Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

[christians89]

The boat is the first in the sig, took her out for the first time and everything seemed to be operating smoothly but the shifting was much more difficult than it should have been. As in It was hard to shift into forward and back into neutral and the same for reverse, every direction. Just wondering if there's a particular cable I need to look for that tends to fail more than others or if I should check my adjustment. Steering was the same way too.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Lower shift cable is almost always the culprit.

 

[christians89]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

I have read that, is there a good procedure to testing it?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Pull the drive and test without the drive on. Not sure if you use your boat in saltwater or not but the cavity that the shift cable goes to in the drive can get full of salt deposits which can also cause this problem.

 

[Don S]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

I would think you have a faulty cable between the throttle shift control and the engine. If the lower shift cable was the problem, when you attempted to go into gear the engine would start running rough as the shift interrupt system would be activated. Since you didn't mention anything about that, I would assume the engine ran fine.
Disconnect the shift cable (the cable from the shifter) at the engine. Move the shifter, if it moves easily, have someone hold the cable by hand and see if it gets more difficult. It shouldn't make any difference in effort at the control.

 

[christians89]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Thanks don I will try that. The engine runs flawlessly, hopefully it still does after saying that! Oddly enough its easier to shift with the engine not running. And more difficult with it running. However during both conditions I believe it is still far too difficult to shift. Walking out the door to test the cable now...

 

[christians89]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Ok, I unhooked the cable and had my father hold it as still as possible. It became pretty difficult to move back and forth. I figured it should become difficult to move though. I may be wrong, that just makes since to me. It operates very silky smooth when theres no resistance on it. Also could it be the shift interrupt system not briefly shutting off the engine at the time of the shift?? I dont recall the engine ever seeming to "shut off" during shifts.

 

[menace two]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Had a similar issue and it turned out tham my engine revs were just a bit too high to enable a smooth shift. Dropped the idle revs and no problem.

 

[christians89]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

I too had thought hi idle was the problem, the previous owner had it set at 1200 rpm. I backed it down to a comfy 700 which seemed to help some but its still too difficult. And for some reason it gets worse in the water as opposed to out of the water on the muffs.

For those following, I have unhooked the cable from the controls at the engine and had someone hold the end while I operate the controls. Its difficult move but operation is smooth when theres no one holding it.
I also tested the shift interruption switch, its is operating as it should.
I then unhooked the lower shift cable and operated it by hand. It feels smooth and didnt take too much force to move. Unsure how many lbs. didnt hook a fish gauge to it. If yall think I should I can.
As for the steering i have narrowed it down to the cable. Its the original from 89, any suggestions on where to buy? Its a teleflex part#:ssc12m14 14ft.
Thanks for all the help so far!!!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

The ESA(shift interrupter) should only operate when going out of gear and is only needed when you are in the water when there is force from the prop holding the dog gears together. If it operates going into gear, that is an indication that your lower shift cable is worn.

From your tests that you ran, it actually does sound like its your control and/or the cable from the control back to the engine.

 

[Don S]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Ok, I unhooked the cable and had my father hold it as still as possible. It became pretty difficult to move back and forth.

Replace the cable. With the mechanical advantage at the helm, you shouldn't have been able to tell that someone was holding it.

 

[christians89]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

I'll take yalls word for it. Now the search for these cables begin! Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Don S]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Now the search for these cables begin!

Doesn't take much work to do that either. Especially since iboats is having a sale on them.
http://www.iboats.com/OMC-Control-Cables/dm/*******.952641984--**********.930006819--view_id.243427

 

[christians89]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Thanks again everyone! This is one of the most helpful forums I'm a member of, great site!

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/ Might want to give this link a read.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/ Might want to give this link a read.

Although that is a good read, probably won't need it for the issue he has.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

I thought you needed that info to replace and adjust the cables.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Difficult to shift into both gears, bad shift cables?

Not for the one from the control. As long as the drive is in neutral, you just adjust the forward cable to drop onto the post at the engine