OMC Shift Question

[JMC69871]

So I just had the transom shift cable replaced on my 1992 Seaswirl 230 SWL. It has a carbed 350 indmar engine with a cobra outdrive. I took it to a mechanic here that supposedly specializes in Cobras. I picked up the boat from him the other day and put it in the water. It shifts into gear just fine, but as soon as I try to advance the throttle past high idle in fwd gear, the boat stalls. Reverse works fine. I called the mechanic and he had me adjust the trunnion a couple of turns back towards the stern and fwd gear started working fine, but as soon as I would try and advance the throttle in reverse past high idle it would stall. The mechanic now says that I need to have my shift interrupt replaced with an electronic one that kills the motor for 5 seconds to solve my problem. Is this correct? or does the cable need some different/more adjustments? Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: OMC Shift Question

The Cobra ESA system is setup so that the amount of force to activate the "Electronic Shift Assist" is more than required to simply move the throttle.

It takes a fair amount of force to get a Dog-clutch Cobra out of gear (FWD or Reverse) when the propeller is loaded(in the water)

Out of the water, it takes very little force to get it out of gear.

So, if it's just a LITTLE out of adjustment, or the throttle/shift mechanism is binding even a little, it can activate the ESA when it shouldn't.

If you paid someone to adjust it (and he knows what he's doing) He needs to readjust it and ensure that it works (in the water) before you take it home...


I believe there was an updated ESA that had a firmware change that only allowed activation for a few seconds (5?)
(My 87 King Cobra didn't have it)

You might be able to buy one on ebay.


Regards,


Rick

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC Shift Question

It is definitely your ESA out of adjustment. You could just unplug it to verify that it is the culprit and then go from there.

 

[JMC69871]

Re: OMC Shift Question

Well when I unplug my ESA it works fine. This mechanic wants to charge me an additional $125 dollars for this part, and I don't want to just spend money for a "quick" fix instead of trying to get this one to work. The mechanic doesn't exactly live close, so I really don't want to keep driving my boat out there if it can be fixed easily. So if anyone has any other ideas on what I should check or adjust, please let me know.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC Shift Question

There is a whole adjustment procedure in the manual. I don't have my Cobra anymore nor the manual.

Your boat may have the updated ESA already. Easy way to tell is if your boat does not have the overstroke microswitch. If you only have one switch, you have the newer ESA already.