Engine stalls when put into gear

[Grinnin']

Hello folks;

At the camp for the weekend, looking for some quick help. 3.7 liter late 1980's mercruiser. Ran great last weekend. Got in it this weekend, when I put it in gear, it shuts right off. Runs fine in neutral and reverse. Only thing I can think of that changed from last weekend is I had to trailer it in the rain, things got pretty wet. Electrical short somewhere? Left my manual and electrical schematics at home, don't want to dissapoint the kids with no tubing for weekend.

Thanks!

 

[cribber]

Re: Engine stalls when put into gear

Could be a wet connection somewhere if it didn't have sufficient time to dry out. It also could be your fuel filter since everything's fine when your at idle or reversing and only stalls when you go to throttle forward. Sometimes it's the simplest things that need be fixed that get overlooked. Good luck!!!

 

[Grinnin']

Re: Engine stalls when put into gear

Cribber,

Thanks for the response, but I read up on other posts (which I probably should have done first), and I have isolated the problem to the shift cable. When I disconnect the shift interupter switch, it works fine. At least I can still take the kids tubing, just can't shift back into neutral! Details....

Thanks again, have an awesome weekend.

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine stalls when put into gear

Yea, you have cable problems, not wet connections or fuel related problems.

At least I can still take the kids tubing, just can't shift back into neutral! Details....

That's not a good idea. Not being able to get to neutral around kids in the water is asking for problems.
Fix it before you regret it.

 

[cribber]

Re: Engine stalls when put into gear

Glad it worked out for ya so you can enjoy the weekend. Just remember to shut 'er down when getting the kids in and out since you don't have the capability to shift into neutral.

 

[bamadave]

Re: Engine stalls when put into gear

What Don said, ditto. Not having neutral is asking for trouble. Shutting down the engine in gear is not good either. Someone correct me but water ingestion is possible. It will cost more than a cable replacement,