Boat maintenance time - morse control cable change

oGaryo

oGaryo

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Hi all, after a hectic few months at work and using most weekends to get a bit fitter on the bike, my thoughts are now turning well and truely back to boating.. Going to get Bizzy Bee lifted before the end of the month and one job I want to do is to change the morse control cables on both drives, just the gear change, not the throttles. They're too stiff at present and I know it's the sterndrive cables as when disconnected from the SL-3 dual levers, the levers feel alot smoother so cannot be the throttle cables to the engines.

Standard setup I believe connected to Volvo DP290 drives.

Any guidance from your experience would be appreciated as I hear they're a pig to thread back through the rubber hose inside the engine bay out towards the drives.. anyone got a step by step guide that works?

I am intending on removing then purchasing as I cannot find the measurement (length) details printed on any part of the exposure sheath so that must be hidden within the cable guides 'somewhere'.. I think they're Teleflex 33c's from memory.. are there better alternatives to the 33c cables?

cheers Gary
 
oGaryo said:
Hi all, after a hectic few months at work and using most weekends to get a bit fitter on the bike, my thoughts are now turning well and truely back to boating.. Going to get Bizzy Bee lifted before the end of the month and one job I want to do is to change the morse control cables on both drives, just the gear change, not the throttles. They're too stiff at present and I know it's the sterndrive cables as when disconnected from the SL-3 dual levers, the levers feel alot smoother so cannot be the throttle cables to the engines.

Standard setup I believe connected to Volvo DP290 drives.

Any guidance from your experience would be appreciated as I hear they're a pig to thread back through the rubber hose inside the engine bay out towards the drives.. anyone got a step by step guide that works?

I am intending on removing then purchasing as I cannot find the measurement (length) details printed on any part of the exposure sheath so that must be hidden within the cable guides 'somewhere'.. I think they're Teleflex 33c's from memory.. are there better alternatives to the 33c cables?

cheers Gary
Click to expand...

Not difficult job, easier if drive removed. I just changed mine for new 33c cables. Don't get 33c supreme as they are fatter at the ends and won't fit.
 
Its sometimes easier to thread them in from outside, if the rubber tube inside is fastened to anything just free it so it has as straight a run as possible, it can be resecured afterwards. I usually wrap a bit of tape over the end so that the cable end doesn't dig into the rubber, and a dollop of grease helps it negotiate the bends, once its through its a doddle.
 
thanks guys. the drives will be off for their annual checkup so sounds like it's not as onerous as I've heard with the techniques you've mentioned. :encouragement:
 
Before pulling the old ones out from inside the boat, wrap some waxed string around the last six inches in a spiral. Wrap that with insulating tape. Cut the string at about 18". Spiral wrap and tape the other end of the string around the new cable, and pull it through from the inside :)

Used in conjunction with the above advice it's a five minute job per side :)
 
rosssavage said:
Before pulling the old ones out from inside the boat, wrap some waxed string around the last six inches in a spiral. Wrap that with insulating tape. Cut the string at about 18". Spiral wrap and tape the other end of the string around the new cable, and pull it through from the inside :)

Used in conjunction with the above advice it's a five minute job per side :)
Click to expand...

I can see how that's going to make the whole job a lot quicker, thanks for the advice. It does suggest that I do need to find the length markings before removing the cable though so i can purchase the new cables in advance and as yet, I've not been able to find them. the alternative I'd imagine is to pull through a length of waxed cable when removing the old morse cable and then use that to pull through the new cable once sized ?
 
Or get the new cable first, somewhere on the old cable there is a mark which size it is and get a long nut (M5), bolt the old and new one together and pull it through.
 
A_8 said:
Or get the new cable first, somewhere on the old cable there is a mark which size it is and get a long nut (M5), bolt the old and new one together and pull it through.
Click to expand...

They are 10-32 UNF not M5

I had the original Volvo Penta brown cables, one was marked and one was not.
 
After one of mine broke last year, and I was waiting for DB Marine to deliver one PDQ, I managed to lubricate the other one by running oil down it while working the throttle lever.

Result: It freed off and felt the same as the new replacement cable the other side! I'm sure it would have broken during the course of the year otherwise. Whole setup feels far nicer now.
 
Gary I've got a set of these onboard if you want a borrow
download_zpsce35smlt.jpg
boats in Swanwick at the moment
 
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