OMC COBRA SHIFTING PROBLEMS

[pecothern]

I bought a 1993 SunBird with a 5.7L 350 Chevrolet OMC Cobra outdrive over a year ago. It ran great, shifted good. It broke loose of it's anchor when we were down in Florida on vacation and drifted into some rocks. Bent the prop shaft. Still ran and shifted good but had a vibration. Bought A Clymer manual tore into it. Finally got the shaft out. I had it straightened and put it all back together. First I had forward but no reverse. I was able to get the cables adjusted to get forward and reverse. However it shifted hard and wouldn't come out of gear easily. I found Stuart's website through searching forums at iboats.I realized I had screwed the shift shaft all the way in and not set the proper height.This done no thanks to the sorry Clymer manual that didn't mention the lever heigth. I made a gauge out of some sheet metal and tinsnips and got the shift lever set the right heigth. By the way when I drained the oil the second time there was some metal filings most of them seem gold colored like the clutch dog. I geuss those two times I took it out When it was shifting poorly may have done some damage. Anyway I got the drive back together. I followed the instructions on Stuart's site and it is shifting great "with a finger". BUT I have a new symptom I am hoping someone can shed some light on and I'm going to give you my half baked theory. When I get up to speed lets say 25-40 mph everything is fine. When I pull back to Idle But not all the way to Neutral I feel a chattering in the shifter as I'm decelerating I took the motor cover off and whats happening during rapid decelerating is that arm that holds the transom shift cable is clicking back and forth rapidly. It isn't triggering the ESA because of the overstroke switch. Something I've noticed is that when the motor is off I put it in forward gear I can push the prop by hand counter-clockwise. It sort of ratchets and the cable pops like it does when I'm deccelerating. Is there anything to stop the prop from reversing rotation when deccelerating? It seems that could be causing my symptom. Could this be caused by a worn clutch dog? or gear or both. Incidentally In reverse the prop will ratchet Counter-clockwise manually. sometimes it will not but if you push on it hard it will break free and start ratcheting. A guy named Wayne at Sterndrive.com told me to just put some hours on it and that ratcheting of the prop by hand was normal. With all this talk about OMC Cobra eating their gears I'm confused was the gear teeth themselves chewed up or the the clutch dogs and where they mesh into the gear.? Does anyone's OMC COBRA lock the prop in both directions When in Forward or Reverse with the engine off or will it ratchet as I have described?<br /><br />Thank you so much for your time. Most of the time I feel like to make sure something is fixed properly you need to fix it yourself. The money you save is just an added bonus At least in this Cobra Drive I know what I have.

 

[svilla]

Re: OMC COBRA SHIFTING PROBLEMS

My prop locks when in Fwr or Rev. I dont think I understand your problem with the shift braket from the info you give it sounds like you need to tighten up your shift braket and double check your rigging. when the unit was off the boat and you adjusted the shift shaft would the prop still ratchet in fwr and rev. If not I would say you need to re rigg the cable

 

[pecothern]

Re: OMC COBRA SHIFTING PROBLEMS

#1 So Svilla your saying when you put you drive in forward the prop locks and you cannot turn it left or right and the same for reverse.? Of course this is with the engine not running.<br /><br />#2What is moving back and forth is that spring loaded arm that switches the Esa Micro switch. Ive noticed it click back and forth when putting it into gear but its clicking back and forth hundreds of times during decceleration

 

[svilla]

Re: OMC COBRA SHIFTING PROBLEMS

1. correct when in fwr or rev prop is locked. Let me try it while it's running... Just kidding.<br /><br />2. So what your are saying is the shift interupt switch is moving up and down alot on decel? or the part with the micro switch and 2 contacts? If ethere one is the case then the rigging in your shift mount on top of the motor needs rerigged. did you follow the directions to the letter on stuerts site? E-mail me and we can discuse this <br /> svilla@classicnet.net

 

[pecothern]

Re: OMC COBRA SHIFTING PROBLEMS

I'm sorry I dont't understand what you mean by "rerigging". Everything is put together properly and snug. I followed stuarts instruction to a tee. I've adjusted the cable to where neutral is dead center with equal amounts of throw to fwd and rev. I was told by a supposedly reputable source that being able to turn the prop clockwise when the drive was in forward is normal. But if yours locks to both directions I bet my prop is spinning backwards when I decel. <br />This is probably caused by hopefully clutch dog wear and not the gear worn from driving it when it was maladjusted. <br /><br />The part that is moving back and forth is the spring loaded arm that secures the engine side of the transom cable It is suppose to be able to move back and forth it has those humps on it that pushes the roller microswitch that triggers the module that makes the engine stutter when going in and out of gear. I see it move when shifting but I wouldn't think it should be doing all that clicking when decel<br /><br />I didn't really try to push the prop when I had the drive off I just turned the shaft by hand it felt like it was locked in both directions. Actually I put the prop back on after the drive was reinstalled Thanx for the help, Phillip <br /><br />pecothern@excite.com

 

[Beer Float]

Re: OMC COBRA SHIFTING PROBLEMS

My King cobra outdrive always would turn and click also, when it is in forward with the engine off.