1" of throttle lever = 0-85%? No WOT, and neutral is 60% of lever movement

[kungpaoshizi]

Had a buddy fix it originally...

(I'm thinking of looking at the lever from the side view, so think of half a wheel)

Originally the throttle lever for neutral would sit, just behind the straight up and down, 90 degree angle.

So he said he fixed it, and neutral is now straight up and down.
I get out on the water, and it seems neutral is a 45 degree angle on the left to a 45 degree angle on the right.

So 90% of the throttle/power/percent is in the last 10-20 degrees of movement... hehe

I was literally pushing the throttle all the way forward, it would take a moment, but then gradually rise to what max it ended up at. ..(only hitting 35-40 mph with a mercury 1150 on a 16' glass trihull) and then most of the time I found I just moved it all the way forward, and it hits the mounting nut...

But to throttle down, I would just try bumping it up slightly... most of the time I bumped it up and it would just go back down from 85-90% power to 5%. So I bumped it forward then until it made it go a little faster.. LOL I usually overshot and we wound up just going from minimum to allowable maximum, can't actually move the lever FAR enough to hit WOT...

Any ideas on how he "fixed" it? I was thinking he might have just cut the cables shorter? Sorry, I'm unsure of if there's one or two cables in the throttle assembly...

Hoping I don't have to get a new cable

 

[cr2k]

Re: 1" of throttle lever = 0-85%? No WOT, and neutral is 60% of lever movement

There are two cables, one for the throttle and one for F-N-R. Cables are not repairable or lubeable, when they wear out or break they are done and must be replaced. They are, however, adjustable at the motor, but since we know not what type of power/drive you have it is hard to tell you more then what I have.

 

[kungpaoshizi]

Re: 1" of throttle lever = 0-85%? No WOT, and neutral is 60% of lever movement

Power/drive?
It's a 76 Mercury 1150?

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean...

 

[metriccrescentwrench]

Re: 1" of throttle lever = 0-85%? No WOT, and neutral is 60% of lever movement

Power/drive?
Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean...

It's a 76 Mercury 1150?

There ya' go.

You can have a few things going on. It's possible that the shift cable and throttle cable got mixed up. It's possible your cables are worn out and need to be replaced. And it's possible that the shift rod on the engine's lower unit is out of adjustment. Add those to the fact that someone messed around with adjustments that didn't really know what they were doing and you've got a small mess on your hands.

You ought to post your question to the mercury outboard repair forum, someone there will be able to offer advice specific to your engine.

 

[kungpaoshizi]

Re: 1" of throttle lever = 0-85%? No WOT, and neutral is 60% of lever movement

Ahh thank you!

Could a mod perhaps please move this to there? I wasn't sure if this qualified as an "engine" question when I started it.
Apologies!

 

[kungpaoshizi]

Re: 1" of throttle lever = 0-85%? No WOT, and neutral is 60% of lever movement

So I looked at the service manual, the one I have is pretty generic though..

But I looked at the cables.. (forgive me, first boat)
I verified cables are not mixed up.
Throttle is top, shift is bottom.
I see it seems to twist the distributor as the throttle arm moves, and then once far enough, it twists the carbs open. (acceleration begins at with the voltage increase from the distributor movement? AND THEN the carbs? I'm barely even a car guy LOL)
But from when neutral engages, to what should be WOT, there seems to be a good 20% movement is cable play?
Seems the black boot that fits over the end of the cable has a good amount of movement between it and the threaded metal shielding? (between the plastic adjustment barrel and the nut that bolts the cable to the throttle lever)

I'm jumping to the conclusion that it should not be moving...?
I've been able to open the carb more by adjusting the barrel closer to it, but there still seems to be a bit of movement inside the boot and THEN it catches and moves the distributor+carb.

Can I just move the barrel as far as the threading and hope for the best? or am I needing a new cable..