www.iFourWinns.com

I pulled my drive off today. I noticed my lower bellows had a tear so i want to replace it. Well while pulling the drive off my shifter cable broke.I guess after almost nine years it corroded. Also noticed that there was what seemed like engine oil in the upper bellows. It was clean just like it came out of the bottle not dirty.

1. How do i change my shift cable? and what type/ part # would i need?

2. Where did this oil come from?

I have a 2000 268 Vista w/5.7 GSI DP

All help is greatly appreciated

Jeff

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JPEloian
2000 268 Vista

Jeff:

Shift cable is a piece of cake. Hardest part will probably be getting it attached to the control unit. It's one of those spots that if you drop something it is libel to go down the gunnel to be lost forever.

I have a Teleflex TFxtreme cable 18' that I believe will work for you. I bought two cables for my boat, a 22 and a 18. My son gave me the 22 footer when I asked for the 18. Long story short, I didn't want to uninstall the 22 on the starboard engine and install the 18. I need another 22 for the port. I've put it off because it has been shifting fine.

It's a CC63318. Double check the 3300 ends are what you have (almost positive) and I'll let you have it for a great price.

Not sure about the oil. It's each to tell if it is gear lube. The synthetic gear lube in your drive has a terrible smell. Smell it. If it smells really nasty and more viscous that engine oil, you may have a leak in the upper unit and that will take a mechanic.

If you want help changing the cable... holler.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Thanks John. I might take you up on that. E mail me you number and i will get in touch.

I have an OMC binnacle, if the cable will work with it.

The oil seems like engine oil. Not as thick as the gear lube. Also gold in color like new oil, and no stench. If its gear lube and was leaking i would think it would be dirty like what i just emptied from drive,BLACK. Same goes for engine oil it has some hrs on it and wouldnt be as clean. Is it possible that the last time it was serviced (liquid sports) the mechanic put it in there as a type of bath?

Thanks again

Jeff

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JPEloian
2000 268 Vista

Usually if there is oil in the driveshaft bellows there is a leak from the seal where the driveshaft enters the upper gear housing of the drive. Look at the seal in the upper unit where the driveshaft enters it, do you see any seepage around the seal? Can you compare the oil you found in the bellows to a new bottle of the oil used in the drive? Most of them do smell because of the extreme pressure additives like gear oil used in automotive differentials. I used to use the OMC Hi Vis in my Cobra and it was honey colored just like motor oil. I now use the Merc Hi Performance gear oil which is a bluish greenish color. It would be pretty unlikely for engine oil to get in there. You could have the drive pressure tested and vaccum tested to be on the safe side. The issue is if there is a leak, sooner or later the drive will be low on drive oil which is not good for it. I've had to have a number of seals changed on my old Cobra to keep water out of the gear oil, it's just the nature of sterndrives.

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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

Lou Thanks for you input. Im gonna go to my local shop and see if i can talk to one of the techs.When i drained the gear oil i did not have any water in there( no milky color) also did get the full 2.5 quarts out. Drive was dry where it attaches to transom. Again this was a lighter weight than gear oil.

Jeff

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JPEloian
2000 268 Vista

I'm trying to figure what else could have gotten in there, I though of the trim system but the lines are not close enough to get into the bellows and the fluid is usually red like auto trans fluid, but not always. Well anyway if the seal on the input shaft of the drive is dry and the drive had the full amount of oil, you probably don't have a leak after all, which is good news. Sometimes they put something slippery on the ujoint yokes to make then slip through the bellows easier, I used the OMC triple guard grease as per the manual. Maybe they squirted a light oil like motor oil on the yokes the last time the drive was installed?

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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

Jeff:

Do your self a big favor and order the cable right from you Four Winns dealer. I have the same year 268 Vista with the same engine/drive setup and single OMC binnacle and the "supposed" Teleflex replacement cable will not work. Even though it is the same overall length, the cable "throw or travel distance" is about a 1/4" longer that the original and you will have gear engagement and throttle engagement issues. Trust me, last spring I replaced mine with the Teleflex and no matter how much adjustment I tried (and ther isn't much), I could not get the cable to engage the drive and throttle properly. I have the never-used Teleflex cable in my garage (couldn't return it - special order from the Volvo Penta dealer) and I wouuld give it to you but I know it won't work. Even my Four Winns dealer was skeptical but when he ordererd it for me and we compared it to the Teleflex, there was a noticeable difference in the cable travel. The cable FW sells is an OMC cable so it is directly compatible with the OMC binnacle. If you don't use the OMC cable, you will have to change the binnacle ($$$). If you go to the FW website and go to Parts Catalogs, you can find the cable listed under the "Blank Engine" category. It is called "Cable, Control, OMC, etc. This link may work: http://www.fourwinns.net/partbook/basem ... l=268V-D00
Just measure your current cable because it looks like they had a 17' and 18' cable for this year. I think mine was 18" but that doesn't mean yours was the same length. I believe the cable was about $60 (well worth the aggravation of trying to figure out why the Teleflex didn't work). I can tell you the new cable made a heck of a difference. More positive shift engagement and smoother throttle advancement.
As far as the oil in the bellows, it could be broken down grease from the "spinning action" of the U-joints and gimbal bearing. The centrifugal force of the spinning can break down the thicker grease into thinner oil especially if it was inferior grease. Good luck and let me know if you need any other info!

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2000 268 Vista

The two "O" rings on the drive input shaft should have engine oil put on on them, not grease, when the drive is refitted; maybe someone was overgenerous in the past, plus it's mixed in with the gimbal bearing grease that spins out as the bearing turns. I usually find some oily material inside the bellows on my boat each year.

Graham

Thanks for all the replies. I stopped by two different VP shops and talked to two different techs. They said that if is clean fluid dont worry about it. The drive was probably over filled and when in use the fluid heated up and seeped out.

Thanks again

Jeff

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JPEloian
2000 268 Vista