After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

[New Boater Brad]

just purchased a 1988 18' edson with a 4.3 L omc cobra, the boat runs great. but after I put it in forward and start moving there is a clunk. not sure what it is. and I also have trouble trying to get it into neutral.

 

[Joshua Nichols]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

A loud clunk usually means you have the idle set too high.. Weird that it does it after you are moving..

Not going into neutral is also a characteristic of having the idle set too high and the ESA not being able to stumble the engine enough to get it outta gear..


I would check to see what the idle is running at first.. Then look into other stuff.. Like cables, ESA, and maybe the dog clutch.. Strange it clunks after you are underway.. That would make me nervous

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

a good read for new Cobra owners:
http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/

 

[New Boater Brad]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

Thanks for the reply.. Im having the mechanic from the dealship look at it tonight.. Yes the fact that there is clunk after its moving is somewhat troublesome.. seems like its not fully engaging when first shift in to gear.

 

[smaughan510]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

Thanks for the reply.. Im having the mechanic from the dealship look at it tonight.. Yes the fact that there is clunk after its moving is somewhat troublesome.. seems like its not fully engaging when first shift in to gear.

Just curious what your mechanic from the dealership said when you had him look at the boat. Did he replace the Transform Bracket Shift Cable as the link (www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/) indicated? Did that solve the problem? If so, how much did the mechanic charge you?

I am a new owner of a 1990 Four Winns H200 with a 5.8 OMC Cobra that 'clunks' every so often for me as well.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

If it clunks every so often, your clutch dogs are worn caused by an out of adjusted or failed lower shift cable and will need to be replaced. There is a slight possibility that it is occurring because of an out of adjustment or failed cable and the dogs haven't gotten worn yet so its worth looking at that first . Chances are slim though. I had the exact same problem when I bought my Cobra back in 1990 and OMC fixed the lower unit under warranty at the time.

Has nothing to do with idle speed as mentioned above.

 

[smaughan510]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

If it clunks every so often, your clutch dogs are worn caused by an out of adjusted or failed lower shift cable and will need to be replaced. There is a slight possibility that it is occurring because of an out of adjustment or failed cable and the dogs haven't gotten worn yet so its worth looking at that first . Chances are slim though. I had the exact same problem when I bought my Cobra back in 1990 and OMC fixed the lower unit under warranty at the time.

Has nothing to do with ESA or idle speed as mentioned above.

BruceB, Thanks for the advice. I hope it ends up being the shift cable out of adjustment or needing replaced. Also, I am hoping to hear from "New Boater Brad" about his visit to the mechanic.

 

[New Boater Brad]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

Hey guys.. I had the mechanic look at my boat and he replaced a couple of shift switches.. thats all I know for now.. I havent spoke to them after they had made the repairs yet.. and I havent had time to test it out.. I will get back to you all with more details when I get them.

 

[kylejb2663]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

Very interested in this thread. I have a 1987 Chris Craft Amerosport that has twin 305s and OMC Cobra outdrives. There is some clunking that is happening when shifting forward and then reverse... Cables feel very tight for some reason. I know the outdrives were just rebuilt in 2004.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

Normal to have a clunk during shifting. That's just the nature of a dog clutch.

 

[JamieLynn]

Re: After drive is engaged in forward there is a 'clunk' after a few seconds?

interest in this thread too/ so we only need to worry about a clunking noise after the boat starts to move? what about if you have trouble getting it out of gear sometimes and the clunking noise is really lound???

what is the dog clutch??? what are the shift cables? how do we check them? thanks