Help. I goofed .................

[Hannibal]

Saturday while messing around with the boat, I had the engine cowl off and decided to attempt to adjust out some of the slack in the shift/throttle cables. As mentioned in an earlier post - my throttle (OMC) has A LOT of travel in it before actually getting the boat to move.

Under the cowl, I located the trunion wheels and attempted to turn them. They were stuck so I hit them with the WD40 and let sit. I came back and they would move with a little help from some vice grips. They would only move in one direction so I thought I'd rotate them the other direction to see how it affected the feel/slack. At the helm control - I didn't much notice any difference but I didn't get a chance to cut on the motor and see at what point of travel the transmission actually engaged the prop.

Fast forward to yesterday. I finally repalced my system check tachomoter (2003 Evinrude 225 Ficht). To check it - I flipped the ignitiion into Accesory (not run) and the needle jumped signifying power. This is more than it was doing. So to make sure it registered RPMs, I hooked up the rabbit ears and then went to turn on the motor. Nothing. The ignition was dead.

Immediately thinking back to a problem I had with the neurtral safety swtich - I tried to jiggle the throttle and then work the lever back and forth seeing if I could get contact. Nothing.

I popped the cowl and arced the starter solenoid and she cranked hard. So it's something up front.

I am guessing that when I "adjusted" the trunion wheels for the shift/throttle cables that I someone goofed up the position with regards to the neutral safety switch. Seem reasonsable?

Now - the question is: How do I fix this?

I backed the wheels off back to where I thought they were before (as far in the opposite direction as they'd go). Keep in mind - I am talking about maybe 1-1.5 revelotions. Not a whole lot.

Is there a quick fix here? Or am I stuck fiddling with the throttle/shift cables until I find the sweet spot?

Any help would be appreciated. I am on the home stretch with this thing. All my winter projects are done. All I had to do following the gauage replacement was the changing of plugs/wires and filters (and a bath of course). This is really starting to get frustrating.

Thanks in advance!

Will

 

[Bryan 2530]

Is the shifter in the neautral position??

That one gets me about once a year. :roll:

 

[Hannibal]

Yes - at least per the positioning at the helm (it clicks into neutral). As to what the cables are doing (and how it is potentially affecting things back at the motor) - I am not sure.

I did move the throttle back and forth through the range while turning the key to see if that would do it. But nothing.

 

[DaleH]

… my throttle (OMC) has A LOT of travel in it before actually getting the boat to move.

Will, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, when you first advance the lever on any “single lever control” like the OMC control you have, the first range of movement (that can be an inch or two or more) puts the gear from neutral to either forward or reverse only. Throttle advancement does not begin until well after the gear has been selected. Always move the gear/throttle lever swiftly and purposely to put the OB into gear, don’t baby it! Then advance the lever further for throttle engagement.

Under the cowl, I located the trunion wheels and attempted to turn them. They were stuck so I hit them with the WD40 and let sit. I came back and they would move with a little help from some vice grips. They would only move in one direction so I thought I'd rotate them the other direction to see how it affected the feel/slack.

On OMC motors, those trunions are LOCKED in place, so you need to loosen the bolts that holds the cables in position at the starboard front of the motor, using a 3/8” box wrench IIRC.

I finally replaced my system check tachometer … hooked up the rabbit ears and then went to turn on the motor. Nothing. The ignition was dead. Immediately thinking back to a problem I had with the neutral safety switch - I tried to jiggle the throttle and then work the lever back and forth seeing if I could get contact. Nothing.

I am guessing that when I "adjusted" the trunion wheels for the shift/throttle cables that I someone goofed up the position with regards to the neutral safety switch. Seem reasonable?

I don’t think so … as the neutral-start safety switch is engaged by movement of the gear advance cable up under the side-mount or binnacle control. Adjusting the cables up back would give you a slower or faster initial RPM in neutral or a grinding of the gears when moved to forward or reverse.

Maybe while your hand was up under the helm replacing the tach gauge you somehow might have accidently pulled on a wire that may have pulled off one of the leads to that NS switch.

 

[Hannibal]

Dale, I was going to look at the switch this weekend but thought it was a long shot as it had worked previously. For example, after I resintalled the control on the dash after unbolting from the helm station (I never disconnected any wires/cables though) in to place the starboard overlay (see project section), it still worked. Everything was buttoned back up and test fired. Cranked fine.

However, after goofing around under the engine cowl - it didn't. Granted, I did fool around behind the helm in order to fix the tach in that time too but couldn't see where I messed something up especially if yanking the control in and out a few times didn't do anything negative.

But back to your point, so I am clear - are you saying that simply spinning the adjustment wheel on the cables would do nothing? I didn't take a wrench to anything. I simply rotated them the only way they'd move (and they wouldn't move much). I then went back and rotated them back as far as they'd go in the opposite direction (after discovering the starting issue).

If that is the case (their rotation would do me no good/harm) - that would certainly narrow down my area of attention. Please confirm.

Thanks!

 

[DaleH]

Spinning the cable adjusters raises or lowers the throttle setting in neutral or sets the engagement point for fwd or rev gear from neutral, which need to be balanced. When gear cable adjustment is off, it typically works in one direction fine, but grinds in the opposite. Always check gear adjustments in both directions.

On Evinrude OBs there is a BANK KILL switch under the gear linakge at the OB connection, but this is designed to kill the port (IIRC) bank when shifting BACK into neutral from forward. The correct term is "Torque Eliminator" or something fancy like that, but it is not a neutral-start safety switch.

Check your helm control switch wires first. Also confirm that you didn't spray any switch with Boeshield T-9. Damn good stuff for FIXED items, but it should NOT be used on any dynamic or moving parts, as the waxy coating gums them up.

Also check the on-board fuse on the OB fuse panel.

 

[Hannibal]

Will do.

Thanks Dale.

 

[Hannibal]

Well, it was one of two things as I ultimately got it fixed. I had picked up a set of plug wires Saturday morning and opted to grab a new key switch while there. I was about due for one anyhow (original was old/worn and only left me with one key). I also grabbed a new neutral kill switch as well.

Got home and installed the new key switch. The engine went from doing nothing to cranking but not starting. Being that I planned on installing new plugs/wires anyhow, I went ahead and did this figuring the new plugs could only help it fire. As such, I swapped out the old for the new (old ones were in BAD shape).

Still wouldn't start.

At this point, I started checking the fuses on the motor. I eventually got to a point where I simply decided to remove ALL the fuses and install new ones (I had a box of brand new ones). This did the trick.

First twist of the key and she fired right up almost instantly. Ran smooth too. Seemed like a brand new motor.

I am betting I popped a fuse when installing the gauages (which tie into the ignition wires and power). New fuse = good to go. I even let it sit and went back out Sunday simply to start her up ..... and she did fine.

Now on for the real spring project ................... a good cleaning/detailing.

And even better, I can send back that damn neutral safety switch/harness. I can't believe how expensive that thing is.