Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

[gtdavis]

Here we go again!!! Noticed the other day my shift inerupter wasnt working and it was clunking with a brief grind into gear. So I adjusted the control arm as it shows in the down load for the Alpha one..... no change if anything worse! (yes went back over the instructions twice ) Now when bringing it out of reverse the switch jiggles back and forth before settling into position it doesnt stall the motor but it comes close still doest a quick grind the clunks into gear. Im afaid im not far from needing a new cable but I was wondering if there was any adjustment I could try to try get me through the season??? Almost wish I had my trihull with the 500 mercury thunderbolt back lol

 

[zbnutcase]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

No adjustment can make up for a rough and sticking cable.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

It`s not suppposed to work going INTO gear, only coming out of gear.

 

[gtdavis]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

OH! I was wondering if i missunderstood how it works! So there may be hope yet??? it come out of foward fine dont notice a pause but no grinding or clunk it is just reverse.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

And it is only supposed to work in the water and not on the trailer.

 

[gtdavis]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

not even on muffs??? I rebuilt a 75 goldwing from the ground up and I still can't grasp boat mechanics!!! So what your saying is I may be fine now that ive adjusted it but I wont really know until I get it on the water????

 

[carcraze]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

The interupt switch ONLY aids when trying to come out of forward or reverse and works while in the water. The design of the dogs in the outdrive is such that with a load on the prop it trys to keep engaged into gear. Without the switch and a load on it (trying to push water) it would be very hard to remove from gear, so they stop the ignition for a split secodn to remove the load from the prop while in the water. On muffs there is very little load on the prop as it is not pushing on anything.

The switch adjustment will not aid going into gear a cable adjustment might help, but it sounds more like you need a cable.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

Actually - you may need nothing! An alpha is going to clunk going into gear. Perfectly normal. Make sure your rpms aren't too high and shift briskly - don't try to "ease" it into gear -- that causes the grinding. Grinding is bad - clunk is good.

 

[bds85466]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

ditto on carcraze's point about the load on the prop, you won't get that on the driveway.

and another absolutely brilliant point by fishermark. that is part of the design.

 

[carcraze]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

Yes very much worth a try for sure. My thoughts about the possible shift cable is the part about the interupt switch engaging coming out of reverse and I guess I was assuming this was on muffs which made me think there could be some shift cable resistance there.

 

[gtdavis]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

Thanks so much it make more sense now.... I finally found how to adjust the shift cable and seem really not much to adjust so I will do that maybe that will take care of the switch doing its little dance comming out of reverse also gonna inspect what I can see of the cable make sure there is no crimps or bad spots. Then take her out on the water (just not too far out at first) Ill remember not to be easy on the shift too! Thanks guys! Not gonna dismiss the fact I might need to have the cable replaced but Im feeling better about it! "clunk is good" that should be on a t-shirt!

 

[gtdavis]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

Just a quick update took Sunny out (Sunny Daze) amazing the difference in and out out the water shifted very smooth with a little clunk cuz clunk is good!! Scared me when I first went into reverse it kinda bogged a little but it just wasn't warm! I would have prolly still been messin with that thing if you guys didnt explain about it only working in the water!! Thanks!!

 

[MToma1]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

Here are two picks of most likely what you are looking at. The first is the shift switch it self. And the second is its inside. As you can see there isnt much to go wrong. If your switch was bad and making contact all the time your boat wouldnt start. If you cable is going bad its drag inside is causing the switch to make contact too long, and it kills the motor. To put it easy, change your cable. Any thing else is your shifting or adjustment. I just changed out my cable and bellows two years ago. And I didnt take the gimbal apart so if you want some pointers I am here to help.

 

[gtdavis]

Re: Lower shift cable?? Alpha one 1994

Thanks for the info...seems to be doing great didnt have any issues. Prolly gonna change the cable and bellows this winter because I have no clue when or if the previous owner did that. So may get back to ya on that