Engine dies when shifted into gear

[jwr_20]

Hello. I recently bought a used boat that had the motor replaced with a used one with about 100 hours on it. The motor runs great, and idles great. There was one problem with the exhaust manifold, and water managed to leak back into the engine, but a new manifols solved that. I just did an oil change on it as well, and everything seems to be ok. The engine is a 3.0L Chev engine with an Alpha 1 outdrive. Compression is excellent across all 4 cylinders.

The problem I am had was that the engine would die when I put it into gear. It would start, and run fine, but as soon as I shifted into gear, it would die. It was even having problems just idling in neutral, without keeping the rpm's up a bit. I was almost stranded but did manage to get it to go after I made a rather hard shift into forward after reving the engine.

Another thing I noticed as as well, was that the engine seemed to lose power every once in awhile for a split second when running at 3000-3500rpm.

I am thinking that it isn't either getting enough fuel, or that the fuel may be contaminated by some water or moisture, or something.

I am looking for some ides on where to start trouble shooting, what steps could I take to narrow it down efficiently, as to the cause.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[vegas_storms]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

You'll have to wait for one of the guys that actually knows something, I'm a newbie but after reading many many post I vote for your shift cable. Apparently even a small kink would cause this if I'm remembering correctly. Good Luck

 

[wcsparky05]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

GOOD CALL VEGAS STORM!!! i would second the shift cable adjustment since i just had to do mine. i bet you heard a loud CLUNK when you shifted from fwd to rev. me too. unsettled my stomach. spin your prop. does it go... click..click... click.. in fwd or rev? if so. adjust your shift bable. don S saved me lots of time by telling me the differential would be 6 inches on my merc 4 cyl . you can't find that in books and it saved me loads of time!! THANKS DON S !!!! hopefully, adjust your shift cable 'til it stops making noise!!! good luck!, hope i helped?!

 

[achris]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

Sounds a lot like a shift cable to me also....

Try the FAQ section, there is an article that explains exactly how the setup is suppose to work and what to look for if it doesn't. The full set up for the cable and shift cutout switch is there too. (I know 'cause I wrote it)


Chris...........

 

[Bondo]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

Sounds a lot like a shift cable to me also....

Try the FAQ section, there is an article that explains exactly how the setup is suppose to work and what to look for if it doesn't. The full set up for the cable and shift cutout switch is there too. (I know 'cause I wrote it)


Chris...........

Chris My old Friend,...... Loong Time No See,...... How are you,..??....

Btw,......

I Agree,......jwr,... You need a New Lower Shift Cable,+ You probably have a Fuel Delivery Issue.......

 

[jwr_20]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

Thanks folks for the fast replies! I am thinking I may have to adjust the shift cable as well, because it is difficult to shift from forward to neutral, as the prop doesn't disengage easily when the shifter is in the neutral position, and when shifting from reverse to neutral, I have to actually push the shift lever past the neutral mark and almost to the forward position.

The gear changes however, are rather smooth, they don't engage hard, except for when I was keeping my rpms up so I could get it into gear without stalling. I have been running the boat for an hour or so every night since the weekend, and it seems to be running great, lots of power, and no problems at idle speed and at 3000 rpm. This problem with it feeling as though it was losing power intermittently at high speed, and poor idling is totally new, and so I was leaning towards a fuel related problem.

Thanks again for the help, and more ideas would be great as well!

 

[Fishstick1962]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

What is your idle RPM in nuetral? Does it do this on muffs? If not... your idle RPMs may be a bit low killing the engine when a load is applied. I like to start with the simple stuff and go from there.
Hope this helps.

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

Does the engine die when going into reverse? What year is you engine/drive?

 

[jwr_20]

Re: Engine dies when shifted into gear

I'm not exactly sure what the idle rpm was, but it was low anyway. It never killed the engine before to shift into forward or reverse, but it has just started doing that. Also, it now idles rough in neutral, until it eventually dies, unless I up the throttle to keeps rpm's up.

I'm not exactly sure what year the engine and outdrive are, but I believe them to be from the mid 80's. As the boat itself is around 20 years old or so.

Thanks again