mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

[Coryb]

I am in the process of trying to adjust my shift cables, because I had the outdrive off and after putting everything back on it would not go into either forward or reverse gear, just clicked. Problem is when I get to the step from the manual that says to push in on drive unit shift cable until fully engaged in forward gear, its not engaging and it wont go in any further. Any ideas why the cable seems to be going as far in as it will go and still not engaging?

 

[IanFS]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Not sure if this is helpful to your situation but I've done mine recently and I had to also physically turn the prop in the opposite direction in gear as well, in order to get it to lock and then chocked it with some wood to keep it in gear. Then make the adjustments.

However it sounds as if you haven't got your upper shift shaft connecting to the lower shift shaft. I'm assuming you re-installed the drive when in first gear or is that a silly question?

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

What are we working on?

 

[ENSIGN]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Disconnect the lower shift cable from the shift plate and see if you can engage forward and reverse. Sounds like you have a broken cable or the shift shaft is misaligned.Did it shift before you took the drive off???

 

[Coryb]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

What are we working on?

It is a 3.0 mercruiser alpha I with LH rotation. I am trying to follow the manual instructions you linked for me.

Disconnect the lower shift cable from the shift plate and see if you can engage forward and reverse. Sounds like you have a broken cable or the shift shaft is misaligned.Did it shift before you took the drive off???

That is what I did, took the cable off and pushed it in by hand. It doesn't engage and then the cable stops, like it bottoms out. I can however pull the cable out and get it to engage.

Not sure if this is helpful to your situation but I've done mine recently and I had to also physically turn the prop in the opposite direction in gear as well, in order to get it to lock and then chocked it with some wood to keep it in gear. Then make the adjustments.

However it sounds as if you haven't got your upper shift shaft connecting to the lower shift shaft. I'm assuming you re-installed the drive when in first gear or is that a silly question?

When I put the outdrive back on I tried to make sure they were lined up and it was still in forward gear.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Did you have the gearcase (lower)off? If you did you may have lost the stainless steel washer thet goes under the intermediate shift shaft and the i ss is disconnected from the upper ss, look underneath. should look like this http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&h...0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:79&tx=78&ty=63

 

[Coryb]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Did you have the gearcase (lower)off? If you did you may have lost the stainless steel washer thet goes under the intermediate shift shaft and the i ss is disconnected from the upper ss, look underneath. should look like this http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&h...0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:79&tx=78&ty=63

yep, looks like that. I never took the lower unit off. Should it be turned a little to the port side of should it be straight towards the bow? Mine is turned a little to the port side. The shift shaft was moved after the drive was off so I looked some things up on how to make sure it was back in the right gear but when I did that it didn't seem to want to go perfectly to the 12 o'clock position. Dont know if that has anythinkg to do with it or not.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Should it be turned a little to the port side of should it be straight towards the bow? Mine is turned a little to the port side.

One question, are you sure that you have a LH drive that would be unusual? With the control in reverse, if you turn the prop, which way does it lock clockwise or counterclockwise (looking from behind)?

No, yes straight ahead. There is your problem. If it is pointed off to port and the cable is pushed in all the way, then there is a chance that the bottom of upper shift shaft is twisted. Going to have to do some work. This is what I think you have to do: Control lever to forward. Unbolt the outdrive and pull it back far enough for the intermediate ss to disengage from the upper. Reach in and turn the intermediate ss all the way clockwise. Turn the prop counterclockwise. If it locks and it is pointed straight ahead, I would say the problem is in the upper shift shaft. let us know how it works out then we proceed from there.

 

[Coryb]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

One question, are you sure that you have a LH drive that would be unusual? With the control in reverse, if you turn the prop, which way does it lock clockwise or counterclockwise (looking from behind)?

No, yes straight ahead. There is your problem. If it is pointed off to port and the cable is pushed in all the way, then there is a chance that the bottom of upper shift shaft is twisted. Going to have to do some work. This is what I think you have to do: Control lever to forward. Unbolt the outdrive and pull it back far enough for the intermediate ss to disengage from the upper. Reach in and turn the intermediate ss all the way clockwise. Turn the prop counterclockwise. If it locks and it is pointed straight ahead, I would say the problem is in the upper shift shaft. let us know how it works out then we proceed from there.

Unless my flame arrestor cover is wrong, it says LH rotation. When control is put in reverse, it locks clockwise. An obvious visual inspection of the prop shows that it would spin clockwise to move forward, that is why I originally suspected it to be RH. Is that how the rotation is determined? I have been around boating my whole life but only now decided to own a boat, so most of this is all new to me. Thanks for you input, and ill try your advice.

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

All single engine Mercruiser Sterndrive engines are LH rotation that is looking at the flywheel of the engine. The props on those drives are RH rotation Viewed as if looking at the prop on the drive.

For the prop to turn RH, it will lock when turned CCW and ratchet if turned CW. It's all about the shift dogs in the lower unit.
Until you understand how the shift dogs work, just believe the above.

 

[Coryb]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!



Is this what it should look like in Neutral? Before I go taking it apart again.

 

[Don S]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Is this what it should look like in Neutral? Before I go taking it apart again.

Yes

 

[ptj]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Very similar problem to what I have going on with my Alpha outdrive. Put a new shift cable in, got it all put back together and can get into reverse but apparently not enough cable reach to get into first (reliably). I have the outdrive off on the bench and things look ginger peachy (thinks seem so shift ok manually). Watching to see what happens with this thread to see if the same solution works for me.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

How about a photo in forward?

 

[Coryb]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Just a little update. I ended up pulling the drive completely back off and inspecting things, everything looked and worked fine. Before I pulled the drive off I was trying to push in manually on the shift cable to try and engage forward gear and it sound almost like the shift slide was bottoming out or catching on something because I could hear it hitting, I reinstalled the drive and made sure everything was were it was supposed to be and I now am able to get into forward gear. The only thing I did was bend the end of the twisted wire, that is on the end of the shift slide, down so that it wasn't sticking out past the edges. Not sure if this had anything to do with my situation, but it was sticking past the edges and bent back against the shift slide and there was some imprints in the shift slide from the twists in the wire. that is the only thing I messed with. Either way it works now and I am ecstatic. Thanks for any help given guys.

 

[ptj]

Re: mercruiser shift cable adjustment issues!!

Interesting. Now you have me wondering if that's my problem. I did notice the twisted retainer wire is flopping around.