1988 Alpha 1 Gen 1 Shift Issue

[BigSteve1967]

1988 Mercruiser 305
Aplha 1 Gen 1 Outdrive
After having the engine rebuilt and the lower unit serviced (new shift spool and the dog that moves it) the lower unit shifts perfectly on the bench from forward to neutral and to reverse but when on the boat it would not shift into reverse only forward and neutral. I had the lower shift cable replaced and the mechanic who did it said he could not figure out what was wrong with it he didnt understand why it wouldnt shift into reverse when on the boat he stated it is like there just isnt enough throw in the cable to get it to move the lever all the way to reverse. I also tried to adjust the cable after I picked up the boat and same thing I could get forward and neutral with a problem but reverse seemed like it needed another 1/4" and it would go but there isnt enough throw there?

any help at all would be appreciated

by the way im in North New Jersey if anyone is close and wouldnt mind coming to give me a hand with it

thanks in advance

Steve

 

[Don S]

Re: 1988 Alpha 1 Gen 1 Shift Issue

Adjusting these things is not rocket science. Once, you learn how to adjust it and why.
Read the adjustment section in the link below. Get a couple of tools, head to the boat, and adjust it. Try to understand what each adjustment does, and suddenly it becomes very easy to do once you understand WHY you are doing what you will be doing.
If it gets confussing while you are on the boat, shift it, watch what moves. better yet, have your better half shift it and you watch what happen back there around the engine.
I have had many that I have adjusted on land that needed some tweaking when in the water. The old 888's I never could get right out of the water.

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6A2R3.PDF

 

[BigSteve1967]

Re: 1988 Alpha 1 Gen 1 Shift Issue

Just a quick thought. The tech who did the shift cable mentioned that he thought that the shift spool may not have been reinstalled properly? he mentioned a threaded top to that shaft and said it may have not been adjusted? sorry I forgot to mention before?

Thanks for the link to that Manual I am going to laminate the pages and use that all the time