Drive wont engage (PIC)

[rhino4552]

Should I be able to pull the outdrive off, manually shift the lever that changes from forward and reverse and manually spin the ujoints/drive shaft and the prop will spin? I am having shifting problems and it does not seem to be the cable or the coupling at the back of the motor. I am trying to determine if the problem is in the lower unit, the drive is full of oil. any suggestions?

(Blue is engage lever I believe, Green is UJoint/Drive, Red is prop) Sorry for rudimentary drawings

1990 Four Winns OMC Cobra 5.7L 350 Sterndrive

 

[Kainon]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Yes

 

[Bondo]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Should I be able to pull the outdrive off, manually shift the lever that changes from forward and reverse and manually spin the ujoints/drive shaft and the prop will spin?

Ayuh,... While I don't do OMCs,... Every outdrive I've ever seen can be manually shifted, 'n turned...

 

[Bluestream]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Drive shaft and u-joints will turn regardless of what gear it is in. Have you taken the top cover off to look at the upper gears?

 

[rhino4552]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Drive shaft and u-joints will turn regardless of what gear it is in. Have you taken the top cover off to look at the upper gears?

Yes I did, and all looks normal as far as I can tell.

When I do it, it spins good in one direction- I believe forward, then i push the rod in the different direction and it doesnt spin at all. The prop doesnt spin. So any suggestions of where to start?

 

[dubs283]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

there are three positions for the shift mechanism

up
middle
down

up and down are fwd/rev

middle is neutral

while spinning the u-joint shaft clockwise (as you are looking at it) you should be able to pull up to get the drive to shift (either fwd or rev, i'm not sure which is which on the cobras) and see the prop spin

then, while still rotating the u-joint shaft, push down on the shift shaft, one "click" is neutral, one more click will be the other gear

when pushed all the way "down" you should see the prop spin the opposite direction as the "up" position prop rotation

if you cannot get the shaft to go all the way up or down while rotating the u-joint shaft, there is an internal problem with the drive

 

[Bluestream]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Yes I did, and all looks normal as far as I can tell.

When I do it, it spins good in one direction- I believe forward, then i push the rod in the different direction and it doesnt spin at all. The prop doesnt spin. So any suggestions of where to start?

Possibly you are in Neutral. The rod doesn't always move smoothly, Turn the driveshaft when you try to move that shift rod. OMC says may take up to 17lbs of force to shift gears.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

What kind of problems were you having? More often than not the lower shift cable goes bad. Just because it looks like its moving back and forth fine with the drive off doesn't mean it is still good.

 

[rhino4552]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

For a long time, when shifting into gear if you went real slow with the shifter, there would be a "click click click", actually more of a clank clank clack like gears trying to catch, which may be normal on these drives. Then it would shift into gear fine. But on the last trip the throttle seemed to be extra firm, which it may be because its 20 years old, then it eventually popped while I was wakeboarding and wont go back back into gear. Buddy driving the boat said he heard the noise somewhere at the back of the boat. The cable moves freely as I can tell, I would love for it to be the cable, but i didnt want to start replacing parts that arent bad you know?

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

there would be a "click click click", actually more of a clank clank clack like gears trying to catch, which may be normal on these drives.

normal, no
common when shift cable fails - yes

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

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Take a look at the cable housing where it enters the drive. That is where the housing fails. With no load on the cable when you have the drive off, it will seem like its working ok but its not. When the cable housing fails, you lose your complete motion of the cable which will cause you not to go fully into gear which is exactly what you are experiencing.

 

[rhino4552]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Alright.. The prop does spin with the ujoints, so I assume everything inisde the stern is good. Im thinking I need a new transom cable, the old may be stretched and worn, and can still move freely, but thats the only other thing it could be at this point. The motor and drive are both out of the boat now getting the transom replaced.. so we will figure it out more then. It will be easier to determine when it all gets put back together.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Then you will have a ton of free time until that happens

I suggest you read the following website...completely!

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

It will tell you a lot of info about the Cobra.

I also suggest purchasing a factory(not Seloc or Clymer) manual for your drive. It will tell you the proper way of doing things. The Cobra has a few quirks that make it different from other drives. Even the method of filling it with drive oil is different. If you mess up, your drive will be ruined.

 

[rhino4552]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

The only manuals I have seen is Seloc.. where can I get a factory manual, besides the ones that came with the boat? I have a Seoc and I have the originals, but the originals are not repair manuals. And with the transom, the boat is actually due back end of next week. The shop has had it for 10 days, they told me 3 weeks total.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Drive wont engage (PIC)

Sent you a message.