Hi All,
Today while motoring to my slip my shifter cable broke. The break occurred at the threaded end of the cable inside the pedestal. Picture below.
Q1 - This doesn’t look like a break from normal wear and I’m new to the boat. We’ve sailed her 4 times and experienced trouble coming out of reverse twice. I’ve been careful to throttle down before shifting and have been moving <1 knt. When I exercise the shift lever at the transmission without engine running seems normal. Cable runs free. I don’t see any place where the shifter could bind or get pinched in the pedestal. I’m willing to assume I failed to let the engine idle down before shifting which is a common error… but I pretty sure I did wait and have been very careful since the first time it happened.
Before I replace the cable should I check for anything else as an underlying cause ?
Q2 - My engine is the original engine & transmission ( M35V / Hurth HBW 150). The pedestal is original Edson Pedestal. I see a post from Joe Valinoti that identifies the cable used in NS30’s as a 8’ Teleflex part number CCX63308. Anyone happen to know the shifter cable length for a NS33 ? I’d like to have the new cable on hand when I shart the replacement. My plan is to use the approach Joe outlined in his 6/23/2023 post.
As always, I welcome any thoughts and/or suggestions.
Looking at the photo it looks like the threaded end was not aligned properly with what it goes into because of the apparent bend at the breaking point.
Just a thought.
Hi Brian,
The threaded part by the fracture is from the end of the cable which looks like ( this ). It broke about 0.5" from the end of the receiver bracket pictured.
Beyond the break is another several inches of stainless rod some threaded and some solid… anchored to a retaining bracket that also anchors the throttle cable in the pedestal about 10 inches under the shifter lever . It seemed pretty well in-line but I will look more closely next time I’m at the boat.
The broken rod functions in both compression and tension. My thought is that I placed excessive force on the lever causing the rod ( in compression ) to buckle and break… OR the rod had come kind of defect… maybe an accidental bend during installation ?
The cable looks fairly new.
I’m wanting understand the failure and be confident we can operate Soave safely. It was scary approaching the dock without ability to disengage the transmission.
Rob,
Yes but I don’t think it was any fault of you putting excessive force on the cable. Perhaps someone while working down there bent the cable end and then tried to straighten it back causing a metal fracture in the threaded portion. The thread itself puts lots of stress on that piece. Were you able to find a replacement for the part you pictured? The cable may be fine because it looks like it is attached to that part by a link pin.
Brian
I did mine last year, I believe I also posted with photos in the same thread you referred to earlier with Joe’s name. My shifter cable now works much better than before. The old one looked okay, but had been there for 35+ years, and was kinda stiff. I suggest you replace throttle cable too, best to do both when you already have everything apart than have to do the throttle a little later.
It’s pretty easy to determine the length… the height of binnacle to shifter lever from cockpit floor + length from binnacle to back of engine (forward) + height from underside of cockpit floor to transmission shifter lever. On my boat, 8 ft, but I used 10 ft because supplier didn’t have 8 ft in stock.
By removing the broken male stud from the forked end terminal, you can use the existing forked end on the new cable. Perhaps the transmission terminal fitting can be reused as well.
You should be able to measure the length of your existing cable easily. Exact length is not critical as long as the new cable is long enough to make a smooth bend.
Brian, Correct, the threaded stainless shown in the picture is the tip of the cable. The brass part ( Ward called the “forked end terminal” ) joins the cable end to the shifter lever.
Don, I will look back at your thread for your photos. The shifter and throttle cables both look nearly new, both slide freely, and so far I haven’t encountered any seized parts which seems to indicate recent repair or maintenance activity in the pedestal. Seeing that the cable is fairly new I wonder if an error was made during installation that is somehow related to the failure? If there was an error I’m hoping I don’t make the same error.
Ward, Yes looks like ( by the condition of the brass cotter pin) the forked end terminal has been reused for multiple cable changes.
Thank you all. I’ll head down and measure the cable length.
Any tricks to be aware of when adjusting the new cable so the shift lever lands in the right spot ? I’m guessing you have to set up the pedestal end first and then make fine adjustments on the transmission side of the cable ?
It is frustrating that the loss of 3/4" from the end of the cable renders the cable useless.
Been pondering the broke part this morning and wondering if there is enough adjustment slack to make up for the likely 1" of lost thread.
I dismissed this as silly thinking, since the effort to access the necessary parts inside the pedestal far exceed the cost of a new part.
But then, seeing where the break occurred I know that no more than .5" of the cable was threaded into barrel potentially leaving extra rod length in the pedestal ?
The depth of the thread in the barrel is 1".
Is it possible that during the prior cable install, the rod got bent as the pedestal head was screwed down, because the other end was connected to the transmission and similarly adjusted for max length ?
After the install, there was probably enough adjustment left on the transmission side to unbind the cable and since it seemed to work, the bent rod end in the pedestal went unnoticed ?
I know after my short inspection in the pedestal, I don’t look forward to going in again to replace cable.
Wishing I understood what went wrong and hoping that I can prevent similar failure in the future.
Don’t waste your time, just spend the US$75 and buy a new cable, or two. You’ve already got the binnacle apart. My cable looked perfectly fine as well, but it was a little stiff resulting in me wrapping my left-hand knuckles on the binnacle tubing when shifting into forward, especially when maneuvering in marina. On removal of the old cables, they were dated 1987 I believe, but looked okay on the outside. They have an internal sleeve that wears, and you cannot see this. My knuckles are much happier now.
When installing new cable, you want to ensure that transmission shifting leaver is moving to full engagement in both forward and reverse.
I don’t think you are overthinking anything, etc. This is not your fault. However, sir, if a break occured in a cable on your 35-year-old CAR or MOTORCYCLE or even BICYCLE, would you actually consider saving 95% of the old cable (that still is “perfect”, right ??? After 35 years, magically) and NOT replacing it with brand-new cable (and forever wondering about … hmmmm … is there something funny about someting deep inside of all of this … etc.) ??
Yes, replacing this cable with nice new one will be a PITA but … it’ll be done, it’ll run, it won’t be there to scare you and you’ll learn more about the boat. It’s one thing to think very carefully about an engine or transmission replacement but this is a cable. It owes nobody anything.
Change the crappy old thing out and sleep nights - Nonsuches are about fun, not stress. BTW - we are ALL guilty of the same behaviour. Yes, seriously …
Hi Ernie,
Thanks for the advice and encouragement.
As I crawled through my engine compartment trying to measure the shifter cable for replacement, I felt like and archaeologist trying to analyze artifacts of prior owners. It is true, that my bicycle is 35 years old, but on my “dig site”, Soave revealed aspects of her history and condition that I would have never learned if my shifter cable hadn’t broke.
In other words, lots to follow up on.
In a VERY strange way, I feel closer to attaining my sailing aspirations because I’m getting to know my boat from the inside out.
Yesterday I saw lots of 35 year old relics, my shifter & throttle cables are relatively new… so new… that they don’t have any dust or grime on them.
I suspect the cables may have been replaced under circumstances similar to mine or perhaps as a fix for “shifting issues”.
My instinct is that replacing the shifter cable may not “solve” my “shifting issues” but it will put me in a position to do further testing to figure out the situation.
After taking tedious measurements of the cable meandering through the cramped engine compartment I concluded I needed to order a 9’ cable.
As I was gathering up my tape measure I noticed some lettering on the cable…it was clearly marked 10’.
It was one of those moments… “what you think you know just ain’t so”.
They say live and learn… I’m learning… when do I get to live ( go sailing ) ?
Thanks again to all who have shared expertise on this group.
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ve already ordered the replacement part.
I’d love to know the correct Felsted cable part number for next time… if you don’t want to alter the cable mounting hardware you need to make sure the thread on the end is correct and the length of the rod at the end is correct. These are particularly important for the end in the pedestal.
Do you happen to know the part number that you used ?
Sorry, no. I haven’t needed one on this boat yet. I used to have a fleet of small passenger ferries and we found them much easier to work with at that time. As I remember the threads and attachment points are standard and will fit exactly like the other brands.
I dug a little deeper… for anyone wanting to pursue Felsted cables… Felsted is a brand manufactured by Orscheln.
( HERE ) is their catalog… I think we’d be looking at the Series 3 push/pull cable. We’d probably need to work through a distributor with an inventory that matches our application.
I didn’t find any in my online distributors that listed items that they stock but maybe someone else know a reliable distributor for Felsted ?
This time around, I’m going with the SeaStar which is arriving tomorrow.
