OMC Stuck In Reverse

[JMC69871]

Hey guys,
I have a 1992 Seaswirl with a 5.7l OMC Cobra. The engine was replaced in 2004 and the outdrive was rebuilt in 2001. Yesterday I was on the lake and the boat was running fine. I shut it down and anchored in a cove for a couple hours and upon restarting the boat, I could not get it to come out of reverse. If I moved the throttle forward or in reverse the boat remained in reverse. The prop is locked in gear no matter what I do with the throttle. Checked the shift cables to see if they were still connected and operating in the right directions and they seem to be. Any ideas on what the problem is? Thanks!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC Stuck In Reverse

It is very possible that your lower shift cable failed down in the drive. has it ever been changed?

 

[JMC69871]

Re: OMC Stuck In Reverse

Well I am new to the boating scene. Looking through the service records of the boat of the previous owner (Girlfriend's Grandfather), one of the shift cables had been replaced. I have been trying to read up on this issue as much as possible and I really just hope it is the lower shift cable, but some of the articles say it could have eaten a gearset? I suppose I will have to drop the lower unit, but is there any other symptoms the boat would be displaying if it did eat the gearset?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC Stuck In Reverse

Typically, the symptoms of an eaten gearset would not be a stuck in gear condition but a "no gear" condition.

Do you pull your drive off yearly? You really should. I would just pull the drive and see what the condition of the cable is. You can also tilt the drive up and take a look at the condition of the cable housing as it enters the drive. Usually, the cable housing will be alll pulled apart right where the cable enters the drive when they fail.

 

[JMC69871]

Re: OMC Stuck In Reverse

Well I JUST got the boat...had it out on the water about 5 times now. When I first got it, I dropped the lower unit and checked everything out. Makes me feel a little better that it just sounds like the shift cable that goes to the lower unit went bad and not the gearset. I really hope that's all it is! Thanks for the quick responses. I read the Stuarts page, anything else that maybe should be replaced while I'm in there for preventative maintenance?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: OMC Stuck In Reverse

You have to pull the drive to replace the cable...if that is your problem. If you don't know the age of the u-joint bellows, you may want to change it. of course you always want to grease/inspect the u-joints and the gimbal bearing as well as check the alignment.

When you replace the cable it is pretty critical to get the bell crank set at 90 degrees. OMC made a tool to set this. I always was able to rent one of these from a local OMC shop and I would suggest doing the same if it is available. You can use the L-square method but it won't be nearly as accurate. The consequence of doing this wrong is that there will be more throw in one direction than the other.