Is replacing the throttle cable simple???

tudorsailor

tudorsailor

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I have a Lewmar Constellation pedestal and a morse lever for the throttle with the central bit one depresses to disengage the clutch. The engine is Yanmar

Others have told me that throttle cables can break so I wonder about changing the cable prophylactically since it is 11 years old

How easy is this to do??? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks

TudorSailor
 
Changing the cable itself is easy enough, just a few small nuts and bolts at the engine and the back of the morse control. I took mine out and refitted them (with a different route) as part of my engine refurb. I don't know your steering pedestal though - how easily can you get at the back of the Morse control (perhaps by taking it off)?

Pete
 
Hello Tudor Sailer,

YES they do break as ours did and had to be replaced. It was NOT easy as it had many many cable ties attached to secure electric cables. Anyway there are none on the new one.

We had to remove the morse fitting complete to remove the cable.

Good luck

Peter
PS Make sure that you get the correct lenght. Attach the new one to the old and genly coax it through
 
You can visually inspect it. The engine end is easy, just a clamp to hold the outer and an attachment to the control lever on the injector pump. Get somebody to operate it while you are looking at the engine end. Should move in and out smoothly and no sign of broken strands. At the control head, again you can see the cable coming in and out, but the things to look for are the pivot points and the slide that disengages the gear mechanism when you push the button in.

Causes of breakages are poor runs of cable and siezed mechanism putting strain on the cable ends - probably more likely in the gear cable. Difficulty in replacing is usually caused by the long run rather than the fitting at either end, although the head end can be a bit of a challenge until you suss out how it works.
 
Skysail said:
You may need to cut the cable to size, its easy enough if you take care with the cable outer sheath.
Click to expand...

Definitely can't do that with the push-pull control cables I have, nor any others I've seen.

Sure you're not thinking of a simple pull cable, as used for stop levers?

Pete
 
tudorsailor said:
I have a Lewmar Constellation pedestal and a morse lever for the throttle with the central bit one depresses to disengage the clutch. The engine is Yanmar

Others have told me that throttle cables can break so I wonder about changing the cable prophylactically since it is 11 years old

How easy is this to do??? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks

TudorSailor
Click to expand...

It's a boat. Nothing is easy. Having said that, this should be.

Beware fitting the cables at the morse lever end. When I did it I discovered the hard way that there were at least three different ways of fitting the two cables and only one was correct. I had to clamber in and out of a tiny locker each time; with a pedestal it should be a lot easier.

If you are re-routing it, keep bends to a gentle radius. having said that, ours breaks/jams at thte toggle that connects it to the engine throttle lever. This (Beta in our case) component is made of the worst metal in the world. I carry spares for this, but I don't really worry about the actual throttle cable breaking.

- W
 
Yes they can break, at the weak points like the terminations. When mine went on a 10 year old boat, I took it to the nearest chandlery, expecting to have to get one made up to the correct size for my boat. He sent me next door to the outboard shop, where they pulled one off the shelf that fitted perfectly. If it's a factory-built boat, they probably used a standard length cable with standard end fittings, to cut down on cost.

We found that the angle of lead-in to the morse lever was quite crucial. At first I couldn't understand why the throttle lever kept creeping up, so that the revs would drop and I'd have to kick the lever down every few minutes. Eventually I found that the lead-in was at too sharp an angle, so the cable was pushing the lever back up. A few more cable ties sorted this out.

Getting the morse lever off can be a pain. The levers tend to be aluminium alloy on a steel shaft, so they corrode together, and it's very hard to get a puller or any sort of leverage to force them apart. It's much easier to replace the cable if you can get to the back of the mechanism from inside the boat.

By the way, it's not such a problem to have them break at sea, as most boats will let you jury-rig some line and blocks to operate the throttle and get you home. I also suspect that a quality cable in a well-designed installation will probably last a long, long time.
 
jubro said:
By the way, it's not such a problem to have them break at sea, as most boats will let you jury-rig some line and blocks to operate the throttle and get you home.
Click to expand...

I have a small red tag attached to the pin that holds the cable end onto the throttle lever, to make it easy and obvious how to disconnect the remote control. I usually do this when working on the engine (eg running up ashore to fill with antifreeze or to test before relaunching) as leaping between cockpit and engine would be bloody awkward!

It would be easy enough to run a bit of string up into the cockpit.

Pete
 
Usually the existing cable has its length stamped on it. regularly through out its length

buy the supreme version, for a much nicer throttle action.

photograph many times the head before you take bits apart, as one of the many ways to put it back is nearly right, but.....

ages to find the correct one.

it is not possible to shorten them with normal tools.

if you have plastic end fittings, buy replacements as they stress fracture in time.

spray the head with oily grease, not the grease only type.

order new ball detent springs if fitted, as the friction, detent ball wears a groove in time.

lastly tape the new on the last 3 feet of the old, it will pull through easily. ( I did a couple of 25 foot ones this way up a deck etc )


enjoy the result.
 
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