Indications of shift cable problem?

[Condor1970]

I've had a couple posts before, of my Alpha One outdrive havnig some issues. I puleld the lower to grease the U-joints, and they are good. Greased shift cable, and it operates smoothly. Changed out gear oil, and tried running the engine. The problem is, when the engine is running, I am getting a clacking/knocking sound from the lower. I thought it was the gears again.

I pulled the top cover, and pulled the top bearing. It isn't that bad. It has some pitting in the cup, felt a smidge gritty, so I will replace anyway. The thing is, after draining the lube again, and thoroughly inspecting all the gears, I can't figure where that noise is coming from. The gears look good. Yet, I found some more shavings in the oil, and on the magnet when I drained the oil again. With those shavings in there (though just a few), I should be seeing damage to the gear teeth, yet there is basically none.

I am suspecting a shift cable problem. I honestly am not an expert on outdrives, but that's the only thing I can think of. Maybe it's trying to lock up when I run the engine at idle or throttling up in neutral? My plan is to go through the whole process of adjusting the cables, and also to pull the lower for an impeller change this weekend.

When done, I want to flush the entire outdrive to remove any filings or debris inside. What do you recommend is the best way to do this? I was planning on using some kerosene, or lamp oil, to do this, since it's what normally is used for flushing any gear box. Is there anything wrong with this?

Also, is the noise I'm hearing most likely a shift cable issue, since I honestly am reaching my wits end. I have no idea what else could be causing this. If a shift cable is slightly off, what would I expect to hear from that? I would think I should see the prop trying to spin, but it's not.

 

[natemoore]

I finally gave up on my old Alpha One and installed a new SEI 106. I had the same loud clacking noise coming from my old one. I dismissed it as exhaust shutters until I posted a video of the loud noise. Someone said it was the clutch dogs ratcheting, or something like that. I honestly got tired of messing with it, bit the bullet, and bought the $1300 upper/lower assembly. Now the noise is gone ;-) I also had other issues, like the shift dog being worn beyond limits, saltwater damaged u-joints due to aftermarket u-joint bellows spitting within a year on installing.

I wouldn't think that anything in the upper would be making such a loud clacking noise, so I would concentrate on the lower unit, particularly on the clutch. I'd disconnect the lower shift cable from the plate and shift it in and out of gear (forward and reverse) using the cable end just to see how it felt cycling. Shouldn't take much effort to shift it. Then you'd know at least that part works okay. I followed the troubleshooting procedures in the manual all the way down to the shift lever. They give you a gauge that you have to photocopy, cut out, and glue to a piece of cardboard. It fits over the lower shift cable (you have to separate the lower unit from the upper unit). Then you fabricate a pointer that fits onto the shift shaft itself. With the drive in neutral, zero the pointer and check the left and right limits. Mine was three degrees beyond the outer limits. I don't know if that was causing the clacking noise, but it wasn't right.

 

[ktbarrentine]

Does the drive make the noise while in gear as well as while in neutral? I am assuming that when you say you pulled the "lower" to grease the u-joints, that you mean you pulled the outdrive (the outdrive consists of a "lower" half and an "upper" half). What does it sound like when it is in gear at idle?

 

[Condor1970]

I haven't been able to fully get it into gear yet, because I have to work on the engine. The best I have been able to do is get it into idle, because the carb needs cleaning, badly. When I try to throttle up right now, it backfires and dies. When, I try to put it into gear, it dies. My concern at the moment, is that when it is idling, I can here the outdrive clacking away, and so I have decided to just leave the engine off for now, because I'm guessing if the shift cable is way off, then I don't want to chip away at the clutch too bad.

When I pulled the "outdrive", and greased the U-joints, I was toying with the shifter on the lower, and managed to spin the prop. It does go into forward and reverse, and it takes a bit of effort by hand to spin the drive shaft, but it does roll pretty smooth. You can definitely feel the resistance of the preload on the bearings though. I'm assuming this is normal when you try to roll it by hand. It's not supposed to roll totally effortless is it? I thought the preload would give you some noticable resistance when you do this.

 

[ktbarrentine]

Yes....you will feel resistance when rotating the prop on the outdrive (off the boat) while in fwd or rev. Alot of this is from the water pump impeller, though. Next time you have the impeller off (for a change-out), and when you have the upper and lower separated) turn the shafts and notice the difference. With the drive assembled, when your shift shaft is in exact neutral (sweet spot) (about 11 Oclock position on the shift shaft shoe), you can (should be able to) spin your prop with virtually no resistance (other than the prop shaft seals). Should hear no clicking of the shift dogs. Move the shift shaft either CW or CCW just a tad bit and start to hear/feel the dogs making noise. Note also the shift dogs can be affected by gravity, so if your drive is not trimmed near level when running (i.e. trimmed up, or heaven forbid trimmed to the trailer position), you can hear clicking while in neutral with the engine running, even with shift shaft in the sweet (neutral) spot) (and the prop will sometimes be turning slowly). (my experience).

 

[Condor1970]

Well, I just had an adventure. I spent the last 5 hours tinkering with the shift cables. I pulled the shift cable off to measure the length in full forward, which is supposed to be 6". Mine is pinned at 6-3/16". I adjusted the remote cable as the manual said. Gave it four turns after centering the pins. After adjusting, I found reverse would not lock in at all. It was so far off, I think it was trying to go into reverse when in idle and neutral. I finally just sort of did it the old fashioned way.

I basically just cycled the shift lever forward and reverse until I got positive lock just before it goes throttle up forward or reverse. In order to get it to lock into reverse, I had to move the lower shift cable all the way over in the slot on the control arm to increase the throw. I managed to finally get it into neutral where it should be, without hearing any clanking when you spin the prop. This of course took over an hour of walking back and forth between the prop and shift lever. Making small adjustments along the way. LOL

Tomorrow I will drop the lower, and service the impeller.

After it is back installed, I want to flush it with Lamp Oil, (which is refined kerosene), to clean out the whole gear system thoroughly.

I am very ticked off, because I inspected my gear oil I just drained and it had lots of silver flakes covering the bottom of the pan. I know it is NOT the gears. It must have been eating the clutch dogs while sitting on the edge of reverse when the lever was centered in neutral.. GRRRRR!!!!!!! I hope it still runs ok.

On the bright side, I got my new Wema fuel sender installed, and it works like a charm.