Four Winns Throttle/Control Stiff In Reverse

[jclarke2899]

Hi all,

I recently purchased my first boat and am new to iboats, even though I have browsed threads for a couple years for friends.

I have a 1998 Four Winns Horizon RS. It has the Volvo Penta 5.0 GL and SX Cobra outdrive. The boat drives like a dream in forward gear, but when I shift to reverse, it shifts into gear and will go really slow (crawl) with no problems, but to go a little faster, the control lever seems to get really tight, to the point I have to use quite a bit of force, then the next thing I know, I'm revving high and it tries to go too fast. It makes pulling to the dock pretty tough and backing from the trailer a little embarrassing. It's like a stiff point in the shift that makes me use to much arm-power and I over do it, if that makes any sense. Is there an adjustment for this or something I should check first? I have just ordered a repair manual for this, so I may not have it for a week or so, and was just curious if anyone else had any knowledge on this topic. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[Don S]

Re: Four Winns Throttle/Control Stiff In Reverse

Sounds to me like the Shift cable (not throttle cable) is out of adjustment.
Put the outdrive down, and remove the plastic cover

With the drive in neutral, check that the shift mechanism is straight across and in it's indent like this. It probably isn't.

To adjust, remove the cotterpin and washer from the cube (have no idea how they got that for the name). Once disconnected, see if the throttle and shift mechanism operate normally with the cable disconnected. If you still have a stiff problem, then it's probably the cable itself and not the adjustment. If it does shift and throttle normally now, the you need to adjust the cube.

If you do have to adjust the cable, put the control in neutral and the shift mechanism in it's neutral detent, then turn the cube IN or OUT so it lines up with the center of the slot in the linkage. Check that it goes in to forward and reverse all the way and neutral is still where it should be.

 

[jclarke2899]

Re: Four Winns Throttle/Control Stiff In Reverse

Thanks Don for the information and diagrams. That will be more than helpful in troubleshooting this condition. Unfortunately, I won't be able to try it until this weekend as I am out of town.