Changed Shift Cable-Still Stalling

[johnkom]

1976 Sea Ray Mercruiser 233 with MC-1 outdrive: I had the classic stalling problems when shifting out of gear. Changed the shift cable, adjusted and tested. Runs perfect in the driveway. Put a load on it (meaning in the water) and it stalls shifting from forward to neutral. Reverse to neutral is OK, "most" of the time. All adjustments and settings per Mercruiser. Now what?? Do the lower unit gears ever get draggy on the prop shaft?

 

[sti1471]

it sounds like your cutout switch might be sticking.

Remove the shift cable from the engine plate.
With your finger press down on the cutout switch and quickly remove your finger
repeat these steps pressing up on the cutout switch.

If the cutout switch does not bounce back center, or it is slow coming back to center then that is the issue. In this case, try to loosen the nut on the cutout switch. If this nut is torqued too tight, the switch cannot move freely. If the nut is loosened and it is still doing it, remove the cutout switch, clean and grease it.

 

[johnkom]

Good guess. But I already checked that all out. Switch V plate is loose and snaps back and forth with no resistance both directions. Also feels the same both directions. Switch closes at about 1/8 inch out of the V which is Mercrusier's spec.

 

[achris]

Wonder if the spring (vee spring in the back of the lever that trips the switch) has lost its temper? ie, become weak. The part number is 24-862850, it's all of $4 and it's still available from Merc if you need it.

 

[johnkom]

Might be worth a try. Wish I had access to another Mercruiser drive to compare. Actually the spring feels pretty stiff, but I have no way of knowing the appropriate resistance.

 

[mr 88]

To determine if it is your interupter switch simply remove the wire from the coil side and see if it still stalls.If it does not the you probably have to adjust your main shoft cable coming from the controls to the switchplate. There is a video on you tube as to how to adjust. Mercruiser shift cable interupter switch adjustment or something like that. Basicaly your going to adjust the barrel on the main shift cable coming from the control box in or out a couple turns from the sounds of your issue.

 

[ONEGA]

If you still have the original rear mount shift plate it would take more time to get the cable adjusted right. Since it shifts from reverse to neutral the switch itself is okay. Try to simulate the load by moving shift cable on the plate and see if motor will stall.

 

[johnkom]

"...main shift cable coming from the controls to the switchplate." The main shift cable "coming from the controls" does not go to the switch plate. It goes to the shift arm on the reverse lockout. Thanks for your tip but it is adjusted to Merc's specs--three times! And shifts nicely into reverse and forward--equal angles from neutral. I've done it many times on other boats and have always had nice, smooth shifts. The problem is the classic high resistance as if the shift cable was bad. I checked again last night for any kinks or dings on the new cable--all good. I'm going to remove the throttle quadrant, clean and lube today--just in case. Although I don't see how that could do it. I'm sure it can use it though.

 

[ONEGA]

IMO you don't have shift problem, you have shift interrupt problem...

 

[johnkom]

You guys aren't going to believe this: It was too low of an idle setting. I had set the idle to 700rpm, no load (neutral.) Mercruiser calls for 650 - 700 "in gear." I put it back in the water and let it warm up nicely, popped it in forward while still on the trailer, and set the idle to 650. Works now as advertized! I guess the 233 V8 won't recover from the low rpm it goes to during the interrupt. The idle value for that engine is in a footnote at the end of the spec chapter.

 

[johnzonh]

johnkom ..had the exact same issue with my 165. adjusted the lower / upper to spec...shift interrupt to spec... couldn't for the life of me figure out why it was cutting out. go figure...idle was too low by about 100 rpm. in 5 outings after... have not had a single problem. I neglected to adjust for the no load / load issue. go figure. I impressed the kids n wife with a 2 minute fix on the water.

 

[johnkom]

Oh, man. I miss my 165. That was the smoothest running engine. And I could run all afternoon on one tank of fuel. Idling around skiers was so nice. But I digress. The idle on my 233 is at the low end of spec and all works good but the idle speed is a pain. I now spend more time in neutral than in gear while approaching the marina and/or docking. At least it does not die. Did I say I miss my old 165.

 

[johnzonh]

yeah I know the 165 3.7 has has a messy history...but so far has ran wonderfully. The shift issue bugged me in particular because it wasn't making sense..having checked the shift plate for continuity and the 1/8" ... of course as the day progressed my idle would drop down to a point it wouldn't run once in gear. embarrassing to say the least when we have a skier in town or are in the middle of the lake with the sun going down.... anyway. glad to hear things worked out. my boat is put to bed for the winter ...outdrive is off for some repainting and rebuilding.