to start. The others that you need are the bell crank holder that holds it at 90* to the pivot housing and the transom shift cable tool that lets you set the proper cable adjustment. These 2 can also be bought in the aftermarket (google Midnigh Wolf OMC parts).
Lastly the shift cable will last longer and work better if you can keep the drive down when its in storage. They will bend right where it comes out of the pivot housing and eventually the outer jacket will crack and let water in which causes corrosion and stiff shifting.