Changing h40.5 shift & throttle cable with MV-2 control

Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
My 1997 h40.5 has high effort on both the throttle and shift. After 19 seasons I am considering changing the cables. Has any other 40.5 owner done this? If so, how hard is the change-out and what is the routing of the cables. Is the length 18' as I have seen suggested?
 
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Likes: Rick D
Dec 25, 2000
5,702
Hunter Passage 42 Shelter Bay, WA
Hi Rich, our 1991 has dual cables, one for throttle and one for shifter. Both remain smooth and easy, but I did have to replace the pedestal end bronze shifter cable clevis when it broke in 2002 due to an improper installation. My boating buddy has a single lever control on his boat and seems to like it, albeit with some adjustment problems over the years. I've used it before on his boat and it seems to work okay.
 
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Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Terry- mine is the Teleflex MV-2 single lever shifter. In addition to high effort, the throttle creeps. I added a friction device but that just increased the throttle effort with only a minor improvement in the creep. The shifter itself seems to work freely which leads me to believe that the cables are the problem. I don't know what the expected life of the cables is but mine have seen 19 seasons.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
My Teleflex instruction manual instructs me to regularly retract the cable at the helm, clean and grease, feed back to attachments. I never do this ...but you might want to start with that task and plan on replacement if things go bad.
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
My Teleflex instruction manual instructs me to regularly retract the cable at the helm, clean and grease, feed back to attachments. I never do this ...but you might want to start with that task and plan on replacement if things go bad.
Do you mean that the entire core can be extracted? I have never seen a cable that will allow that except a speedometer cable.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
Actually I have the Volvo Penta variant of the Morse combined shifter and it terminates with a traditional twisted wire that can be extracted back through the jacket, cleaned, greased and pushed back in. But my experience with this arrangement on motorcycles and other equipment is that any crimp or corrosion in the outer jacket can kink, and unwind the twisted core and you are done. That could turn a short maintenance task into a weekend project. However there is another easier way to lube a cable by taking the top end loose, clamp a piece of tubing to it, fill with oil, clamp a shrader valve on the end and pump it up with air pressure. Drive the oil through the jacket and out the other end. Kind of a last ditch effort to salvage a cable before having to replace. I have had good luck with this on motorcycles, never tried it on that gnarly boat cable.
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Gunni- I have a cable lube device from my motorcycle days. It is a clamp that is lined with rubber and seals around the end of a cable. There is a hole in the rubber that the spray tube nozzle from a can of lube is inserted. Then the lube is just injected into the cable. I used it all the time on my motorcycle clutch cable. Worked great. I have wondered if it would work on a 18' cable as well as the 5' motorcycle cable. I may have to give it a try this spring.