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Hi all! You have been very helpful thus far I hope I can get some answers on this one. When I shift from forward to reverse or vice versa the engine seems to sputter and needs a little time to catch up and idle normal. I think I remember reading that there is an electronic control that drops the rpms to around 4 or 5 hundred when the gear is engaged. The boat runs fine otherwise but this makes it difficult for me to maneuver into my slip. Any thoughts would be helpful. The engine is a omc cobra 5.8l. Thanks in advance!

Sounds like it is working like it's suppose to.

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1992 Baja 38 Special Twin 502 Mags

03 Stingray 3.0
88 261 Liberator 460 King Cobras
95 Bayliner 1850 3.0
77 Fiber Form 20ft 350/385hp
70 Wescraft 1800 SS 455 Jet

Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of the Way!

Let me go farther with that.

If you have a single stick, as in shift and throttle, this would be normal.
If you have twin engines, or just a twin stick, as in one shift lever, and one throttle level for each engine, then you would have a problem with the micro switches being either hung up or out of adjustment.

Hope that helps..........

_________________
1992 Baja 38 Special Twin 502 Mags

03 Stingray 3.0
88 261 Liberator 460 King Cobras
95 Bayliner 1850 3.0
77 Fiber Form 20ft 350/385hp
70 Wescraft 1800 SS 455 Jet

Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of the Way!

The ESA usually engages when you are shifting from in-gear to Neutral...but it can engage when shifting from neutral to in-gear if the load on the prop is great enough (like you are coasting in neutral...shift to reverse to slow down...and the prop itself is still being spun in the foward direction by the force of the water on it)...
If it stays engaged when you shift to in-gear the transom shift cable may be getting sticky and need to be replaced...esp if this happened over time and not from someone playing with the adjustment...
My Cobra shifts easily and if I am moving slowly and shift to neutral from fwd you can barely feel the ESA slow down the idle speed to get the shift dogs to release...
Make sure your idle is not too low to start with...most dog clutch Cobras are supposed to idle between 500-600 rpm in water in gear...the ESA can drop the idle to around 450 or so to let the shift dogs release...also if your carb is dirty or misadjusted it may not be able to idle smoothly at a low enough speed to keep running during shifting....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II