What's up with my reverse cable?

[HeresJonny]

I recently acquired a 1997 Sea Doo Challenger 1800, and we tried to put it in the water this weekend. The engine is running well enough but we couldn't get it into reverse to get it off the trailer. We pulled it out and consulted the shop manual and these forums on how to check the reverse cable. I pulled out the shift and throttle levers and this is what I found:



Question 1: Is that cable really supposed to have the 90-degree bend in it? All the diagrams I've seen don't show a bend. It looks like it would line up much better if it was straight and maybe the bend caused the sleeve to crack. The bend also seems to shorten the cable which prevents the other end from pushing the scoop down all the way. Is it supposed to be this way or was it a repair gone horribly wrong?

Question 2: What can I do about this? I tried to bend the cable straight with 2 pairs of pliers and it wouldn't move. If I did manage to bend it straight, is it possible to get a replacement rubber boot (also cracked, removed in the picture) and metal sleeve? Or am I stuck replacing the whole reverse cable? With it disconnected the motion otherwise seems good.

Any thoughts on what I can do are appreciated!

 

[dbracela]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that that cable is toast. It may have a bind in other places along its length as well, and bent like that when someone tried to force it. It's an easy enough fix if you can find a replacement cable. I was able to get one from a local seadoo dealer. I doubt you'll be able to straighten that and still have the rod slide smoothly through the sheath.

 

[Guest_User]

yup, that cable is toast, toss it in the trash...

Contact SBT, they have replacement cables at a good price... it will def last the time that you own the boat...

 

[Toolanddiemaker]

Lol! I just replaced bolth of my cables on my twin speedsters looked just like like that I made the mistake of leaning the throttle assemble over the side when I was installing some speaker wires and one of them just snapped although after taking a closer look they had to have been shot to begin with because the wear was over time. I ended up getting two new cables from SBT for around $285.00. Installed them last week water tested worked great!

 

[HeresJonny]

On the bright side, at least you didn't have your cables snap on the water! Your mistake might have saved you a tow someday.

I checked on SBT's website and it seems like they only have the throttle cable and the choke cable for my model. I have an email out to them to check and be sure, but I might have to find one elsewhere.

 

[HeresJonny]

I was about to pick up the cable elsewhere but then dropped the actual part number into SBT's search field and it came right up. You can't find the part if you drill down by year and model. So the new cable is on the way!

 

[Guest_User]

I was about to pick up the cable elsewhere but then dropped the actual part number into SBT's search field and it came right up. You can't find the part if you drill down by year and model. So the new cable is on the way!

just call them and ask for Jeremy next time... cool you were able to get a cable...

 

[A B Able Truck]

I just replaced my shift/throttle control and I say there is a design flaw. The cable housing mount should be allowed to pivot more to follow the cable while shifting (frd. thru rev.) for a straight pull/push.

But you say - "we couldn't get it into reverse to get it off the trailer"
If your reverse thrust is anything like mine, it sucks anyway. (But I think they changed the bucket design - so maybe)

 

[HeresJonny]

I got my cable from SBT yesterday and today I put it in the boat. It lined up perfectly and was surprisingly easy to run. The only difficult part was getting the nut tightened back down onto the cable in the back of the engine compartment. Oh, and I had to dremel off the bent end to get the old one out, I think I'll keep it as a souvenir

Thanks everyone for your advice! I was happy with the price and speed of shipping from SBT. I'm really hoping the boat stays in the water this time!

 

[Toolanddiemaker]

Cool! Good to be back on the water, and at least you didn't have to pay someone to do it, feels good to get the job done yourself!


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[gravitydrno]

Just had this happen to my boat and it almost went really bad! Wife doesn't really know much about the boat and I was having her launch so I could make an adjustment to the trailer. She fired the port engine first which fired at half throttle and moving as if in drive, caught her off guard since she was in neutral, didn't know what to do....I yelled to kill it, and try starting again...same thing so I had her kill it again. Boat floating around a ramp beginning to get crowded and all most collided with another boat when I dove in and pulled it to the dock. Trailer it by firing starboard and could not shift from neutral but was driven anyway as if it was in drive, noticed port side reverse bucket was not in the same place as starboard. Pulled shift levers apart and found one bent cable (port) & one broken (starboard) and the port throttle cable was being pulled by bent cable. What an event! No one or no craft hurt or damaged and now I get to replace both cables and had to straighten bent cable mounts,

 

[Toolanddiemaker]

What an event! No one or no craft hurt or damaged and now I get to replace both cables and had to straighten bent cable mounts,[/QUOTE]

Man that sucks isn't boating fun! It's not that bad of a job just time consuming and costly I can't believe how expensive those new cables are the portside cable is like $60.00 more than the starboard because it's a little longer anyway sorry to hear that happened at least everything turned out ok aside from the cable damage.


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