Mercruiser 5.0 shifting issue

[thephoneman]

Ok heres the situation: have issue with the boat stalling when going into reverse. I have done the alignment per the manual. Temp fix has been to bump up the idle and that helps a little. When in the water when the boat is in reverse and I shift to the neutral position it still stays in reverse. Have to push the shifter to 10 o'clock to get it out of r. No issues with forward to neutral. Now I know the quick answer is new shift cable, but there is one little wrinkle that has me puzzled and maybe someone has had this happen. When I'm on land it will go into reverse (not sure what clock position) and when I return to neutral the drive is in neutral aka free spin both ways. I don't recall having this issue at the end of last year but I did put a new outdrive on it but the one test run I took had no real issue. Any suggestions besides new shift cable (adjust shifter etc)? Thanks again for sharing your infinite wisdom.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

You don't mention a year or what drive you have?

 

[thephoneman]

You don't mention a year or what drive you have?

Sorry about that ..1994 alpha 1 gen 2. It's on a hurricane deck boat. The shifter is a quicksilver

 

[Scott Danforth]

if adjusting the lower shift cable doesnt fix it, then replacing the lower shift cable will. shift cables last about 15 years

 

[dubs283]

Now I know the quick answer is new shift cable, but there is one little wrinkle that has me puzzled and maybe someone has had this happen. When I'm on land it will go into reverse (not sure what clock position) and when I return to neutral the drive is in neutral aka free spin both ways.

because there is no load on the prop when the boat is out of the water. like SD says, adjust the cable(s) and if that does not alleviate the issue it's time to replace the lower cable

quick answer or not, the alpha lower shift cable is something that will need replacing at some point

 

[thephoneman]

So when adjusting the reverse, what position do I need to have the shifter? I read somewhere that it needed to be at 2 o'clock?

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

So when adjusting the reverse, what position do I need to have the shifter? I read somewhere that it needed to be at 2 o'clock?

Watch this video one of our moderators made on the adjustment procedure: