Other posts have talked about “sticky” cables. Note that some of the early boats had a Mickey Mouse rig to create friction in the cables so that they would not slip, since the Edson units had no adjustments. A “knuckle buster” of sorts was screwed onto the cable to actually crush the cable cover against the cable to create that friction. If they were mounted at a low point on the cable, they might be subject to incursion of bilge water. This entire area sometimes corroded. I had this problem on my N26 and ended up having to replace both cables.
Allen Ames
Oddly, my transmission lever is very stiff from the helm, but from the transmission it is as smooth as butter. I think my problem is the bore that the shifter rod goes through in the Edson pedestal. There is a lot of movement side to side, and I think it is binding. I may remove the rod and have a bronze bushing inserted.
John Morrison
Tauranga, New Zealand
NS30U #400 “Kiss Kiss”
John:
I have been puzzling about the very same problem. Throttle works great, but the transmission lever has always been terrible…afraid I’m going to have an accident at the dock not being able to get in or out of forward or reverse in time. I was amazed at the silky-smooth action moving the pedestal lever back and forth remotely from the shift lever on the transmission itself. Did you find a fix for this problem? Anyone else out there have any hints?
Bob Hutton
1986 N30U “Amity”
Bob,
I used a motorcycle cable-oiler to shoot WD40 (equivalent) down both cables. The transmission lever is MUCH easier to move now, though still harder than at the transmission itself. I beleive the issue is one of physics, the lever arm on the inside end of the shift lever is very short, and you are getting very little mechanical advantage. Couple this to a very long run of cable and resultant friction and it’s not a great result.
Oiling the cable isn’t suppose to be a good thing for cable life, but it made a huge difference. You may recall that the shear screw on my lever actually broke as a result of years of hard shifting.
John
NS30U#400
Tauranga, NZ
I would think that the most likely thing to do is to disconnect the cable at the pedestal end and see if the lever moves easily. If it does, now that you have the pedestal apart, replace the cable. If you choose to keep it, go to an auto parts store and get some spedo cable lubricant.
Joe Valinoti
S/V IL Gatto NS30U #221 (1984)
Sea Harbour Yacht Club
Oriental, NC
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Hi,
I’m resurrecting this short older thread as I am experiencing exact same stiff shifter issues as described earlier by Allen, Bob, and Island Moose. I’d rather replace than trying to lube the cable. Although replacement was mentioned in this thread, and similar ones, nobody actually says that they did replace their shifter cable.
My question is… does replacing the shifter cable solve the probem?
Thanks,
Don
‘87 NS30U Breezin’
Vancouver, BC
I replaced mine last spring and replacing the cable is the easy part and there should be a post about it around that time period. I’m currently on the road and it’s hard to find.
Joe
To update this thread for those who are experiencing a stiff shifter cable, I finally replaced mine a few months ago. The shifter now works much more smoothly, and my knuckles are happier too.
Cheers,
Don
’87 NS30U #369 - Breezin’
Vancouver, BC