What is the all time record for lower shift cable life?

[CayugaCobalt]

Asking for a friend (with Bravo 3 in freshwater only). My friend has at least 10 yrs on his. The shift cable looks fine on both ends.

What are primary modes of lower shift cable failure?

My guess is metal fatigue right near the "buttonhead" that connects to outdrive and therefore is a function of number of times it is shifted.

 

[Scott06]

Asking for a friend (with Bravo 3 in freshwater only). My friend has at least 10 yrs on his. The shift cable looks fine on both ends.

What are primary modes of lower shift cable failure?

My guess is metal fatigue right near the "buttonhead" that connects to outdrive and therefore is a function of number of times it is shifted.

Mine is original to a 2004 boat also fresh water use

Primary issue I have seen is hard to shift/ dragging

 

[Lou C]

Mine has been on the boat at least since I’ve had it probably a few years longer. I checked the drag when I adjusted the cable about 12 years ago and it feels the same as it’s always felt. So that’s 23+ years all of it in salt water!

 

[CayugaCobalt]

Another factor to consider when deciding to replace shift cable is, how straight are the ends after pulling it out to inspect, and realize ends may get more bent re-installing, thereby making one wish they had given more consideration to a perfectly straight new one.

 

[harringtondav]

I changed my Alpha II after 20 yrs. It was working fine, but I was deep into the transom assy for other work so I changed it since I was looking it in the face. My carefree boating pal ignored his bad Alpha interrupt system for years and had to replace his lower cable.
So I'd say the main failure mode for Alphas is bad or misadjusted shift interrupt switches where the operator forces the dog clutch out of gear and stresses the lower cable.
Since the B3 has cone clutches that take little force to engage/disengage, your pal's cable should last a long time.

 

[CayugaCobalt]

Thanks harringtonav, excellent technical explanation on diff between B3 and alphas. Mine could be 27 yrs old and looks fine. It came out with no gasket ring where it mounts against the inner helmet surface. Is "no ring gasket" normal for a 1997 B3, OK180251?

 

[Lou C]

I changed my Alpha II after 20 yrs. It was working fine, but I was deep into the transom assy for other work so I changed it since I was looking it in the face. My carefree boating pal ignored his bad Alpha interrupt system for years and had to replace his lower cable.
So I'd say the main failure mode for Alphas is bad or misadjusted shift interrupt switches where the operator forces the dog clutch out of gear and stresses the lower cable.
Since the B3 has cone clutches that take little force to engage/disengage, your pal's cable should last a long time.

It definitely makes sense that if the shift interrupt is working there will be less stress on the cable, so that and also keeping your engine idle speed where it should be are helpful.
I'm not sure if this also applies to Alphas, but on OMC Cobras and Volvo SX drives if you keep the drive down during storage, it puts less stress on the shift cable and the jacket is less likely to crack and let in water, which can corrode the cable.