Bravo 3x - shifting problem

[Will Fish]

I have a friend who just bought a Bravo 3x paired to a 6cyl turbo diesel. He hit something and took the boat out of the water. He had to take the drive off and send it to the insurance adjuster. When removing the drive, he had the boat in forward (he's used to the alpha's). He said he did notice shifting it into forward when the drive was on was very tough.

He has to get the motor winterized. The boat will not start in gear and now he cannot get the shifter arm on the helm back into neutral. I tried helping him out and disconnected the cable on the shift bracket on the motor. This did not free up the cable and still cannot shift into neutral. With the cable off of the motor, I can manually shift the transom cable. I believe the nuetral safety switch is in the shifter arm assembly on the helm, which is preventing the boat from starting.

In the spring he plans on changing the shift cable when he does the boot and gimbal.

1. Should he change the cable now from the motor to helm? If so, I would assume this would free up the cable and allow to shift to nuetral.

2. Is there a way to bypass the neutral safety switch so he can start the boat and get antifreeze into the heat exchanger, manifold, etc? If so, what damage can he cause by running the boat for about 5 min in gear with non drive on?

3. Could the shift arm be no good on the helm?

4. Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance!

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo 3x - shifting problem

I have a friend who just bought a Bravo 3x paired to a 6cyl turbo diesel. He hit something and took the boat out of the water. He had to take the drive off and send it to the insurance adjuster. When removing the drive, he had the boat in forward (he's used to the alpha's). He said he did notice shifting it into forward when the drive was on was very tough.

He has to get the motor winterized. The boat will not start in gear and now he cannot get the shifter arm on the helm back into neutral. I tried helping him out and disconnected the cable on the shift bracket on the motor. This did not free up the cable and still cannot shift into neutral. With the cable off of the motor, I can manually shift the transom cable. I believe the nuetral safety switch is in the shifter arm assembly on the helm, which is preventing the boat from starting.

In the spring he plans on changing the shift cable when he does the boot and gimbal.

1. Should he change the cable now from the motor to helm? If so, I would assume this would free up the cable and allow to shift to nuetral.

2. Is there a way to bypass the neutral safety switch so he can start the boat and get antifreeze into the heat exchanger, manifold, etc? If so, what damage can he cause by running the boat for about 5 min in gear with non drive on?

3. Could the shift arm be no good on the helm?

4. Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance!

Howdy,


Well, if the drive is already off it should shift easily into neutral (you're just moving cables). By the way, it sounds like he shifted it into gear with the engine NOT running. Tell your friend to NEVER DO THAT! that's partly why it was hard to shift.

btw, it's not all that critical to have a Bravo in gear for removal.

If the engine WAS running and it was hard to shift, he may need a new shift cable or there's something else wrong with the drive.

Tell him he doesn't need to put Antifreeze in the heat exchanger. (except the "closed" cooled side should have 50/50 in it already)

Just drain the raw water "side" and drain the oil & PS coolers and remove the hoses from the raw water pump so that they drain.

Running the engine with drive off won't hurt a thing as long as he has water going to the raw water pump which should be mounted on the engine someplace. If there's an intercooler, it may also have to be drained if it gets raw water for cooling.

If he thinks either cable is bad, disconnect them and see if they move freely. If they do, it might be the cockpit control.

If he doesn't have a Mercury (OEM) service manual, now would be a good time to get one. Get one for the drive and one for the engine.


Regards,


Rick

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo 3x - shifting problem

Howdy,


btw, it's not all that critical to have a Bravo in gear for removal.

No, it's wrong to have a Bravo in gear at removal. Leave the shifter handle in NEUTRAL on a Bravo. And if you put the shifter into neutral without the engine running, you cause the exact problems you have. DonS or Bond-o will be along soon to tell you how to fix it, I am sure.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo 3x - shifting problem

No, it's wrong to have a Bravo in gear at removal. Leave the shifter handle in NEUTRAL on a Bravo. And if you put the shifter into neutral without the engine running, you cause the exact problems you have. DonS or Bond-o will be along soon to tell you how to fix it, I am sure.

I don't think that's required.....


I can't remember which gear makes it easier to get the cable end in , but what ever gear makes the "shift linkage assy "stick out" further, makes it VERY easy to pull apart.


Putting it back together, was the reverse.

 

[Pete104]

Re: Bravo 3x - shifting problem

Control in neutral. As the drive comes off it is then moved to forward gear. When re-installed the shift mechanism is protruding from the driveshaft housing to be aligned with the cable end. As the drive goes back into position, it returns to neutral.

 

[Will Fish]

Re: Bravo 3x - shifting problem

I honestly, prior to searching here, winterizing without antifreeze. I have always used the method my old man taught me when I was a kid - flush the motor with muffs, then use pour antifreeze thru a funnel thru the muffs. Once the antifreeze is coming out the exhaust, fog the carb.

In any event, this is slightly different as the block is fwc and the manifold is raw water cooled.

The drive is off and the shift at the helm will not come out of forward, yet the shifter moves. But I do not see any movement on the cable in the engine compartment. He did shift gears with the drive on but not running (which it seems was the initial problem). If I know him, he is not going to feel comfortable until he can get antifreeze thru the raw water cooled components ($32k for a new motor is rough) since we are in NY and do have fairly cold weather.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Bravo 3x - shifting problem

I have always used the method my old man taught me when I was a kid - flush the motor with muffs, then use pour antifreeze thru a funnel thru the muffs.

The above 'method' (if you do not drain the raw water areas FIRST) is the fastest way to a cracked block on a raw water cooled engine.

On a closed cooled engine it'll work just fine if you have areas in the raw water system that don't drain when the engine is off.

On mine, I have found that everything drains into the discharge hose that runs below the oil pan. If I drop that hose, any residual water in the sea water pump drains out. It only amounts to approx a qt or so.

Control in neutral. As the drive comes off it is then moved to forward gear. When re-installed the shift mechanism is protruding from the driveshaft housing to be aligned with the cable end. As the drive goes back into position, it returns to neutral.

That sounds about right. When I re-installed mine, I had to pull the shift mechanism-OUT with needle-nose pliers to get the cable-end in.

The control would pretty much always (normally) be in neutral.

But if it wasn't, the drive would come off just the same.